// Claude Code project scaffolder
The right way to start a Claude Code project.
One command scaffolds a complete, correct foundation - a real monorepo, a toolchain that is green from commit one, Open Pstack plus improve as how you build, and conventions Claude actually follows - with every decision explained.
After you unzip the download · one-time · yours forever · no lock-in
Starting is where it goes wrong.
Most Claude Code projects fail their setup in one of three ways - and you pay for it every session after.
The blank repo
You and the agent improvise the setup differently every time. Nothing is enforced, nothing is reasoned, and you rebuild it from scratch on the next project.
The mega-boilerplate
Five hundred files you did not choose and cannot safely remove. You inherit someone else’s opinions and a pile of lock-in before you write a line.
The pile of hacks
A memory plugin here, a rules file there, CI you will wire up “later.” Each piece works alone; nothing coheres into a foundation.
claudesetup is the fourth option: one coherent, complete, reasoned foundation. Every decision made right - and explained.
Everything a Claude Code project needs - set up correctly.
Not a starting point you finish later. A finished one you build on.
A real monorepo substrate
Turborepo + pnpm, structured so agents and humans do not collide. New workspaces extend one baseline.
Green from commit one
TypeScript, ESLint, Vitest, Prettier, and GitHub CI all working before you write a line. Not "wire it up later".
Decisions on disk
A decision that is not on disk does not exist. Resume is /pstack:poteto-mode matching session-pickup. Pause is /pstack:pause-safely. Not a memory plugin and not a homemade handoff skill.
Conventions Claude follows
A lean CLAUDE.md plus a docs charter, so the why of the project lives in files - not in a chat that gets compacted away.
Open Pstack + improve
The default HOW: /pstack:poteto-mode is the door. /improve owns thought→plan. gstack is an optional alternative — you do not need it.
Deploys never left blind
pnpm deploy:check verifies the build after every push, so a failed deploy is never a silent surprise.
Secrets handled from day one
A real .gitignore and a minimal .env.example, so credentials never end up in a commit.
Every decision explained
The WHY docs: one honest card per choice. The reasoning is the product as much as the files.
The product is the reasoning, as much as the files.
You are not buying a folder of files. You are buying the forty hours of decisions that go into a project started right - Turborepo over a single package, pnpm over npm, types and tests from commit one, Open Pstack plus improve - and the honest why behind each one.
You could build it yourself if you knew every reason. claudesetup is those reasons, for $37 - so the next person who reads your repo, including you in three months, understands exactly why it is shaped the way it is.
There are free templates. This is not one.
A free template hands you files you still have to understand and a repo you only hope works. Here is the difference, line by line.
One price. Yours forever.
No subscription, no account, no lock-in. You own every file it generates.
claudesetup
completeThe complete, correct foundation.
$37one-time
After you unzip the download
- Turborepo + pnpm monorepo substrate
- TypeScript, ESLint, Vitest, Prettier + CI green from commit one
- Open Pstack as the default coding harness (/pstack:poteto-mode)
- shadcn/improve for thought→plan (plans land in plans/)
- Decisions on disk — resume is session-pickup, pause is pause-safely
- pnpm deploy:check (deploys never left blind)
- Secrets hygiene from day one
- CLAUDE.md + docs charter system
- The WHY docs - every decision explained
- Claude Code plugin + bundled installer
Getting the setup right, explained.
The reasoning behind each part of a clean Claude Code project - the same thinking claudesetup ships as one command.
Questions, answered straight.
- Do I need Claude Code to use it?
- No. Everything it writes is plain TypeScript, Markdown, and JSON, and the bundled installer is a plain Node command — no Claude Code. If you do use Claude Code, the plugin path (/claudesetup) is the nicer way to run it.
- Is this lock-in?
- No. You own every file it generates, with no restrictions. There is no account, no SaaS, no proprietary runtime - the scaffold does not depend on claudesetup after it is stamped.
- How is this different from a free template?
- A free template hands you files you still have to understand and a repo you only hope works. claudesetup is a complete foundation that is already green, with context discipline built in and every decision explained.
- What is Open Pstack?
- The Claude Code plugin this scaffold names and fetches (ericlitman/open-pstack). The installer declares pstack@open-pstack in the repo and, when the claude CLI is on PATH, installs it at project scope. Then work through /pstack:poteto-mode. Thought→plan is /improve (shadcn/improve), stamped into the repo. The public trainer teaches pstack. claudesetup does not replace pstack or invent a second process on top of it.
- Is this Cursor's pstack plugin?
- No. Cursor's official pstack is a different plugin. claudesetup sets up ericlitman/open-pstack for Claude Code. Do not run /add-plugin pstack in Cursor and think you have the harness.
- Do I need gstack?
- No. The default coding harness is Open Pstack — one door, /pstack:poteto-mode — plus shadcn/improve for thought→plan. gstack is a free, optional alternative by Garry Tan if you prefer that loop. You do not need it.
- What about losing context between sessions?
- Write decisions to disk as they happen. Resume with /pstack:poteto-mode matching session-pickup. Pause with /pstack:pause-safely. That is pstack, not a claudesetup invention and not a memory plugin bolted on after the fact.
- What do I actually get, and how is it delivered?
- A Claude Code plugin, a bundled Node installer, and the WHY docs — delivered as a one-time zip. Unzip it, then from a new project folder run: node /path/to/claudesetup-core/installer/bin/claudesetup.mjs my-app. There is no public npm package to npx. $37, yours forever, updates included.
Start the next one right.
The right way to start a Claude Code project. One command. Every decision explained. Yours forever.
After you unzip the download