setup #

Create the project-local .lvkit/ resolution store, and optionally install AI editor skills so an agent (Claude Code, Copilot) can help resolve unknown primitives and vi.lib VIs as it works.

Synopsis #

lvkit setup [directory] [{claude,copilot,all}] [options]

Arguments #

Argument	Description
`directory`	Directory in which to create `.lvkit/`. Must already exist — `setup` does not create it. Defaults to the current directory.
`{claude,copilot,all}`	Which AI agent to install skills for. `all` installs both the Claude Code and Copilot skill sets. Omit to auto-detect from project layout: `CLAUDE.md` / `.claude/` for Claude Code, `.github/copilot-instructions.md` / `.github/instructions/` / `.github/agents.md` for Copilot.

Options #

Option	Description
`--no-skills`	Create the `.lvkit/` resolution store and README without installing any AI editor skills. Use this if you want to add primitive or vi.lib mappings manually.
`--force`	Overwrite existing skill files even if they have local edits.

setup does not take the SubVI resolution flags — --vilib/--project-root etc. — itself; later generate/render runs read them from the store this command creates.

Example #

lvkit setup

Initialized .lvkit/ store at /home/you/project/.lvkit
Installed 5 Claude Code skill(s):
  /home/you/project/.claude/skills/lvkit-describe/SKILL.md
  /home/you/project/.claude/skills/lvkit-convert/SKILL.md
  /home/you/project/.claude/skills/lvkit-resolve-primitive/SKILL.md
  /home/you/project/.claude/skills/lvkit-resolve-vilib/SKILL.md
  /home/you/project/.claude/skills/lvkit-idiomatic/SKILL.md

This auto-detects the project's AI agent from its layout, creates .lvkit/ in the current directory, and installs the matching editor skills. Re-running with nothing changed prints "Claude Code skills already up to date." instead of rewriting the files. If auto-detection finds neither a Claude Code marker nor a Copilot marker, setup still creates .lvkit/, prints "No AI agent detected...", and exits 0 with no skills installed.

To target a specific directory and agent explicitly:

lvkit setup . claude

Notes #

.lvkit/ holds a README.md (the license-boundary explainer — lvkit never reads .lvkit/ back into its own shipped data/) plus vilib/, openg/, and drivers/ subdirectories, each with an empty _index.json. setup creates these empty. generate/render cache resolved vi.lib terminal layouts into .lvkit/vilib/ as they run (see SubVI & vi.lib resolution); .lvkit/primitives.json doesn't exist until something writes it — by hand, or via the lvkit-resolve-primitive skill this command can install.
setup is safe to re-run: an existing .lvkit/ store and its README are left untouched, and skill files that already match the installed template are skipped rather than treated as conflicts.
Without --force, if any target skill file already exists with local edits, setup writes no skill files and exits with an error listing every conflict. Re-run with --force to overwrite them — use it when reinstalling after a skill update.
Claude Code skills install one file per skill to .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md: lvkit-describe, lvkit-convert, lvkit-resolve-primitive, lvkit-resolve-vilib, lvkit-idiomatic. Copilot gets the same five workflows as .github/prompts/<name>.prompt.md slash commands, plus a single .github/instructions/lvkit.instructions.md router that auto-loads into every chat and suggests the right one.
Neither a local LabVIEW install nor a prior detect run is required — setup creates .lvkit/ empty regardless. .lvkit/vilib/ fills in later, as generate/render resolve vi.lib VIs against whatever --vilib points at (see SubVI & vi.lib resolution).