rails-cto init

The init command is the one-shot setup for a new (or existing) Rails project. Run it once after adding the gem to your Gemfile, and the project will have everything the plugin's skills need.

Usage

bundle exec rails-cto init

Pass --force to overwrite existing config files with the latest bundled templates:

bundle exec rails-cto init --force

What it does

The command runs through a checklist and either installs or updates each piece. By default it skips anything that already exists, so running it again is safe and idempotent.

1. Installs toolchain gems

Adds each of these to your Gemfile under the development and test groups (if they aren't already present):

• rubocop with rubocop-rails and rubocop-minitest
• reek
• flog
• flay
• brakeman
• bundler-audit
• simplecov and simplecov_json_formatter
• herb

Then runs bundle install to resolve them.

2. Drops in config templates

Creates the following files if they don't already exist:

File	Purpose
.rubocop.yml	Based on rubocop-rails-omakase with the project's overrides
.reek.yml	Reek code smell rules
.bundler-audit.yml	bundler-audit config
config/brakeman.yml	Brakeman scanner config
.herb/rewriters/align-attributes.mjs	Herb rewriter that aligns HTML attributes
.herb/rules/no-inline-styles.mjs	Herb rule that blocks inline styles

See Config Templates for what each file contains and how to customize it.

3. Patches test/test_helper.rb

The QA and Minitest skills read coverage/coverage.json to evaluate code coverage. For that file to exist, SimpleCov needs to boot with the JSON formatter. init inserts the following block near the top of test/test_helper.rb:

require "simplecov"
require "simplecov_json_formatter"

SimpleCov.start "rails" do
  formatter SimpleCov::Formatter::JSONFormatter
end

If test/test_helper.rb already has a SimpleCov block, init leaves it alone.

4. Wires CLAUDE.md

Appends the RailsCTO skills block to your project's CLAUDE.md. See CLAUDE.md Wiring for the exact contents and what each line does.

If your project doesn't have a CLAUDE.md yet, init creates one.

Flags

Flag	Effect
--force	Overwrite existing config files with the bundled templates
--skip-gems	Don't modify the Gemfile
--skip-claude-md	Don't touch CLAUDE.md
--skip-test-helper	Don't patch test/test_helper.rb

After running init

Verify everything is in place:

bundle exec rails-cto doctor

You should see a clean report. If doctor flags drift or missing files, re-run init (with --force if needed) to fix them. See rails-cto doctor for details.