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repobuddy

init-buddy

init-buddy detects the OS, package managers, and git hosts, checks each host’s CLI and any configured MCP server, installs and logs in the CLI you choose, and offers allow and deny lists for your agent harness.

When to use

Section titled “When to use”
  • “set up my environment for this repo” or “install gh” / “I need glab”
  • Another skill stopped because gh or glab is missing or logged out.
  • “stop asking me before every gh pr view” or “never let the agent force push or publish”

Invoke

Section titled “Invoke”
/init-buddy [github|gitlab|bitbucket|azure|gitea|forgejo[=hostname]]

With no argument it uses the repo’s git remotes. Natural phrasing works too.

Host CLI
GitHub gh
GitLab glab
Gitea tea
Forgejo, Codeberg fj
Azure DevOps az with the azure-devops extension
Bitbucket Cloud no official CLI

What it produces or changes

Section titled “What it produces or changes”
  • An installed, logged-in CLI per host. Logins are interactive: it gives you the command (such as ! gh auth login) and checks the result.
  • Allow list entries in tiers (safe, good to have, ask every time, advanced) for Claude Code, Cursor CLI, or Codex CLI, each written to the scope it is safe in.
  • A deny list (force push, merge bypass, repo delete, API DELETE, rm -rf, publish, reading secrets). It only appends.
  • Optionally the gh-api-guard hook (Claude Code only), copied to .claude/hooks/ or ~/.claude/hooks/.
  • .agents/repobuddy/init-buddy.json as a local setup marker, excluded through .git/info/exclude.
  • A one-line reminder for ~/.agents/AGENTS.md, which it hands to you and never writes itself.

Asks before acting

Section titled “Asks before acting”

It shows commands before installing, asks you to run sudo commands yourself, shows the allow and deny diff, and writes only the entries you approve. It never asks for a token in chat, edits MCP servers, or changes repository settings. If an MCP server already covers the host, it asks whether you still want the CLI.

Hands off to

Section titled “Hands off to”

It ends by listing the other setup skills, such as setup-github-repo, without running them. To audit an existing allow list, use review-permissions.

Requirements

Section titled “Requirements”
  • Node.js for detect-env.mjs. Falls back to npx -y repobuddy@^1.8.0 env (needs network). See Skill scripts.
  • Network access and a package manager to install the CLIs.
  • The gh-api-guard hook has no npx fallback: install the plugin or copy the script from the npm package.

Example

Section titled “Example”
/init-buddy gitlab=git.example.com

More detail: skill README.