moai init initializes a MoAI project in the current directory or a new folder. It lays down the .claude/ and .moai/ structure and settings required for Claude Code integration, and — when needed — configures the project mode, language, and quality gates through an interactive wizard.
Usage
bash
moai init [project-name]
Pattern
Behavior
moai init <name>
Create a ./<name>/ folder and initialize inside it
moai init .
Initialize in the current directory
moai init
Initialize in the current directory (same as moai init .)
Accepts at most 1 argument.
Key Flags
Deployment scope
Flag
Description
--all
Deploy the full catalog (core + optional packs + harness artifacts). The default is core-only slim mode
--force
Re-initialize an existing project (backs up the current .moai/)
--no-hooks
Skip git hook installation
Project defaults
Flag
Description
--root <dir>
Project root (default: current directory)
--name <name>
Project name (default: directory name)
--language <lang>
Primary programming language
--framework <name>
Framework (default: auto-detect or none)
--mode <ddd|tdd>
Development methodology (default: tdd)
--non-interactive
Skip the interactive wizard — use flags and defaults only
Wizard question flags
Flag
Description
--project-mode <personal|team>
Project mode (default: personal)
--enable-lsp
Enable LSP integration (default: true)
--enforce-quality
Enforce quality gates (default: true)
--enable-design
Enable the design workflow (default: true)
Git / model policy
Flag
Description
--git-mode <manual|personal|team>
Git workflow mode (default: manual)
--git-provider <github|gitlab>
Git provider
--github-username <name>
GitHub username (required for personal/team mode)
--profile <high|medium|low>
Model+effort profile — stored in profile of llm.yaml (selects the profile matrix column). The legacy value max is accepted as input and normalized to high
--model-policy <high|medium|low>
Legacy performance tier — stored in performance_tier of llm.yaml (read as an alias when profile is absent)
Examples
bash
# Initialize in a new foldermoai init my-app
# Initialize in the current directorymoai init .
# Specify a methodologymoai init --mode tdd
# Deploy the full catalog (bypass slim mode)moai init --all
# Non-interactive (e.g. CI)moai init . --non-interactive --language go
