Before the architecture, the intent.
Before the code, the conviction.
Intent before implementation.
The scaffold is free. The knowledge is free. The only cost is your willingness to take the next step.
Investiture is a project scaffold that does more than set up your stack. It sets up your thinking. Every Investiture project starts with VECTOR.md, a doctrine file that captures who your project serves, what problem it solves, what you know, and what you still need to learn. Your AI agents read it before they write a line of code. Your team reads it before they make a decision. The result: every project starts aligned. Not with a blank canvas and good intentions. With structured intent and a clear reading order.
Not Tailwind. Not Bootstrap. Not a UI kit. Investiture is unopinionated about your design. It only cares about where your code lives, how your agents onboard, and what your project knows about itself. Bring your own design system, or ask Claude to build one.
Most scaffolds give you files and hope for the best. Investiture gives you files and eight skills that audit, enforce, and act on them. Two chains: the doctrine chain establishes and enforces your project intent, the audit chain assesses and remediates your codebase. Each skill reads your declarations at runtime. Your rules. Your conventions. Your architecture.
One command. Doctrine, architecture, and research schemas injected into any project.
investiture/ ├── VECTOR.md ← Project doctrine (read first) ├── CLAUDE.md ← Contributor onboarding (read second) ├── ARCHITECTURE.md ← Technical guide (read third) ├── .claude/skills/ ← 8 skills (doctrine chain + audit chain) ├── /src ← React 19 + Vite starter ├── /core ← Pure logic, state, utilities ├── /services ← API layer ├── /design-system ← CSS variable tokens ├── /vector │ ├── /schemas ← 6 research schemas │ ├── /research ← Your structured findings │ ├── /decisions ← Architecture Decision Records │ └── /audits ← Skill chain audit reports ├── install.sh ← Cross-platform setup └── preflight.sh ← Environment check
Why this project exists
How your AI agent behaves
Where things go and why
Skills that audit your doctrine
This is onboarding for both humans and agents.
VECTOR.md is not just a file. It is a convention. Like README.md tells people what your project is, VECTOR.md tells agents and teammates why your project exists and what you know about your users. The /vector directory holds structured research artifacts (interviews, jobs to be done, personas, competitive analysis, blue ocean strategy, assumptions) in machine-readable schemas that any AI tool can consume. Investiture brings this convention into every new project automatically. You do not have to remember to add it. You do not have to set up the directory structure. It is there from the first commit.
Already have a codebase? One command injects the skill chain and research schemas without touching your code.
Then open Claude Code and run /invest-backfill. It surveys your codebase and generates VECTOR.md, CLAUDE.md, and ARCHITECTURE.md.
bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/erikaflowers/investiture/main/inject.sh)Click to copyUse the full scaffold with React, Vite, and the doctrine system built in.
Fill in VECTOR.md with your project identity. Open Claude Code. Start building.
Five new skills for codebase quality: preflight scans in 2 minutes, manifest inventories everything, repo-audit classifies findings across 8 vectors, remediate generates phased fix plans, verify confirms the fixes landed. Doctrine establishes intent. Audit assesses reality.
A visual GUI for Investiture. Edit DESIGN.md tokens, preview your doctrine, browse audit results, and manage your skill chain from a framework-aware control panel. Your project, visible at a glance.
The most important step a person can take is always the next one.Dalinar Kholin, The Stormlight Archive
Named for Investiture, the fundamental magical energy of Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere universe. Like its namesake, this scaffold is a foundation that can manifest as many different things.