Primer

Curated markdown primers for AI agents.

Installation

bun add -g @cvr/primer
primer init                # Install skill file for AI tools

Usage

primer                     # List available primers
primer effect              # Render a primer
primer effect services     # Render a sub-primer
primer help                # Show help with examples

What is a Primer?

A primer is curated markdown that teaches AI agents how to do things well. Unlike templates that generate boilerplate, primers provide context, patterns, and step-by-step guidance.

Example use cases:

• primer effect before writing Effect TypeScript code
• primer cli when building a command-line tool
• primer oxlint when setting up linting

Architecture

primer CLI
    │
    ├─ ManifestService ──→ _manifest.json (primer registry)
    │
    └─ PrimerCache ──→ ~/.primer/ (local cache, background refresh)
                │
                └──→ GitHub raw (primers/)

Primer structure: Each primer is a directory with index.md (main) + optional sub-primers. Sub-primers accessed via primer <name> <sub>.

AI Tool Integration

Run primer init to install skill files:

| Tool | Location | | ----------- | ------------------------------------------- | | Claude Code | ~/.claude/skills/primer.md | | Cursor | ~/.cursor/skills/primer.md | | OpenCode | ~/.config/opencode/skills/primer/SKILL.md |

Use primer init --local for project-level installation.

Development

git clone https://github.com/cevr/primer.git
cd primer && bun install
bun run dev effect         # Run locally
bun run check              # Typecheck + lint + format
bun run test               # Run tests

License

MIT