Project Estimator

Generate Microsoft Project (MSPDI XML) files from a structured Markdown estimation.

What it does

• Parses a Markdown estimation file into sections, tasks, and roles.
• Calculates project management hours automatically.
• Produces MSPDI XML and a CSV report.
• Validates role hours and required sections.

Requirements

• Node.js
• TypeScript

Install

npm install

Install skill (short)

Copy the skill folder into your Codex skills directory so an agent can reuse it:

cp -R skills/msproject-gen ~/.codex/skills/msproject-gen

Install from registry (for reuse)

Install from your npm registry:

npm install msproject-gen

If you publish under a scope:

npm install @your-scope/msproject-gen

Run the CLI after install (use your own files):

npx msproject-gen \
  --template "/path/to/template.xml" \
  --input "/path/to/estimation.md" \
  --roles "/path/to/roles.yml" \
  --output "./project.xml" \
  --csv "./project.csv"

Publish

npm run publish:package

This runs npm publish, which triggers prepublishOnly to build before publishing. Only dist/ and docs are included in the package.

Quick start (local repo)

Build and run the CLI:

npm run build
node dist/cli.js \
  --template "example/Estimación Experian.xml" \
  --input inputs/estimacion_experian.md \
  --roles inputs/roles_map_final.yml \
  --output results/estimacion_experian_generated.xml \
  --csv results/estimacion_experian_generated.csv

Project layout

• inputs/ Markdown inputs and the roles map.
• example/ Golden MSPDI XML template and source artifacts.
• results/ Generated XML/CSV outputs.
• src/ Source code.
• dist/ Compiled CLI output.

Input format (Markdown)

The file uses:

• Front‑matter for project metadata.
• # for sections.
• ## (and deeper) for tasks.
• work and roles under tasks.
• Optional id and depends_on for dependencies.
• Optional scheduling settings in front‑matter: project.calendar, project.workday_hours.

Example:

---
project:
  name: "Estimación Logitech"
  start_date: 2023-03-08T09:00:00
  pm_percentage: 13
  calendar: workdays
  workday_hours: 8
---

# 1. Entrega de Prerequisitos
enabled: yes

## Archivo de entrada
- type: CLIENTE
- notes: Entregar firmado

## Tarea interna
- work: 4h
- roles: AWS Software Developer=4h

Scheduling options:

• project.calendar: workdays (Mon–Fri) or all_days (Mon–Sun).
• project.workday_hours: hours per workday (default 8).

More examples:

Nested tasks:

# 6. Análisis y Diseño
enabled: yes

## Documento Tecnico
### Borrador inicial
- work: 3h
- roles: AWS Software Developer=3h

### Revisión
- work: 2h
- roles: Quality Engineer=2h

Disabled section:

# 8. Transición Ambiente QA
enabled: no

Role aliases (from the roles map):

## Pruebas funcionales
- work: 6h
- roles: QA=6h

Dependencies with IDs:

# 6. Análisis y Diseño
enabled: yes
id: analisis

## KickOff
- id: kickoff
- work: 0h
- roles: PM=0h

## Backend API
- id: backend
- work: 8h
- roles: AWS Software Developer=8h
- depends_on: kickoff

## Frontend UI
- id: frontend
- work: 8h
- roles: AWS Software Developer=8h
- depends_on: kickoff

Roles map (YAML)

inputs/roles_map_final.yml defines canonical roles and aliases. Roles found in the MSPDI template are merged at runtime.

Example snippet:

canonical_roles:
  - name: "AWS Software Developer"
    aliases:
      - Dev
      - Developer

CLI examples

Generate a Logitech estimation:

node dist/cli.js \
  --template "example/Estimación Experian.xml" \
  --input inputs/template_estimacion.md \
  --roles inputs/roles_map_final.yml \
  --output results/estimacion_logitech_generated.xml \
  --csv results/estimacion_logitech_generated.csv

Install and run from a registry in another project:

npm install msproject-gen
npx msproject-gen \
  --template "/path/to/template.xml" \
  --input "/path/to/estimation.md" \
  --roles "/path/to/roles.yml" \
  --output "./project.xml" \
  --csv "./project.csv"

Helper script (in this repo):

npm run estimate:experian

Agent usage

For a step‑by‑step agent workflow (install, inputs, dependencies, outputs), see:

• docs/agent-usage.md

Tests and quality

npm test
npx ultracite check

Coverage target: 85% minimum.

Project rules (summary)

• Use functions and plain objects (no classes).
• Prefer data‑driven branching over if/else chains and ternaries.
• Keep logic simple and explicit.
• Use Vitest for tests and Ultracite for linting.

Output

• MSPDI XML: results/*.xml
• CSV report: results/*.csv