Existing Repository

Bob does not care that your directory already has a life. Use init and it writes only the human-owned manifest first, then waits for you to review any ownership conflicts before it touches a single generated file.

Initialize the manifest

cd path/to/acme-tool
bob init . \
  --name acme-tool \
  --module github.com/acme/acme-tool \
  --description "Agent-ready Acme CLI" \
  --write

This writes bob.yaml. It does not generate infrastructure or create a lock.

Review the plan

bob plan
bob plan --content

--content includes bounded desired-content previews for create and update actions. It does not make the command writable.

Resolve an unmanaged-file conflict

Suppose the directory already contains a custom README.md. The recipe also wants that path. Bob reports conflict: it cannot prove ownership, the content differs, and it is not going to gamble on your behalf.

Choose deliberately:

1. Keep the custom file and do not adopt this recipe in the directory; Bob keeps refusing apply while the recipe targets it.
2. Move the custom file to a reviewed backup, rerun bob plan, and let Bob create its desired README.
3. If you intentionally make the file exactly match the desired content and mode, Bob classifies it as adopt and takes ownership from there.

Never delete or overwrite a conflict merely to make the command green. Decide which system owns the path, then let the plan reflect that decision.

Apply and check

When the complete plan is conflict-free:

bob apply
bob check
git diff --stat

Review the resulting repository before committing. Future recipe upgrades can use the hashes in bob.lock to update untouched managed files and leave human changes alone. Bob remembers what it built. It does not remember what you promise you'll clean up later.