Understanding the output

What gets generated

The CLI writes adapter-native files directly into your project. You get only the files for the IDEs you selected — nothing else is created.

Commit these files like any other project config. The CLI creates AI instructions and adapter files, not a runnable backend service. Review and edit the generated content before treating it as authoritative.

Adapter	What gets written
Cursor	.cursor/rules/index.mdc (agent + context) · .cursor/rules/<rule>.mdc (9 rules, per-rule globs) · .cursor/skills/<stage>/SKILL.md (7 lifecycle stages)
Claude Code	.claude/rules/<rule>.md (9 rules) · .claude/commands/<stage>.md (7 lifecycle stages) · CLAUDE.md (load-when pointer index)
VS Code Copilot	.github/copilot-instructions.md (agent + all rules + all lifecycle stages merged into one file)
Windsurf	.windsurf/rules/<rule>.md (9 rules) · .windsurf/rules/lifecycle-<stage>.md (7 stages) · .windsurfrules (agent + context)
Antigravity	.agents/workflows/<stage>.md (7 lifecycle stages)

Select one or more adapters during the interactive prompt. Only the files for selected adapters are written.

The data-layer-migrations rule is included only when an ORM was selected (Prisma, TypeORM, Drizzle, MikroORM, or Knex).

Rules

Rule file	What it controls
architecture-api.md	Module/router/plugin layout, DI, repository pattern, API design, OpenAPI, pagination, versioning
auth-security.md	Authentication, authorisation, secrets handling
data-layer-migrations.md	ORM schema, migrations, repositories (if ORM ≠ none)
errors-logging-observability.md	Error handling, logging, observability hooks
integrations-async.md	Third-party clients, retries, queues, jobs, idempotency, cron
environment.md	Config, env files, Docker, flags
git-conventions.md	Branches, commits, PR focus
pre-commit.md	Build / lint / test gates before commit
testing.md	Unit vs e2e, framework idioms, mocking

Lifecycle stages

The 7 lifecycle stages are written in adapter-native paths (see table above):

• think — understand the backend goal, stack, contracts, data/auth risks, and constraints before planning
• plan — name affected APIs, data models, migrations, auth boundaries, integrations, jobs, risks, and tests
• build — implement only the approved backend scope
• review — check correctness, API compatibility, data integrity, security, and observability
• test — run or define validation proportional to backend risk
• ship — summarize changes, validation, release notes, breaking changes, and rollback notes
• reflect — capture backend template gaps and follow-up tasks

Per-adapter output

Cursor

.cursor/rules/index.mdc           # agent identity (alwaysApply: true)
.cursor/rules/<rule>.mdc          # one file per rule, globs where relevant
.cursor/skills/think/
.cursor/skills/plan/
.cursor/skills/build/
.cursor/skills/review/
.cursor/skills/test/
.cursor/skills/ship/
.cursor/skills/reflect/

Claude Code

CLAUDE.md                         # agent identity + all rules merged
.claude/commands/think.md
.claude/commands/plan.md
.claude/commands/build.md
.claude/commands/review.md
.claude/commands/test.md
.claude/commands/ship.md
.claude/commands/reflect.md

VS Code Copilot

.github/copilot-instructions.md   # agent identity + all rules merged

Windsurf

.windsurfrules                         # agent identity (slim doc)
.windsurf/rules/<rule>.md              # one file per rule
.windsurf/rules/lifecycle-think.md
.windsurf/rules/lifecycle-plan.md
.windsurf/rules/lifecycle-build.md
.windsurf/rules/lifecycle-review.md
.windsurf/rules/lifecycle-test.md
.windsurf/rules/lifecycle-ship.md
.windsurf/rules/lifecycle-reflect.md

Antigravity

.agents/workflows/think.md
.agents/workflows/plan.md
.agents/workflows/build.md
.agents/workflows/review.md
.agents/workflows/test.md
.agents/workflows/ship.md
.agents/workflows/reflect.md

Next: Recommended workflow.