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Setup Wizard Generator

Generate a bash wizard guiding a human through manual setup.

Skill metadata​

SourceOptional — install with hermes skills install official/devops/setup-wizard-generator
Pathoptional-skills/devops/setup-wizard-generator
Version1.0.0
AuthorMatt Pocock (mattpocock/skills, wizard) + Hermes Agent
LicenseMIT
Platformslinux, macos
Tagswizard, setup, onboarding, credentials, secrets, migration, bash, human-in-the-loop

Reference: full SKILL.md​

info

The following is the complete skill definition that Hermes loads when this skill is triggered. This is what the agent sees as instructions when the skill is active.

Setup Wizard Generator

Generates an interactive bash wizard: a script that walks a human, step by step, through a manual procedure that is tedious to do by hand and tedious to re-explain every time. It opens each URL, says exactly what to click and copy, captures the values, writes them where they belong (.env, GitHub secrets), confirms at every stage, and shows how many stages are left.

Ported from mattpocock/skills' MIT-licensed wizard skill.

When to Use​

  • Provisioning infrastructure or third-party services (Stripe, Supabase, DNS, OAuth apps) where only a human can click through the dashboard
  • Setting up credentials, CI secrets, or repo variables
  • One-off migrations or cutovers with irreversible human-gated steps
  • Any procedure the user will hand to a teammate to run

Do NOT use for steps the agent can perform itself — do those directly.

Prerequisites​

  • bash; gh CLI only if stages write GitHub secrets/variables
  • The library template: templates/template.sh in this skill's directory

Procedure​

1. Scope the procedure​

Work out every manual step the human must take and every value captured along the way. Read the repo first, don't ask cold:

  • Setup: .env, .env.example, README, docker-compose*, framework config, and .github/workflows/* (every secrets.* / vars.* reference is a value the wizard must produce).
  • Migration/cutover: the current state, the target state, and the irreversible actions between them.

Show the user the ordered stage list and the values each produces; they may add, drop, or reorder. Done when every stage is named in order and, for each captured value, you know (a) where the human gets it, (b) where it's written (.env, a GitHub secret, both, or nowhere), and (c) whether it's secret (hidden entry) or public.

2. Map each stage's journey​

For each stage, write the precise path a human follows: which URL to open, what to do there, where the value is shown — e.g. "Dashboard → Developers → API keys → Reveal test key → copy". Where you don't know the current UI or exact command, say so and check the docs or ask — never invent steps that may not exist.

3. Author the wizard​

Copy templates/template.sh (from this skill's directory) to the target path. Replace the example stage with one stage per step, in dependency order. Set TOTAL_STAGES to the number of stages you wrote.

Library helpers: stage, say/step/note/warn, open_url, ask/ask_secret, write_env, set_secret/set_var, pause/confirm, banner, finish. The library above the STAGES marker is identical in every wizard — never hand-edit it; that consistency is the point.

Hold the bar the template sets: open the URL before asking for its value, ask_secret for anything secret, write_env every persisted value, set_secret only what CI actually needs, and confirm before anything irreversible. Each stage clears the screen — keep one focused task per stage so nothing the human needs scrolls away.

A wizard is ephemeral by default: save it to a scratch or scripts/ path, delete it when the job's done. Commit it only when the user wants a repeatable setup path living in the repo.

4. Verify and hand off​

  • bash -n <script>; run shellcheck if available; chmod +x <script>.
  • Do NOT run it end-to-end yourself: it opens browsers and blocks on human input. Trace it statically: every value from step 1 is captured and lands where step 1 said, and every set_secret name exactly matches a secrets.* reference in CI.
  • Tell the user how to run it. If it's repeatable, commit it and link it from the README.

Pitfalls​

  1. Editing the library section. Everything above the STAGES marker is the wizard library; author only below it.
  2. Inventing dashboard paths. Third-party UIs drift. If unsure of the click path, verify against current docs or flag it as approximate.
  3. set_secret for values CI doesn't use. Only push to GitHub secrets what a workflow actually references.
  4. Running the wizard yourself. It blocks on human input; static tracing plus bash -n is the verification.
  5. One mega-stage. Screen clearing per stage means a long stage scrolls critical instructions away; split it.

Verification​

  • Stage list confirmed with the user before authoring
  • bash -n passes; script is executable
  • Every captured value traced to its declared destination
  • Every set_secret name matches a CI secrets.* reference
  • Library section untouched from the template