Guide
oss-launch
Take a repo open source the right way
01 · What it is
oss-launch takes a repository from a bare, private state to a fully scaffolded open-source project in one pass. It scans your repo for its stack, existing files, git remote, and any leaked secrets or brand references, then generates the actual open-source file collection, README, LICENSE, CONTRIBUTING, CODE_OF_CONDUCT, SECURITY, CHANGELOG, .gitignore, GitHub issue and PR templates, and CI, adapted to that specific repo instead of boilerplate that still reads `{{REPO}}`.
02 · How it works
- 01
Scan
Reads the repo’s stack, existing OSS files, git remote, and checks for leaked secrets or brand references.
- 02
Report
Runs scripts/audit.sh, a 16-check gap checklist, and shows exactly what’s missing.
- 03
Ask
Only what can’t be inferred: license choice, author, security contact, project type, tagline.
- 04
Generate
Writes the full file collection from templates/, with real repo data filled into every placeholder.
- 05
Re-audit
Reruns the same 16-check audit against what it just created.
- 06
Launch (on demand)
Badges, CI, release cadence, demo GIF generation, and a Show HN / Reddit / YouTube playbook.
03 · Install & usage
Claude Code
git clone https://github.com/AnayDhawan/oss-launch.git ~/.claude/skills/oss-launch
# inside any repo you want to open source:
/oss-launchHeadless (CI, no agent)
cp templates/oss-launch.config.example oss-launch.config # fill in AUTHOR, SECURITY_EMAIL, TAGLINE
bash scripts/apply.sh /path/to/your/repo --config oss-launch.configapply.sh runs the same scan → generate → re-audit flow from a config file instead of an agent Q&A round, so it works in plain CI or a terminal with no agent loop. It never overwrites an existing file, and skips README generation since prose is an agent-only step. Every entry point is a bash script; on Windows that means Git Bash or WSL, cmd.exe and PowerShell cannot run them.
04 · Supported tools
| Agent | Bundle | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | yes, dogfooded daily | The one harness this is actually triggered on in real use. |
| Cursor | format-verified only | Its CLI is an editor launcher (open/diff/merge a window), not an agent runner, so there’s no headless path to trigger it from a shell. |
| Codex CLI | format-verified only | Credentials gap, not a capability gap: no OpenAI account configured on the machine this was tested from. |
| Gemini CLI | format-verified only | Same credentials gap, no Google AI account configured to run the live trigger test. |
Format-verified means the bundle matches the harness’s documented extension format and its payload actually runs standalone, checked mechanically for all four. Live-trigger-tested means a real install of that harness was given a real prompt and observed pulling in the bundle on its own. Only Claude Code has cleared that second bar so far (source: tests/agent-bundle-verification.md).
05 · How it's different
vs. generic OSS boilerplate templates
A boilerplate template still says `{{REPO}}` after you paste it in. oss-launch scans the actual repo first and fills in real values, and it only writes what audit.sh says is actually missing.
vs. doing the checklist by hand
A solo maintainer skips this because it’s tedious, not because it’s hard. oss-launch runs the audit before and after, so the result is a scored fix, not a half-finished list.
06 · Changelog
v1.1.02026-08-31
Site scaffolding (llms.txt always, plus 404.html/robots.txt/sitemap.xml when a static-site framework is detected). Kotlin and Scala stack detection. Monorepo and Docker as a second detection axis. Opt-in CI templates for coverage, release-please, and container builds. Label/triage automation. tests/agent-bundle-verification.md added.
v1.0.12026-07-31
README contributing/security section and badges. Real bugfixes: a broken ffmpeg encoder call in demo-GIF generation, a hardcoded license badge regardless of chosen license, and a release-version detection bug that had silently regressed a real release. Per-harness verification status documented for the first time.
v1.0.02026-07-08
Stable release. Stack detection across Node, Python, Rust, Go, PHP, .NET, Ruby, Java, and Swift. Headless apply.sh. Bundle support for all four agent harnesses.
07 · Links