> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getcanonic.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# canonic setup

> Interactive project setup wizard.

```bash theme={null}
canonic setup
```

Bootstraps a new canonic project: name → first connection (connection-tested before proceeding, skippable) → LLM (skippable) → optional schema preview → writes `canonic.yaml` plus scaffold directories and a `.gitignore`.

Both the connection and LLM steps ask "configure now?" (default yes). Declining either leaves `connections: []`/`llm: null` in `canonic.yaml`: nothing downstream requires them up front, and both can be added later from the existing-project menu (below) or by editing `canonic.yaml` directly.

Progress is checkpointed to `.canonic/setup-state.json`, so an interrupted run resumes where it left off. Run inside an already-set-up project, it offers a status/add-connection/generate-contracts/configure-LLM menu instead of overwriting committed files.

## `--minimal` / `--bare`

```bash theme={null}
canonic setup --minimal
```

Zero-prompt scaffold-only setup: writes a bare `canonic.yaml` (project name only, no connections, no LLM) plus the scaffolded directories, skipping every prompt and the golden path entirely. Refuses if `canonic.yaml` already exists. Use this when you just want a project skeleton to fill in by hand, or before wiring up a connection separately (e.g. a dbt-based source).

## What happens after the config is written

If a connection was configured, the wizard continues straight into the golden path:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Bootstrap the first connection">
    Tier-1 schema introspection produces deterministic semantic sources. You're then asked whether to generate inferred metric contracts now (skippable, they can be generated later from the existing-project menu).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run a first answer">
    A demo metric query returns result rows plus the metadata band (freshness, guardrails, final/provisional).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Hand off">
    You're shown what to review, the exact query call that was just run, and how to connect an agent over MCP.
  </Step>
</Steps>

If no connection was configured (skipped, or `--minimal`), the golden path is skipped entirely and the completion panel points at adding one later.

This is also the command behind bare `canonic` with no subcommand and no `--json`. See [CLI Overview](/cli-reference/overview).