logo protoprimer

Want a one-liner to bootstrap isolated envs for every repo clone?

./prime

Invoke protoprimer - an arg-less stand-alone script that switches:

  • from chaos (the many conditions in which a user may invoke it)

  • into order (an env-specific venv with the required python version)

Eventually, protoprimer transfers control to custom steps for anything else...

  • provision other SDKs

  • verify system/user config (local, cloud)

  • install git hooks

  • generate env-specific code

  • ... [you name it]

Why?

More than one manual step is tedious and error-prone.

Plus, the single-step bootstrap is a non-trivial "chicken and egg" problem!

[formal proof]
0. You may have a project in any lang.

C++, Java, Go, JS/TS, Rust, Haskell, ...

Next: you may still need to automate with something else...

1. "What is the best glue for automation, if not python?"

  • readable, testable, modular, cross-platform, ...

  • huge mind-share, gazillion of packages, ...

Next: you need an isolated venv for dependencies.

2. "I can manage a venv everywhere"

  • that venv has to be created by every user

  • everyone has to activate it every time

Next: you need to ensure the required python for venv creation.

3. "I can use uv to ensure the required python version"

  • everyone has to install the uv executable first

  • everyone has to know uv args like:

uv pip install --editable path/to/project_1
uv pip install --editable path/to/project_2
...

Next: uv reproduces venv, but steps may go beyond that.

4. "I can wrap it all into a shell script"

This demands logic to handle flexibility:

  • to load env-specific configuration and respect it

  • to distinguish an initial bootstrap from a subsequent update

Next: shell is:

  • untestable

  • non-modular

  • platform-dependent

  • cryptic

  • ...

5. "I can replace shell with a better lang, but which one?"

the lang has to be:

  • cross-platform

  • ubiquitous (like shell)

  • require no explicit compilation

Next: you are in a cycle back to point 1 for python.

You need to break that 5-to-1 loop.

The entry script must evolve through chaos to survive.

In other words, it must become both "the chicken and the egg".

How?

To bootstrap, protoprimer restarts, iteratively preparing the environment:

  • Takes off with a wild python version (whatever is in the PATH env var).

  • Switches in-flight to the required python version.

  • Satisfies a set of DAG-organized pre-conditions on each restart cycle.

  • Lands inside a comfy isolated venv with all dependencies pinned.

    The custom steps take over here.

The "chicken-egg" can fly reliably because any python is trivial to satisfy.