suss init

suss init looks at a project, works out which packs it needs, and offers to install them and write the configuration. Run it once when you add suss to a repository, so the later commands need no flags.

suss init [<directory>] [--plain]

Argument or flag	Default	What it does
<directory>	the current directory	Where to look.
--plain	off	Print the commands instead of asking. Piped output and CI print either way.

What it reads

package.json for dependencies, and the directory for schemas and deploy templates. At a monorepo root it also reads the workspace declaration, from package.json workspaces, pnpm-workspace.yaml, lerna.json or turbo.json, and asks which packages to set up.

What it writes

Interactively it asks four things: whether to install the packs, whether to write what it found to suss.json, whether to run the first extract and check, and whether to write a .sussignore and a CI workflow. Installing defaults to yes and writing files defaults to no, so nothing reaches disk unless you accept it.

suss.json is what suss extract reads when it is given no -f, and what suss inspect, suss check and the MCP server read when they are given nothing. Without the file, those commands pick the same packs init would have picked, and print their choice on stderr.

Example

$ suss init --plain

✓ Found 4 things to read in /home/dana/petstore

  Your code
    axios            axios in dependencies
    fetch            TypeScript sources, and fetch reads what the language itself ships

  What your code reaches
    node             TypeScript sources, and node reads what the language itself ships

  Declared contracts
    openapi          an OpenAPI document at openapi.json

1. Install suss

   npm install --save-dev @suss/cli

2. Read each side into one folder

   suss extract -f axios -f fetch -f node -o summaries/code.json
   suss contract --from openapi openapi.json -o summaries/openapi.json

3. Compare them

   suss check --dir summaries/

The plain run continues with a .sussignore sketch and a note on running it in CI.

Exit code

0, always. Declining every question, cancelling, and a failed install all end the same way; a failed install prints what npm said and leaves you the command to retry. Exit codes has the rest.