riot init

riot init is the normal way to create a new Riot workspace from nothing.

riot init hello
cd hello

That command exists so the first interaction with Riot is not “manually assemble a pile of files and hope they match the toolchain’s expectations.”

What riot init should give you

A healthy initialization command should create:

• a workspace root
• package metadata
• a starter src/ layout
• a project that immediately works with riot build, riot run, and riot test

That means the real success check is not whether the files exist. It is whether the resulting workspace actually enters the normal toolchain loop.

After initialization

The next commands should be:

riot build
riot run hello
riot test

If those work, the scaffold is doing its job.

When to use riot init

Use riot init when:

• there is no workspace yet
• you want the default Riot project shape
• you want the shortest path to a real package

If a workspace already exists and you are adding more surface area within it, move to riot new instead.