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Quick Start

Configuration Setup

Before creating projects, initialize your configuration:

# Interactive setup
mintd config setup

This ensures your storage buckets and registry settings are correctly configured. See the Configuration Guide for more details.

Basic Usage

# Create a data processing project (language required)
mintd create data --name hospital_project --lang python

# Create a research analysis project
mintd create project --name cost_study --lang r

# Track a code-only repo (metadata only, no scaffold)
mintd create code --name mylib --lang python

Note: mintd create code only drops a metadata.json for governance/mirroring — no directory scaffold. See Project Types for details.

Exploring Data Products

Data products are versioned, validated datasets produced by mintd create data projects. Before importing one into your research project, you can clone it and pull the data:

# Clone the product repo and pull its primary data
mintd data pull aha-annual-survey

# Or pull all data (not just the primary product)
mintd data pull aha-annual-survey --all

# Then import into your project as a tracked dependency
mintd data import aha-annual-survey

mintd data pull <product> works from any directory -- no project setup required. See the CLI Reference for all options.

With Data Product Catalog

# Create projects with automatic registration to the Data Product Catalog
mintd create data --name hospital_project --lang python --register
mintd create project --name cost_study --lang stata --register

# Check registration status
mintd registry status hospital_project

# Register existing projects
mintd registry register --path /path/to/existing/project

With Custom Options

# Create in specific directory with custom settings
mintd create data --name mydata --path /projects --bucket my-custom-bucket

# Create projects with specific programming languages (now required)
mintd create data --name hospital_project --lang r
mintd create project --name analysis --lang stata

# Skip version control initialization
mintd create project --name analysis --no-git --no-dvc

# Register with Data Product Catalog
mintd create data --name hospital_project --register

# Use current directory (when in existing git repo)
cd existing-git-repo
mintd create data --name mydata --use-current-repo

Using Existing Git Repositories

mintd supports scaffolding projects directly in existing git repositories using the --use-current-repo flag. This is useful when you want to add mintd's standardized project structure to an existing codebase.

Requirements

  • You must be in a git repository
  • Only works with git-initialized directories

Example Usage

# Navigate to existing git repository
cd my-existing-project

# Scaffold mintd project structure in current directory
mintd create data --name hospital_project --use-current-repo

# Result: Project files created directly in my-existing-project/
# ├── README.md (mintd-generated)
# ├── metadata.json
# ├── data/
# ├── src/
# └── .gitignore

What Happens

  • No subdirectory created: Unlike normal usage, no data_hospital_project/ folder is created
  • Git integration: Uses existing git repository, adds and commits new files
  • File conflicts: Warning displayed if existing files would be overwritten
  • Same functionality: All other mintd features work normally (DVC, templates, etc.)

When to Use

  • Adding mintd structure to existing research projects
  • Converting legacy projects to standardized format
  • Working within established repository conventions
  • Collaborating on projects with existing git history