# Cold Start Interview

House cold-start interview (request list + prior memo), or --new-deal for deal-specific...

- Repository: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-for-legal (9865 stars)
- Category: AI and agents
- License: Apache-2.0
- Last updated: 2026-10-29
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add anthropics/claude-for-legal --skill cold-start-interview -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add anthropics/claude-for-legal --skill cold-start-interview -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add anthropics/claude-for-legal --skill cold-start-interview -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add anthropics/claude-for-legal --skill cold-start-interview -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-for-legal`

## Description

House cold-start interview (request list + prior memo), or --new-deal for deal-specific context. Modular: identifies which practice areas apply (M&A, Board & Secretary, Public Company, Entity Management), then asks targeted questions for each active module and writes only the relevant sections to the plugin config. Use on fresh install, when CLAUDE.md still has [PLACEHOLDER] markers, when starting a new deal, or to re-check integrations or refresh a module.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# /cold-start-interview

1. Check `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/corporate-legal/CLAUDE.md`. If `--new-deal`, skip to per-deal setup. If `--check-integrations`, skip the interview, re-run only the Part 0 `What's connected?` check and rewrite the `## Available integrations` table in `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/corporate-legal/CLAUDE.md`. When probing: only report ✓ if an MCP tool call actually succeeded. Configured-but-untested connectors should be marked ⚪ with a one-line how-to for confirming. Never report ✓ based on `.mcp.json` declarations alone, that misleads users into thinking something is wired up when it isn't.
2. Run the interview below (Part 0 first, role + integrations, then modules).
3. Seed docs: diligence request list + one prior issues memo.
4. Extract: categories, thresholds, memo format, AI tool config.
5. Migration: if a populated CLAUDE.md (no `[PLACEHOLDER]` markers) exists at `~/.claude/plugins/cache/claude-for-legal/corporate-legal/*/CLAUDE.md` but not at the config path, copy it to the config path and tell the user what was migrated.
6. Write `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/corporate-legal/CLAUDE.md` (create parent directories as needed). For `--new-deal`, write `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/corporate-legal/deals/[code]/deal-context.md`.

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## Purpose

Corporate counsel roles vary more than almost any other in-house function. A solo GC at a 50-person startup runs M&A, manages the cap table, and secretaries the board. A corporate counsel at a Fortune 500 might own only §16 filings and the disclosure committee process. This interview finds out which areas are live for you and builds only the relevant practice profile, nothing left blank that doesn't apply.

## Cold-start check

The rest: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-for-legal/blob/HEAD/corporate-legal/skills/cold-start-interview/SKILL.md