Implementation:Promptfoo Promptfoo initializeProject

Knowledge Sources	Promptfoo Getting Started
Domains	Templating, Developer_Experience
Last Updated	2026-02-14 08:00 GMT

Overview

Concrete tool for initializing a Promptfoo project with rendered configuration and user-friendly output, provided by the Promptfoo framework.

Description

The initializeProject function wraps createDummyFiles with telemetry recording, error handling for user cancellation (ExitPromptError), and success messaging that guides users to run their first evaluation.

Usage

Import this function as the entry point for the `promptfoo init` CLI command.

Code Reference

Source Location

• Repository: promptfoo
• File: src/onboarding.ts
• Lines: L649-688

Signature

export async function initializeProject(
  directory: string | null,
  interactive: boolean = true,
): Promise<{
  numPrompts: number;
  providerPrefixes: string[];
  action: string;
  language: string;
}>

Import

import { initializeProject } from './onboarding';

I/O Contract

Inputs

Name	Type	Required	Description
directory	string or null	Yes	Target directory (null for current directory)
interactive	boolean	No	Whether to use interactive prompts (default: true)

Outputs

Name	Type	Description
(return)	object	Metadata about what was created: numPrompts, providerPrefixes, action, language

Usage Examples

Initialize New Project

import { initializeProject } from './onboarding';

const details = await initializeProject('./my-project');
// Prints: "Run `promptfoo eval` to get started!"

Related Pages

Implements Principle

• Principle:Promptfoo_Promptfoo_Configuration_Rendering