Launch a new project from an editor keyboard shortcut

Interactive project launcher: prompts for a project name via rstudioapi::showPrompt(), builds a path from root (and an optional dated subdirectory), and creates the project with create_project(). It is designed to be bound to a key chord so that a single keystroke scaffolds and opens a fresh project. The prompt shows the destination directory (including the dated subdirectory when date = TRUE), and re-prompts with a hint if the entered name is invalid rather than aborting.

Usage

launch_project(
  theme,
  root = getOption("prefab.project_root", "~"),
  date = FALSE,
  slug = getOption("prefab.project_slug", TRUE),
  open = rlang::is_interactive(),
  label = NULL
)

Arguments

theme: A prefab_theme object created by new_theme() or a pre-set theme function. Required; there is no default, so each key chord names the theme it applies.
root: Directory under which the project is created. Defaults to the prefab.project_root option, or the home directory ("~") if unset.
date: Whether to nest the project under a YYYY-MM-DD subdirectory of root (useful for dated, one-off projects). Defaults to FALSE.
slug: Whether to slugify the entered name into a filesystem-safe directory name (lower-case, non-alphanumeric runs collapsed to _). Defaults to the prefab.project_slug option, or TRUE if unset. When FALSE, the name is used verbatim and validated, erroring on characters that are unsafe in a path component.
open: Whether to activate the new project after creating it. Passed to create_project(), following the convention of usethis::create_project(): when TRUE, the project opens in a new session/window in RStudio/Positron, or in other editors the working directory of the active session is changed into the new project. Defaults to rlang::is_interactive().
label: Optional prompt-window title, used to show which theme a key chord will apply (e.g. "r_targets + claude_r_targets"). Because a prefab_theme object does not retain the names used to build it, pass a human-readable label here. Defaults to "New project folder".

Value

The normalized project path (invisibly), or NULL if the prompt is cancelled or left empty.

Details

Bind it in Positron by running it via workbench.action.executeCode.console, for example in keybindings.json:

{
  "key": "Ctrl+P N",
  "command": "workbench.action.executeCode.console",
  "args": {
    "langId": "r",
    "code": "prefab::launch_project(prefab::r_analysis(), label = 'r_analysis')",
    "focus": false
  }
}

Use one chord per theme (mirroring how the built-in themes are composed) to get a menu of launchers, e.g. a second binding with prefab::launch_project(prefab::r_targets() + prefab::claude_r_targets()).

For programmatic (non-interactive) project creation from a known path, use create_project() directly.