scaffold a greenfield repo
You’re spinning up a new repo or boilerplate and need speed, not a PhD in architecture.
recs
| model | best when | avoid when | cost vibe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faster / cheaper cloud model | The stack is familiar, the template is proven, and the scaffold is repetitive Haiku- or Flash-class work. | The project needs novel architecture decisions before the first files are created. | $ |
| Sonnet-class | The constraints are unusual, the layout spans multiple packages, or architectural taste matters. | The job is just making a standard Next app or other well-known boilerplate. | $$$ |
| Local coding model | The greenfield work must stay offline or private and your template library is already strong. | The model struggles to follow instructions across a long scaffold or many generated files. | ~free |
why
- Greenfield scaffolding is mostly pattern recall, and cheap models crush it.
- Frontier spend is wasted unless the stack or constraints are unusual.
- Local models are fine when your template library is already good.
- Save judgment models for the first hard pull request, not folder creation.