Guide · Agent skill
How to use the Corporate Legal Cold-Start Interview agent skill
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
The cold-start-interview skill is a setup interview for corporate lawyers using the claude-for-legal corporate plugin. It works out which corporate practice areas apply to you (M&A, board and secretary work, public company compliance, entity management), asks targeted questions only for those areas, and saves your answers to a practice profile the agent reads in later sessions. This guide covers what the skill does, how to install it, how to trigger it, and what it needs.
Corporate Legal Cold-Start Interviewanthropics/claude-for-legal · Apache-2.0 Download the skill Quick start
- 1Get the skill ZIP. Download the cold-start-interview ZIP from the page where you found this guide.
- 2Unzip it into a skills folder. Unzip into ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder for one project. You can also upload the ZIP under Settings → Capabilities → Skills in the Claude apps.
- 3Confirm the corporate legal plugin is installed. The skill needs the claude-for-legal corporate plugin in Claude Code or a compatible agent. Without it, the skill has nothing to configure.
- 4Start the interview. Ask for the setup in plain language or run the command. Choose quick (about 2 minutes) or full (about 15 minutes) when prompted.
- 5Answer for the modules that apply. Name the practice areas you work in. The skill asks targeted questions only for those modules and writes the results to your CLAUDE.md.
- 6Review the practice profile. Open ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/corporate-legal/CLAUDE.md and check thresholds, memo format and integrations before relying on the output.
What does the cold-start-interview skill make the agent do?
The skill runs a setup interview. It first asks about your role and checks which integrations are connected, then identifies which modules apply to you: M&A, Board and Secretary, Public Company, or Entity Management. It asks targeted questions for each active module and writes only the relevant sections to your plugin config.
It can also seed a diligence request list and one prior issues memo, extract categories, thresholds, memo format and AI tool config from your answers, and handle per-deal context for new transactions.
- Asks which practice areas are live for you before asking detailed questions
- Writes the practice profile to ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/corporate-legal/CLAUDE.md
- For a new transaction, writes deal-context.md into a deals/[code] folder under the same config directory
How do you install the cold-start-interview skill?
Download the skill ZIP from the page you found this guide on. Then install it in one of two ways. You can unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ to make it available across your projects, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder to limit it to that project. Alternatively, upload the ZIP in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
The skill needs the claude-for-legal corporate plugin installed in Claude Code or a compatible agent. The skill itself only reads the SKILL.md file included in the package.
- User-wide: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
- Single project: unzip into the project's .claude/skills/
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the ZIP
How do you trigger the skill with a natural request?
The skill is meant to run in these situations: on a fresh install, when your CLAUDE.md still has [PLACEHOLDER] markers, when you start a new deal, or when you want to re-check integrations or refresh one module. Describe one of those situations in plain language and the agent should pick up the skill. You can also invoke it directly with its command.
Supported arguments are --redo for a full re-interview, --new-deal for per-deal context, --check-integrations to re-run only the connection check, and --module with m&a, board, public or entities to refresh one area.
- "Set up my corporate legal practice profile for the first time."
- "My CLAUDE.md still has placeholders, finish the setup."
- "I'm starting a new deal, capture the deal-specific context."
- "Re-check which integrations are connected."
- "Refresh only the board formats module."
/cold-start-interview [--redo | --new-deal | --check-integrations | --module [m&a | board | public | entities]]What happens during the interview?
The skill checks for an existing CLAUDE.md first. If none exists, it starts the interview. If the file has a pause marker, it offers to resume from that section. If it has placeholders but no pause marker, it offers to start fresh or resume where the placeholders begin. A fully populated file means the setup is already done, and the skill exits unless you pass --redo or --module.
If a shared company profile exists at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/company-profile.md, the skill reads it and asks you to confirm it instead of repeating company questions. Integrations are only marked as connected after a successful test call.
- Quick setup covers role, practice setting, jurisdiction and module selection, plus working defaults
- Full setup adds real materiality thresholds, house formats from seed documents, entity list, compliance cadence and escalation matrix
What are the safety notes for this skill?
The skill does not run scripts and does not use the network, according to its package description. It works by reading and writing plain-text files in your config directory. Its check for integrations only reports a connector as working after an actual tool call succeeds; a connector that is declared but untested is marked as not yet confirmed, with instructions to test it.
The skill is not a substitute for lawyer review. Its output shapes later drafts, so wrong thresholds or formats would silently affect your work. Review the generated profile before relying on it.
- Runs scripts: no
- Uses network: no
- Writes to your config folder only, so review the resulting CLAUDE.md before relying on it
- Check the profile for thresholds and memo formats, since errors carry into later drafts
What tips help the setup go well?
Give specific answers. The skill writes whatever you tell it, so your real materiality cuts and house formats produce more useful output than defaults. If you only practise in one part of corporate law, answer the module questions honestly so the others are skipped.
If you already have a populated CLAUDE.md from an older location, the skill copies it to the config path and tells you what it migrated. For a teammate who only needs one module refreshed, use --module rather than redoing the whole setup.
- Use --module to refresh one area without redoing setup
- Use --new-deal at the start of each transaction for deal-specific context
- Keep the shared company profile current so other legal plugins can read it
What people use it for
- First-time setup of the claude-for-legal corporate plugin for in-house counsel
- Capturing deal-specific context at the start of a new M&A transaction with --new-deal
- Refreshing only the board formats module after a change in board practice
- Re-checking which MCP connectors have actually been tested and are working
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the cold-start-interview skill?
Download the skill ZIP from the page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder. You can also upload the ZIP in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
What does the cold-start-interview skill need to run?
It needs Claude Code or a compatible agent with the claude-for-legal corporate plugin installed. MCP connectors are optional, and the skill only marks one as connected after a successful test call.
Is the cold-start-interview skill free?
The source material for this skill does not state pricing or licence terms beyond its Apache-2.0 licence, so check the repository's licence file for the terms that apply to you.
Does the skill run scripts or use the internet?
According to its package description, the skill runs no scripts and uses no network. It reads and writes files in your plugin config directory.
Can I redo just one part of the setup without starting over?
Yes. Use --module with m&a, board, public or entities to refresh a single module, or --check-integrations to re-run only the connection check.
Can the skill replace a lawyer reviewing my practice profile?
No. The profile shapes later drafts, so wrong thresholds or formats would silently affect them. Review the generated file before relying on it.
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Our verdict
This skill suits in-house counsel and corporate lawyers setting up the claude-for-legal corporate plugin for the first time, or starting a new deal who need context captured. It is not for anyone outside corporate legal practice, who should use a different skill, and it should not replace lawyer review of the profile it creates.
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