How do I shut down a side project with Claude Code?

---
name: wind-down-project
title: Wind down a project
description: Wind down a project for good. Finds every service, key, account and person it touches, then shuts each one down with you, one confirmed step at a time, and deletes the local folder last.
---

# Wind down a project

Use this when the person wants a project gone, not just paused: services cancelled, keys revoked, data exported or deleted, collaborators removed, the repo archived, and the folder off their machine.

Hiding or archiving a project doesn't stop anything it runs or pays for. This skill turns those things off, so it goes slowly and asks before anything that can't be undone.

## Rules

- Ask before every step that can't be undone. That means deleting, revoking, cancelling, archiving, removing a person, or removing a DNS record. Say exactly what will happen, then wait for a clear yes. A yes covers only that one step.
- The person does anything involving money or passwords. They cancel paid plans, close billing, delete payment methods, sign in to dashboards, and delete accounts that need a password. Give them the exact page and the button to press, then wait for them to say it's done.
- Never print secret values. Name keys by their variable name and where they're used, never by their value.
- Export before delete. Before removing any data (a database, a storage bucket, analytics, a mailing list, user accounts), offer an export and save it where the person says.
- Other people come first. If the project has users, customers or collaborators, raise that before anything else: they may need notice, a data export, or a refund. Draft those messages for the person to send; never send them yourself.
- Delete the local folder last, only after everything else is done, and only after checking the work is pushed or backed up where the person wants it.

## 1. Take inventory

Read the repo and write `WIND_DOWN.md` at its root: a checklist grouped by kind, each line with where you found it. Change nothing else in this step. Look at:

- Hosting and deploys: `vercel.json`, `.vercel/`, `netlify.toml`, `fly.toml`, `render.yaml`, `Dockerfile`, `app.yaml`, `Procfile`, and `.github/workflows/` (deploy steps, scheduled jobs, secrets they use).
- Databases and backends: `supabase/`, `prisma/`, `firebase.json`, `.firebaserc`, `amplify/`, and connection strings named in env examples.
- Keys and accounts: variable names (not values) in `.env.example` and config. Read `.env*.local` files only with `cut -d= -f1 .env*.local`, which prints the names without the values. Look for payments (Stripe), email (Resend, Postmark, SendGrid), AI (Anthropic, OpenAI), analytics, auth, maps and storage. Each one is an account or key to revoke.
- Keys in the git history: a key that was committed once still works after the file is deleted. List every `.env` file ever committed, then every key name that was ever committed with a value, names only:

      git log --all --format= --name-only | grep -E '(^|/)\.env' | sort -u
      git log -p --all | grep -E '^[+-][A-Z0-9_]*(KEY|TOKEN|SECRET|PASS|DSN|URL|URI)[A-Z0-9_]*=[^[:space:]]' | grep -oE '^[+-][A-Z0-9_]*=' | cut -c2- | sort -u

  The history shows a value was committed, not that it was a real key: it may be a placeholder like `your-key-here`, or a URL with no password in it. List these names for the person, ask which held real keys, and revoke those at their provider even if they're no longer in the files.
- Domains and DNS: custom domains in hosting config, `CNAME` files, and domains mentioned in the README or site. Note the registrar if you can tell.
- App stores and extensions: `ios/`, `android/`, `*.xcodeproj`, `app.json` (Expo), browser extension manifests. Store listings need removing by the person.
- People: the git remote, and if the GitHub CLI is signed in, the collaborators (`gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/collaborators`), open pull requests and issues.
- Scheduled and recurring things: cron jobs, scheduled workflows, uptime monitors, webhooks pointing at this project, and anything that bills per use.
- Where the data lives: databases, buckets, analytics, email lists, and the user accounts the project holds.

Where a command-line tool is installed and signed in (`vercel`, `supabase`, `gh`, `stripe`, `fly`), use it read only to confirm what exists. If it isn't, list the dashboard page for the person to check.

Then show the person the checklist and ask:

1. Anything missing, or anything that should stay?
2. What should be exported, and where should exports go?
3. Does anyone need to be told first?

## 2. Tell people and export data

Draft notices for users, customers and collaborators if any are needed, for the person to send. Run the exports they chose, and confirm each file opens.

## 3. Shut things down, one at a time

Work through the checklist in this order, so nothing keeps running or billing while something it depends on is gone:

1. Scheduled jobs, webhooks and monitors
2. Deploys and hosting projects (they may serve the domain)
3. DNS records and domains (the person decides: keep, let expire, or transfer)
4. Databases and storage, after their exports
5. API keys and tokens: revoke each at its provider, then delete it from CI secrets and env files
6. Paid plans and accounts (the person does these)
7. Collaborators and access
8. App store and extension listings (the person does these)

For each line: say what you're about to do, get a yes, do it or hand it to the person, verify it's gone, and tick it in `WIND_DOWN.md` with the date.

## 4. Archive the repo

Ask whether to archive the GitHub repo (`gh repo archive`), make it private, or leave it. Archiving keeps the history readable and stops new changes. Only delete a repo if the person asks for exactly that, by name.

## 5. Remove the local folder

Last step. Check that `git status` is clean and the default branch is pushed (or that the person has the backup they want). Ask one more time, naming the full path. Then move the folder to the Trash with Finder, not `rm`, so there's a way back:

    osascript -e 'tell application "Finder" to delete POSIX file "/full/path/to/project"'

## Keep this skill current

This is the person's own copy. When they correct you, or a step here turns out wrong or missing for their setup, edit this skill's own `SKILL.md` with the fix (in `.claude/skills/wind-down-project/` in the project, or `~/.claude/skills/wind-down-project/` if it's installed for every project), and tell them in one line what you changed.