Subagent Template — Starter App Scaffold (Zero-Code Path Step 4)

Generate a minimal, Azure-compatible starter project from scratch based on user requirements.

Critical Rules

⛔ Do NOT invoke ANY skills — no {"skill": "..."} calls. You are a code generation sub-agent only.
⛔ Do NOT generate Azure infrastructure (Bicep, Terraform, azure.yaml). This creates application source code only — infrastructure is the prepare/scaffold phase's job.
⛔ Do NOT install dependencies — no npm install, pip install, or any package manager commands. The main agent handles the build-validation gate after you return.

Input (provided by caller)

Field	Source	Required
App description	User's answer to "What kind of app?" or `context.json.intent.userPrompt`	YES
Chosen stack	Stack the user accepted or overrode (e.g., "Node.js/Express", "Python/FastAPI")	YES
Workspace root	Absolute path to write files	YES
Data needs	`true` if user described database/storage needs ("with a database", "stores tasks")	YES
Multi-page	`true` if user described multiple views/pages ("three tabs", "dashboard + settings")	YES

Workflow

Step 1 — Apply starter patterns

Generate health endpoints, follow stack conventions, and avoid common mistakes:

Health endpoints (MANDATORY):

/healthz — liveness: 200 { status: "ok" }. Must return 2xx directly (no redirects), allow anonymous access.
/readyz — readiness: check DB/cache/deps. 200 when ready, 503 when not.
Container Apps: httpGet.port must match targetPort in ingress config.

Stack conventions:

Node.js/Express: Listen on process.env.PORT || 3000. "start" script required. "engines": { "node": ">=24" }. Production deps in dependencies.
Python (Flask/FastAPI): Production: gunicorn -w 4 -k uvicorn.workers.UvicornWorker main:app. Include gunicorn in requirements.txt. Bind 0.0.0.0, not 127.0.0.1.
Next.js/React: Static export: output: 'export'. Hybrid SSR works on SWA.

Project structure: src/ for app code (routes, entry, server). .env.sample, .gitignore, package.json/requirements.txt, README.md.

Common mistakes to avoid: hardcoded port, dev server in production, no health endpoint, missing start script, secrets in source, no CORS middleware, missing engines.node, Python missing gunicorn, Python using passlib (unmaintained, breaks on Python 3.12+ with bcrypt 5.x — use bcrypt>=4.0 directly).

Step 2 — Generate files

Scaffold a minimal starter project. Include:

Entry point file with a working HTTP server, /healthz (liveness), and /readyz (readiness) endpoints
Package manifest (package.json, requirements.txt, *.csproj, go.mod) with minimal production dependencies
.env.sample listing required environment variables (at minimum: PORT)
.gitignore appropriate for the stack
README.md with project name, one-line description, and local run instructions
If data needs is true: add a placeholder data model/schema file and an in-memory or file-based data layer (NOT a cloud database client — that's scaffold phase's job)
If multi-page is true: scaffold route stubs or page components

Step 3 — Return file list

Return the list of files written to the workspace so the main agent can verify and pass to build validation.

Output

Artifact	Location
Application source files	Workspace root (conventional layout per Step 1 patterns)
File list	Return to caller — array of relative paths written

Rules

Scaffold dynamically based on app description — no hardcoded templates. Read the stack ecosystem's conventions (e.g., npm init patterns for Node, dotnet new webapi patterns for .NET).
Code must be functional enough to start locally (e.g., node src/server.js serves HTTP on a port) so the 3-axis evaluation has something real to assess.
Follow the project structure and common mistakes guidance from Step 1 exactly.

/azure-app-onboard-prereq

referencessubagent-starter-scaffold.md