Create R Package

Scaffold a fully configured R package with modern tooling and best practices.

When to Use

• Starting a new R package from scratch
• Converting loose R scripts into a package
• Setting up a package skeleton for collaborative development

Inputs

• Required: Package name (lowercase, no special characters except .)
• Required: One-line description of the package purpose
• Optional: License type (default: MIT)
• Optional: Author information (name, email, ORCID)
• Optional: Whether to initialize renv (default: yes)

Procedure

Step 1: Create Package Skeleton

usethis::create_package("packagename")
setwd("packagename")

Expected: Directory created with DESCRIPTION, NAMESPACE, R/, and man/ subdirectories.

On failure: Ensure usethis is installed (install.packages("usethis")). Check that the directory does not already exist.

Step 2: Configure DESCRIPTION

Edit DESCRIPTION with accurate metadata:

Package: packagename
Title: What the Package Does (Title Case)
Version: 0.1.0
Authors@R:
    person("First", "Last", , "email@example.com", role = c("aut", "cre"),
           comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0000-0000-0000"))
Description: One paragraph describing what the package does. Must be more
    than one sentence. Avoid starting with "This package".
License: MIT + file LICENSE
Encoding: UTF-8
Roxygen: list(markdown = TRUE)
RoxygenNote: 7.3.2
URL: https://github.com/username/packagename
BugReports: https://github.com/username/packagename/issues

Expected: Valid DESCRIPTION that passes R CMD check with no metadata warnings.

On failure: If R CMD check warns about DESCRIPTION fields, verify that Title is in Title Case, Description is more than one sentence, and Authors@R uses valid person() syntax.

Step 3: Set Up Infrastructure

usethis::use_mit_license()
usethis::use_readme_md()
usethis::use_news_md()
usethis::use_testthat(edition = 3)
usethis::use_git()
usethis::use_github_action("check-standard")

Expected: LICENSE, README.md, NEWS.md, tests/ directory, .git/ initialized, and .github/workflows/ created.

On failure: If any usethis::use_*() function fails, install the missing dependency and rerun. If .git/ already exists, use_git() will skip initialization.

Step 4: Create Development Configuration

Create .Rprofile:

if (file.exists("renv/activate.R")) {
  source("renv/activate.R")
}

if (requireNamespace("mcptools", quietly = TRUE)) {
  mcptools::mcp_session()
}

Create .Renviron.example:

RSTUDIO_PANDOC="C:/Program Files/RStudio/resources/app/bin/quarto/bin/tools"
# GITHUB_PAT=your_github_token_here

Create .Rbuildignore entries:

^\.Rprofile$
^\.Renviron$
^\.Renviron\.example$
^renv$
^renv\.lock$
^CLAUDE\.md$
^\.github$
^.*\.Rproj$

Expected: .Rprofile, .Renviron.example, and .Rbuildignore are created. Development files are excluded from the built package.

On failure: If .Rprofile causes errors on startup, check for syntax issues. Ensure requireNamespace() guards prevent failures when optional packages are missing.

Step 5: Initialize renv

renv::init()

Expected: renv/ directory and renv.lock created. Project-local library is active.

On failure: Install renv with install.packages("renv"). If renv hangs during initialization, check network connectivity or set options(timeout = 600).

Step 6: Create Package Documentation File

Create R/packagename-package.R:

#' @keywords internal
"_PACKAGE"

## usethis namespace: start
## usethis namespace: end
NULL

Expected: R/packagename-package.R exists with the "_PACKAGE" sentinel. Running devtools::document() generates package-level help.

On failure: Ensure the filename matches the pattern R/<packagename>-package.R. The "_PACKAGE" string must be a standalone expression, not inside a function.

Step 7: Create CLAUDE.md

Create CLAUDE.md in the project root with project-specific instructions for AI assistants.

Expected: CLAUDE.md exists in the project root with project-specific editing conventions, build commands, and architecture notes.

On failure: If unsure what to include, start with the package name, a one-line description, common dev commands (devtools::check(), devtools::test()), and any non-obvious conventions.

Validation

• devtools::check() returns 0 errors, 0 warnings
• Package structure matches expected layout
• .Rprofile loads without errors
• renv::status() shows no issues
• Git repository initialized with appropriate .gitignore
• GitHub Actions workflow file present

Common Pitfalls

• Package name conflicts: Check CRAN with available::available("packagename") before committing to a name
• Missing .Rbuildignore entries: Development files (.Rprofile, .Renviron, renv/) must be excluded from the built package
• Forgetting Encoding: Always include Encoding: UTF-8 in DESCRIPTION
• RoxygenNote mismatch: The version in DESCRIPTION must match your installed roxygen2

Examples

# Minimal creation
usethis::create_package("myanalysis")

# Full setup in one session
usethis::create_package("myanalysis")
usethis::use_mit_license()
usethis::use_testthat(edition = 3)
usethis::use_readme_md()
usethis::use_git()
usethis::use_github_action("check-standard")
renv::init()

Related Skills

• write-roxygen-docs - document the functions you create
• write-testthat-tests - add tests for your package
• setup-github-actions-ci - detailed CI/CD configuration
• manage-renv-dependencies - manage package dependencies
• write-claude-md - create effective AI assistant instructions