#1695: Clone settings to temporary directory, analyse, and then move

CHANGELOG.adoc

@@ -5,14 +5,15 @@ This file documents all notable changes to https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy[IDE
 == 2026.09.002
 
 Release with new features and bugfixes:
-
+* https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/1695[#1695]: Project creation logic extended with health checks and removed `--code` flag.
 
 The full list of changes for this release can be found in https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/milestone/50?closed=1[milestone 2026.09.002].
 
 == 2026.09.001
 
 Release with new features and bugfixes:
 
+* https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/1695[#1695]: Project creation logic extended with health checks and removed `--code` flag.
 * https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/1525[#1525]: Document known issue and workaround for lombok plugin in Eclipse
 * https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/1031[#1031]: Added OpenRewrite commandlet
 * https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/issues/2361[#2361]: Improve dotnet installation by setting DOTNET_ROOT

cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/cli/CliException.java

@@ -64,4 +64,15 @@ public int getExitCode() {
     return this.exitCode;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @return {@code true} if this exception has to be re-thrown from a {@link com.devonfw.tools.ide.step.Step Step} even if that {@code Step} was not asked to
+   *     re-throw errors, {@code false} otherwise (default). A regular error only makes the according {@code Step} fail while the overall process continues with
+   *     the next step. However, if a critical guardrail was violated (e.g. no valid settings could be established) continuing makes no sense and the entire
+   *     process has to be aborted.
+   */
+  public boolean isForceRethrowInStep() {
+
+    return false;
+  }
+
 }

cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/cli/CliFatalException.java

@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+package com.devonfw.tools.ide.cli;
+
+/**
+ * {@link CliException} that aborts the entire CLI process when a critical guardrail fails (e.g. the settings repository could not be cloned or is not a valid
+ * settings repository). Unlike a regular error that only makes the current {@link com.devonfw.tools.ide.step.Step Step} fail while the overall process
+ * continues, this exception {@link #isForceRethrowInStep() is always re-thrown} so no further step is executed in an invalid state.
+ */
+public final class CliFatalException extends CliException {
+
+  /**
+   * The constructor.
+   *
+   * @param message the {@link #getMessage() message}.
+   */
+  public CliFatalException(String message) {
+
+    super(message);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * The constructor.
+   *
+   * @param message the {@link #getMessage() message}.
+   * @param cause the {@link #getCause() cause}.
+   */
+  public CliFatalException(String message, Throwable cause) {
+
+    super(message, cause);
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public boolean isForceRethrowInStep() {
+
+    return true;
+  }
+}

cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/commandlet/CommandletManagerImpl.java

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.cli.CliArgument;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.cli.CliArguments;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.cleanup.CleanupCommandlet;
+import com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.update.UpdateCommandlet;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.completion.CompletionCandidateCollector;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.context.IdeContext;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.git.repository.RepositoryCommandlet;

cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/commandlet/CreateCommandlet.java

@@ -7,10 +7,10 @@
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
+import com.devonfw.tools.ide.commandlet.update.AbstractUpdateCommandlet;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.context.IdeContext;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.io.FileAccess;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.log.IdeLogLevel;
-import com.devonfw.tools.ide.property.FlagProperty;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.property.StringProperty;
 import com.devonfw.tools.ide.version.IdeVersion;
 
@@ -24,9 +24,6 @@ public class CreateCommandlet extends AbstractUpdateCommandlet {
   /** {@link StringProperty} for the name of the new project */
   public final StringProperty newProject;
 
-  /** {@link FlagProperty} for creating a project with settings inside a code repository */
-  public final FlagProperty codeRepositoryFlag;
-
   /**
    * The constructor.
    *
@@ -36,7 +33,6 @@ public CreateCommandlet(IdeContext context) {
 
     super(context);
     this.newProject = add(new StringProperty("", true, "project"));
-    this.codeRepositoryFlag = add(new FlagProperty("--code"));
     add(this.settingsRepo);
   }
 
@@ -55,42 +51,43 @@ public boolean isIdeHomeRequired() {
   @Override
   protected void doRun() {
 
-    String newProjectName = this.newProject.getValue();
-    Path newProjectPath = this.context.getIdeRoot().resolve(newProjectName);
-
+    Path newProjectPath = getNewProjectPath();
     LOG.info("Creating new IDEasy project in {}", newProjectPath);
-    if (!this.context.getFileAccess().isEmptyDir(newProjectPath)) {
+    FileAccess fileAccess = this.context.getFileAccess();
+    if (!fileAccess.isEmptyDir(newProjectPath)) {
       this.context.askToContinue("Directory {} already exists. Do you want to continue?", newProjectPath);
-    } else {
-      this.context.getFileAccess().mkdirs(newProjectPath);
+      fileAccess.backup(newProjectPath);
     }
 
-    initializeProject(newProjectPath);
-    this.context.setIdeHome(newProjectPath);
     super.doRun();
     this.context.getFileAccess().writeFileContent(IdeVersion.getVersionString(), newProjectPath.resolve(IdeContext.FILE_SOFTWARE_VERSION));
-    IdeLogLevel.SUCCESS.log(LOG, "Successfully created new project '{}'.", newProjectName);
-
+    IdeLogLevel.SUCCESS.log(LOG, "Successfully created new project '{}'.", this.newProject.getValue());
     logWelcomeMessage();
   }
 
-  private void initializeProject(Path newInstancePath) {
+  @Override
+  protected void onSettingHealthCheckFinished() {
+
+    // only called after the settings passed the health check
+    Path newProjectPath = getNewProjectPath();
 
     FileAccess fileAccess = this.context.getFileAccess();
-    fileAccess.mkdirs(newInstancePath.resolve(IdeContext.FOLDER_SOFTWARE));
-    fileAccess.mkdirs(newInstancePath.resolve(IdeContext.FOLDER_PLUGINS));
-    fileAccess.mkdirs(newInstancePath.resolve(IdeContext.FOLDER_WORKSPACES).resolve(IdeContext.WORKSPACE_MAIN));
+    fileAccess.mkdirs(newProjectPath);
+    this.context.setIdeHome(newProjectPath);
+    fileAccess.mkdirs(newProjectPath.resolve(IdeContext.FOLDER_SOFTWARE));
+    fileAccess.mkdirs(newProjectPath.resolve(IdeContext.FOLDER_PLUGINS));
+    fileAccess.mkdirs(newProjectPath.resolve(IdeContext.FOLDER_WORKSPACES).resolve(IdeContext.WORKSPACE_MAIN));
   }
 
-  @Override
-  protected boolean isCodeRepository() {
-    return this.codeRepositoryFlag.isTrue();
+  private Path getNewProjectPath() {
+
+    return this.context.getIdeRoot().resolve(this.newProject.getValue());
   }
 
   @Override
   protected String getStepMessage() {
 
-    return "Create (clone) " + (isCodeRepository() ? "code" : "settings") + " repository";
+    return "Create (clone) repository";
   }
 
   private void logWelcomeMessage() {

cli/src/main/java/com/devonfw/tools/ide/commandlet/StatusCommandlet.java

@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ private void logSettingsGitStatus() {
     } else {
       GitContext gitContext = this.context.getGitContext();
       if (gitContext.isRepositoryUpdateAvailable(settingsPath, this.context.getSettingsCommitIdPath())) {
-        if (!this.context.isSettingsCodeRepository()) {
+        if (!this.context.isCombinedSettingsCodeRepository()) {
           LOG.warn("Your settings are not up-to-date, please run 'ide update'.");
         }
       } else {