# Quadlet Creator: Let AI Agents Migrate Docker to Quadlet


`podlet` is enough for simple conversions. But once a Compose stack gets complex, with many containers and long env templates, its mechanical translation falls short: field mapping, volume strategy, and dependency ordering all need manual work. This kind of task suits an AI agent.

[Quadlet Creator](https://git.nite07.com/nite/quadlet-creator-skill) is a skill built for this: feed it a `docker run` command, a Compose file, or a self-hosting repository, and it produces reviewable Quadlet files.

## How It Works

Review-first, three phases:

1. **Planning**: analyze the input, pick the source of truth, and list the deployment decisions that need a human: rootless or rootful, named volume vs bind mount, whether the host port is free, what credentials to fill in. Long env templates get reduced to a short decision list instead of being dumped back.
2. **Finalize**: freeze the design and present a checklist for confirmation.
3. **Execution**: write files only after confirmation. The output covers `.container`/`.pod` files, plus env files, mounted config, and helper scripts.

Two hard rules: unresolved values are never invented, placeholders stay; when Compose and Quadlet do not map cleanly, the behavior change gets called out.

Mapping details and validation logic live in `references/`, with the full `podman-systemd.unit(5)` man page as the authority. When Quadlet option semantics are unclear, it checks the man page instead of trusting model memory.

## Installation

```bash
npx skills add https://git.nite07.com/nite/quadlet-creator-skill.git -g
```

One gotcha when [npx skills](https://github.com/vercel-labs/skills) installs from a self-hosted Gitea repo: the URL must end with `.git`. Without the suffix it treats the URL as a well-known direct link to SKILL.md and fails. For private repos, use an scp-style SSH alias such as `mygit:nite/repo`.

## Usage

Give the agent an input and say what you want:

```text
Create Quadlet configuration files for https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea.
```


---

> Author: Nite  
> URL: https://www.nite07.com/en/posts/quadlet-creator/