@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) CURRENT_YEAR PROJECT_OWNER
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ package_manager="${REPO_FOUNDRY_PACKAGE_MANAGER:-auto}"
 bootstrap=true
 release_type="${REPO_FOUNDRY_RELEASE_TYPE:-auto}"
 npm_publish="${REPO_FOUNDRY_NPM_PUBLISH:-false}"
+license="${REPO_FOUNDRY_LICENSE:-agpl-3.0-or-later}"
+license_file="${REPO_FOUNDRY_LICENSE_FILE:-}"
 tool_dir=""
 
 cleanup() {
@@ -35,6 +37,8 @@ Options:
                              ci,codeql,security,test,draft-pr,release-pr,release,dependabot
   --package-manager NAME     auto, bun, pnpm, yarn, or npm
   --release-type NAME        auto, node, python, rust, or simple
+  --license NAME             agpl-3.0-or-later, mit, preserve, or none
+  --license-file PATH        Use an exact custom license file
   --npm-publish              Enable npm publication in the release workflow
   --dry-run                  Preview changes without writing files
   --prune                    Remove disabled standard workflows (never custom workflows)
@@ -58,6 +62,8 @@ while [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; do
     --features) features="${2:?missing feature list}"; shift 2 ;;
     --package-manager) package_manager="${2:?missing package manager}"; shift 2 ;;
     --release-type) release_type="${2:?missing release type}"; shift 2 ;;
+    --license) license="${2:?missing license}"; shift 2 ;;
+    --license-file) license_file="${2:?missing license file}"; shift 2 ;;
     --npm-publish) npm_publish=true; shift ;;
     --dry-run) dry_run=true; shift ;;
     --prune) prune=true; shift ;;
@@ -99,7 +105,9 @@ sync_args=(
   --languages "$languages"
   --features "$features"
   --package-manager "$package_manager"
+  --license "$license"
 )
+if [ -n "$license_file" ]; then sync_args+=(--license-file "$license_file"); fi
 if [ "$dry_run" = true ]; then sync_args+=(--check); else sync_args+=(--apply); fi
 if [ "$prune" = true ]; then sync_args+=(--prune); fi
 bash "$sync_script" "${sync_args[@]}"
@@ -117,6 +125,7 @@ features="$(awk -F': ' '/^features:/ {print $2; exit}' .github/template.yml 2>/d
 package_manager="$(awk -F': ' '/^package_manager:/ {print $2; exit}' .github/template.yml 2>/dev/null || true)"
 release_type="$(awk -F': ' '/^release_type:/ {print $2; exit}' .github/template.yml 2>/dev/null || true)"
 npm_publish="$(awk -F': ' '/^npm_publish:/ {print $2; exit}' .github/template.yml 2>/dev/null || true)"
+license="$(awk -F': ' '/^license:/ {print $2; exit}' .github/template.yml 2>/dev/null || true)"
 {
   printf 'version: 1\n'
   if [ -n "$template_ref" ]; then
@@ -128,6 +137,7 @@ npm_publish="$(awk -F': ' '/^npm_publish:/ {print $2; exit}' .github/template.ym
   printf 'package_manager: %s\n' "$package_manager"
   printf 'release_type: %s\n' "$release_type"
   printf 'npm_publish: %s\n' "$npm_publish"
+  printf 'license: %s\n' "$license"
 } > .github/template.yml
 
 if [ "$bootstrap" = false ]; then
 
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ Options:
   --languages LIST  auto or comma-separated: typescript,rust,python,solidity
   --features LIST   all or comma-separated standard features
   --package-manager NAME  auto, bun, pnpm, yarn, or npm
+  --license NAME     preserve, agpl-3.0-or-later, mit, or none
+  --license-file PATH  Use an exact custom license file
   --check           Preview changes (default)
   --apply           Apply changes
   --prune           Remove disabled standard workflows
@@ -39,10 +41,14 @@ package_manager_set=false
 template_ref=""
 release_type="${REPO_FOUNDRY_RELEASE_TYPE:-auto}"
 npm_publish="${REPO_FOUNDRY_NPM_PUBLISH:-false}"
+license="${REPO_FOUNDRY_LICENSE:-preserve}"
+license_file="${REPO_FOUNDRY_LICENSE_FILE:-}"
 release_type_set=false
 npm_publish_set=false
+license_set=false
 [ -n "${REPO_FOUNDRY_RELEASE_TYPE:-}" ] && release_type_set=true
 [ -n "${REPO_FOUNDRY_NPM_PUBLISH:-}" ] && npm_publish_set=true
+[ -n "${REPO_FOUNDRY_LICENSE:-}" ] && license_set=true
 node_version="24.18.0"
 bun_version="1.3.14"
 python_version="3.13"
@@ -96,6 +102,8 @@ while [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; do
     --languages) languages="${2:?missing language list}"; languages_set=true; shift 2 ;;
     --features) features="${2:?missing feature list}"; features_set=true; shift 2 ;;
     --package-manager) package_manager="${2:?missing package manager}"; package_manager_set=true; shift 2 ;;
+    --license) license="${2:?missing license}"; license_set=true; shift 2 ;;
+    --license-file) license_file="${2:?missing license file}"; shift 2 ;;
     --check) mode="check"; shift ;;
     --apply) mode="apply"; shift ;;
     --prune) prune=true; shift ;;
@@ -130,6 +138,10 @@ if [ -f .github/template.yml ]; then
     configured_npm_publish="$(awk -F': ' '/^npm_publish:/ {print $2; exit}' .github/template.yml)"
     [ -n "$configured_npm_publish" ] && npm_publish="$configured_npm_publish"
   fi
+  if [ "$license_set" != true ]; then
+    configured_license="$(awk -F': ' '/^license:/ {print $2; exit}' .github/template.yml)"
+    [ -n "$configured_license" ] && license="$configured_license"
+  fi
 fi
 [ -n "$package_manager" ] || package_manager=auto
 case "$package_manager" in
@@ -146,6 +158,10 @@ contains_word "$valid_release_types" "$release_type" || {
   printf 'Unsupported release type: %s\n' "$release_type" >&2
   exit 2
 }
+case "$license" in
+  preserve|agpl-3.0-or-later|mit|none) ;;
+  *) printf 'Unsupported license: %s\n' "$license" >&2; exit 2 ;;
+esac
 
 if [ -d "$source" ] && [ -f "$source/.github/scripts/sync-template.sh" ]; then
   template_root="$source"
@@ -276,6 +292,12 @@ for file in "${files[@]}"; do
     echo "Template file missing: $file" >&2
     exit 1
   fi
+  if { [ "$file" = LICENSE ] || [ "$file" = NOTICE ]; } && [ "$license" = preserve ] && [ -f "$file" ]; then
+    continue
+  fi
+  if { [ "$file" = LICENSE ] || [ "$file" = NOTICE ]; } && [ "$license" = none ]; then
+    continue
+  fi
   if [ "$file" = .github/CODEOWNERS ] && [ -f "$file" ]; then
     continue
   fi
@@ -315,6 +337,37 @@ for file in "${files[@]}"; do
   fi
 done
 
+write_license() {
+  local owner license_source
+  [ "$license" != preserve ] || return 0
+  [ "$license" != none ] || return 0
+  if [ -n "$license_file" ]; then
+    [ -f "$license_file" ] || { printf 'License file not found: %s\n' "$license_file" >&2; exit 1; }
+    license_source="$license_file"
+  else
+    case "$license" in
+      agpl-3.0-or-later) license_source="$template_root/LICENSE" ;;
+      mit) license_source="$template_root/.github/licenses/MIT.txt" ;;
+    esac
+    [ -f "$license_source" ] || { printf 'License template missing: %s\n' "$license_source" >&2; exit 1; }
+  fi
+  changed=$((changed + 1))
+  if [ "$mode" = check ]; then
+    printf 'Would generate LICENSE (%s)\n' "$license"
+    return
+  fi
+  owner="${REPO_FOUNDRY_LICENSE_OWNER:-$(git config user.name 2>/dev/null || true)}"
+  [ -n "$owner" ] || owner="Project contributors"
+  sed "s/PROJECT_OWNER/$owner/g; s/CURRENT_YEAR/$(date +%Y)/g" "$license_source" > LICENSE
+  {
+    printf 'Copyright (C) %s %s\n\n' "$(date +%Y)" "$owner"
+    printf 'This repository is distributed under %s.\n' "$license"
+  } > NOTICE
+  printf 'Generated LICENSE and NOTICE for %s.\n' "$license"
+}
+
+write_license
+
 # Release Please owns changelog updates after initialization. Preserve an
 # existing project history, but give new repositories the expected file.
 if [ ! -f CHANGELOG.md ]; then
@@ -458,6 +511,7 @@ if [ "$mode" = "apply" ]; then
     fi
     printf 'release_type: %s\n' "$release_type"
     printf 'npm_publish: %s\n' "$npm_publish"
+    printf 'license: %s\n' "$license"
   } > .github/template.yml
 fi
 
 
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ features: all
 package_manager: bun
 release_type: node
 npm_publish: true
+license: agpl-3.0-or-later
 runner: ubuntu-latest
 unit_runner: ubuntu-slim
 cache_packages: auto
 
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ features: all
 package_manager: auto
 release_type: auto
 npm_publish: false
+license: preserve
 runner: ubuntu-latest
 unit_runner: ubuntu-slim
 cache_packages: auto
 
@@ -28,6 +28,18 @@ npx code-foundry init \
 Use `code-foundry sync` to update an existing repository and
 `code-foundry doctor` to validate it. Add `--dry-run` to preview changes.
 
+Choose the license during initialization without editing generated files:
+
+```bash
+npx code-foundry init --license mit
+npx code-foundry init --license agpl-3.0-or-later
+npx code-foundry init --license-file ./legal/LICENSE.txt
+```
+
+Initialization defaults to AGPL for new repositories. Synchronization defaults
+to `--license preserve`, so an existing repository's license is never replaced
+unless you explicitly select a license or provide `--license-file`.
+
 ## Setup
 
 1. Install [mise](https://mise.jdx.dev/).
@@ -36,10 +48,13 @@ Use `code-foundry sync` to update an existing repository and
 
 ## Applying the baseline to an existing repository
 
-Run the sync script from the repository root. It updates shared workflows, GitHub forms, hooks, policy files, and tool configuration while preserving the repository's README, `.mise.toml` selections, extra workflows, and application code.
+Run the package entrypoint from the repository root. It updates shared
+workflows, GitHub forms, hooks, policy files, and tool configuration while
+preserving the repository's README, `.mise.toml` selections, extra workflows,
+licenses, and application code.
 
 ```bash
-bash .github/scripts/init-repo.sh
+npx code-foundry init
 ```
 
 Use `bash .github/scripts/sync-template.sh --source ... --check` to preview differences. For local template development, pass the template checkout as `--source` and `--ref staging`.
 
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ Init/sync options:
   --features LIST           all or ci,codeql,security,test,draft-pr,release-pr,release,dependabot
   --package-manager NAME    auto, bun, pnpm, yarn, or npm
   --release-type NAME        auto, node, python, rust, simple, or none
+  --license NAME             agpl-3.0-or-later, mit, preserve, or none
+  --license-file PATH        Use an exact custom license file
   --npm-publish              Enable npm publication in the release workflow
   --dry-run                 Preview changes without writing files
   --prune                   Remove disabled standard workflows
@@ -47,6 +49,8 @@ function parseArgs(argv) {
     features: process.env.REPO_FOUNDRY_FEATURES || 'all',
     packageManager: process.env.REPO_FOUNDRY_PACKAGE_MANAGER || 'auto',
     releaseType: process.env.REPO_FOUNDRY_RELEASE_TYPE || 'auto',
+    license: process.env.REPO_FOUNDRY_LICENSE || (command === 'init' ? 'agpl-3.0-or-later' : 'preserve'),
+    licenseFile: process.env.REPO_FOUNDRY_LICENSE_FILE || '',
     npmPublish: process.env.REPO_FOUNDRY_NPM_PUBLISH === 'true',
     languagesSet: false,
     featuresSet: false,
@@ -64,6 +68,8 @@ function parseArgs(argv) {
     ['--features', 'features'],
     ['--package-manager', 'packageManager'],
     ['--release-type', 'releaseType'],
+    ['--license', 'license'],
+    ['--license-file', 'licenseFile'],
   ])
 
   while (argv.length) {
@@ -107,6 +113,8 @@ function main() {
   const { command, options } = parseArgs(process.argv.slice(2))
   const target = resolve(options.target)
   const common = ['--source', options.source, '--ref', options.ref]
+  common.push('--license', options.license)
+  if (options.licenseFile) common.push('--license-file', options.licenseFile)
   if (options.languagesSet) common.push('--languages', options.languages)
   if (options.featuresSet) common.push('--features', options.features)
   if (options.prune) common.push('--prune')
@@ -122,7 +130,9 @@ function main() {
       '--features', options.features,
       '--package-manager', options.packageManager,
       '--release-type', options.releaseType,
+      '--license', options.license,
     ]
+    if (options.licenseFile) initArgs.push('--license-file', options.licenseFile)
     if (options.protection) initArgs.push('--protection')
     if (options.dryRun) initArgs.push('--dry-run')
     if (options.prune) initArgs.push('--prune')