Create R Package

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

When Use

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

Inputs

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

Steps

Step 1: Create Package Skeleton

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

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

If fail: Confirm usethis installed (install.packages("usethis")). Check 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 protected]", 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

Got: Valid DESCRIPTION passing R CMD check with no metadata warnings.

If fail: R CMD check warns about DESCRIPTION fields? Verify Title in Title Case, Description more than one sentence, 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")

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

If fail: Any usethis::use_*() function fails? Install missing dependency, rerun. .git/ already exists? use_git() skips init.

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$

Got: .Rprofile, .Renviron.example, .Rbuildignore created. Development files dropped from built package.

If fail: .Rprofile causes startup errors? Check syntax. Confirm requireNamespace() guards stop failures when optional packages missing.

Step 5: Initialize renv

renv::init()

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

If fail: Install renv with install.packages("renv"). renv hangs during init? Check network. 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

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

If fail: Confirm filename matches pattern R/<packagename>-package.R. "_PACKAGE" string must be standalone expression, not inside function.

Step 7: Create CLAUDE.md

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

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

If fail: Unsure what to include? Start with package name, one-line description, common dev commands (devtools::check(), devtools::test()), any non-obvious conventions.

Checks

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

Pitfalls

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

See Also

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