@@ -6,8 +6,11 @@ dist
 e2e/
 # Examples are tested by running examples/test_example.sh outside of Bazel
 examples/
-# Each package is a nested workspace
-packages/
+# Most packages are nested workspaces
+packages/jasmine
+packages/karma
+packages/labs
+packages/typescript
 # A subset of legacy e2e tests are nested workspaces
 # TODO(gregmagolan): move these to /e2e
 internal/e2e/bazel_workspaces_compat
 
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@ load("@build_bazel_rules_nodejs//:defs.bzl", "COMMON_REPLACEMENTS", "npm_package
 
 package(default_visibility = ["//visibility:public"])
 
-exports_files(["tsconfig.json"])
+exports_files([
+    "common.bazelrc",
+    "tsconfig.json",
+])
 
 bzl_library(
     name = "bzl",
 
@@ -1,16 +1,28 @@
-# Common Bazel settings
-# These are imported into the .bazelrc files in each workspace in this repo
+# Common Bazel settings for JavaScript/NodeJS workspaces
+# This rc file is automatically discovered when Bazel is run in this workspace,
+# see https://docs.bazel.build/versions/master/guide.html#bazelrc
+#
+# The full list of Bazel options: https://docs.bazel.build/versions/master/command-line-reference.html
+
+# Output artifacts will be placed in a directory called "dist/bin"
+# Other directories will be created like "dist/testlogs"
+# Be aware that this will still create a bazel-out symlink in
+# your project directory, which you must exclude from version control and your
+# editor's search path.
+build --symlink_prefix=dist/
 
 # Print test logs for failed tests
 test --test_output=errors
 
-# Enable debugging tests with --config=debug
+# Enable debugging tests
+# Add the Bazel option `--config=debug` to enable it
 test:debug --test_arg=--node_options=--inspect-brk --test_output=streamed --test_strategy=exclusive --test_timeout=9999 --nocache_test_results
 
 # Turn off legacy external runfiles
 run --nolegacy_external_runfiles
 test --nolegacy_external_runfiles
 
 # Turn on managed_directories
+# This allows Bazel to share the same node_modules directory with other tools
 build --experimental_allow_incremental_repository_updates
 query --experimental_allow_incremental_repository_updates
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+load("@build_bazel_rules_nodejs//:defs.bzl", "npm_package")
+
+# Copy common bazelrc file to be included in this package
+genrule(
+    name = "copy_bazelrc",
+    srcs = ["//:common.bazelrc"],
+    outs = ["common.bazelrc"],
+    cmd = "cp $< $@",
+)
+
+npm_package(
+    name = "npm_package",
+    srcs = [
+        "README.md",
+        "index.js",
+        "package.json",
+    ],
+    deps = [
+        ":common.bazelrc",
+    ],
+)
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# @bazel/create
+
+This package allows users to have a very simple quickstart to get up and running with Bazel via npm or yarn.
+
+```bash
+$ yarn create @bazel
+# or
+$ npm init @bazel
+```
+
+See https://yarnpkg.com/en/docs/cli/create and https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/init
+
+# Design
+
+We version @bazel/create along with the other packages in this monorepo.
+
+yarn and npm will download this package globally. For this reason we take no dependencies here to minimize the risk of version conflicts in the global install space.
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
+
+function main(args) {
+  if (args.length < 1) {
+    console.error(`Please specify the workspace directory:
+        
+        npx @bazel/create [workspace name]
+        npm init @bazel [workspace name]
+        yarn create @bazel [workspace name]
+        `);
+    return 1;
+  }
+  // FIXME: the workspace name should conform with Bazel rules
+  const [wkspDir] = args;
+  // TODO: user might want these to differ
+  const wkspName = wkspDir;
+  console.log(`Creating Bazel workspace ${wkspName}...`);
+  fs.mkdirSync(wkspDir);
+
+  function write(workspaceRelativePath, content) {
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+        path.join(wkspDir, workspaceRelativePath), content + require('os').EOL,
+        {encoding: 'utf-8'});
+  }
+
+  write('WORKSPACE', `# Bazel workspace created by @bazel/create
+
+# Declares that this directory is the root of a Bazel workspace.
+# See https://docs.bazel.build/versions/master/build-ref.html#workspace
+workspace(
+    # How this workspace would be referenced with absolute labels from another workspace
+    name = "${wkspName}",
+    managed_directories = {"@npm": ["node_modules"]},
+)
+
+# Install the nodejs "bootstrap" package
+# 
+load("@bazel_tools//tools/build_defs/repo:http.bzl", "http_archive")
+http_archive(
+    name = "build_bazel_rules_nodejs",
+    sha256 = "abcf497e89cfc1d09132adfcd8c07526d026e162ae2cb681dcb896046417ce91",
+    urls = ["https://github.com/bazelbuild/rules_nodejs/releases/download/0.30.1/rules_nodejs-0.30.1.tar.gz"],
+)
+
+load("@build_bazel_rules_nodejs//:defs.bzl", "yarn_install")
+yarn_install(
+    name = "npm",
+    package_json = "//:package.json",
+    yarn_lock = "//:yarn.lock",
+)
+
+load("@npm//:install_bazel_dependencies.bzl", "install_bazel_dependencies")
+install_bazel_dependencies()`);
+  write('BUILD.bazel', `# Add rules here to build your software
+# See https://docs.bazel.build/versions/master/build-ref.html#BUILD_files`);
+  write('.bazelignore', `node_modules`);
+  write(
+      'package.json',
+      JSON.stringify(
+          {
+            name: wkspName,
+            version: '0.1.0',
+            private: true,
+            devDependencies:
+                {'@bazel/bazel': 'next', '@bazel/ibazel': 'latest', '@bazel/buildifier': 'latest'},
+            scripts: {'build': 'bazel build //...', 'test': 'bazel test //...'}
+          },
+          null, 4));
+  // in the published distribution, this file will appear in the same folder as this file
+  if (fs.existsSync('common.bazelrc')) {
+    write('.bazelrc', fs.readFileSync('common.bazelrc'))
+  }
+  // but running locally against sources, it's in the root of the repo two directories up
+  if (fs.existsSync('../../common.bazelrc')) {
+    write('.bazelrc', fs.readFileSync('../../common.bazelrc'));
+  } else {
+    console.error('ERROR: missing common.bazelrc file, continuing with no bazel settings...');
+  }
+
+  console.log(`Successfully created new Bazel workspace at ${path.resolve(wkspDir)}
+    Inside that directory you can run yarn build or yarn test.`)
+}
+
+if (require.main === module) {
+  process.exitCode = main(process.argv.slice(2));
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{
+    "name": "@bazel/create",
+    "bin": "index.js",
+    "license": "Apache 2.0",
+    "version": "0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER",
+    "keywords": [
+        "bazel"
+    ],
+    "description": "Create a new Bazel workspace"
+}
@@ -10,8 +10,10 @@ const hash = require('crypto').createHash('sha256');
 // RAM
 const sha256 = hash.update(fs.readFileSync(artifact)).digest('hex');
 
-shell.sed(
-    '-i', 'download/[0-9\.]*/rules_nodejs-[0-9\.]*.tar.gz',
-    `download/${version}/rules_nodejs-${version}.tar.gz`, 'README.md');
-shell.sed('-i', 'sha256 = \"[0-9a-f]+\"', `sha256 = "${sha256}"`, 'README.md');
+for (const f in ['README.md', 'packages/create/index.js']) {
+  shell.sed(
+      '-i', 'download/[0-9\.]*/rules_nodejs-[0-9\.]*.tar.gz',
+      `download/${version}/rules_nodejs-${version}.tar.gz`, f);
+  shell.sed('-i', 'sha256 = \"[0-9a-f]+\"', `sha256 = "${sha256}"`, f);
+}
 shell.cp(artifact, `rules_nodejs-${version}.tar.gz`);