feat: scaffold howtos project

Collection of usage guides and cheatsheets. Includes project docs,
topic template, and directory structure.

README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# howtos
+
+A curated collection of usage guides and cheatsheets for tools, languages, and workflows.
+
+## Purpose
+
+Quick-reference documentation — concise, searchable, copy-pasteable. Each topic lives in its own file under `topics/`.
+
+## Structure
+
+```
+topics/
+  <topic>.md        # One file per subject
+docs/
+  USAGE.md          # How to use this collection
+  CHEATSHEET.md     # Meta cheatsheet (formatting conventions)
+  INSTALL.md        # Setup (minimal)
+```
+
+## Quick Start
+
+Browse `topics/` and open any `.md` file. Each howto follows a consistent format:
+
+- **Title** — what the tool/topic is
+- **Common commands** — the 20% you use 80% of the time
+- **Examples** — real-world usage
+- **Gotchas** — things that bite
+
+## Adding a New Topic
+
+```bash
+cp docs/TEMPLATE.md topics/<topic>.md
+# Edit and fill in sections
+```
+
+## Conventions
+
+- One topic per file, lowercase hyphenated names (`docker-compose.md`, `git-rebase.md`)
+- Code blocks with language hints for syntax highlighting
+- Keep each file under 200 lines — split if larger
+- Mark optional flags/args with `[]`