install-habits

name

install-habits

description

Install or update the Habits-Of-Claude block in a system prompt file — all habits or a named subset — into ~/CLAUDE.md, a project CLAUDE.md, or AGENTS.md. Writes a marker-delimited managed region so re-running is idempotent and hand-written prose is left untouched. Use when asked to install the habits, add a specific habit snippet somewhere, push habit edits out to a system prompt, or apply the habits to another project.

Install habits into a system prompt

The habits are the source; a system prompt is a build target. Never hand-edit the installed block — edit habits/*.md, regenerate, reinstall.

Sequence

python3 scripts/assemble.py                    # habits/*.md -> assembled/
python3 scripts/install.py                     # dry run against ~/CLAUDE.md
python3 scripts/install.py --write             # apply, backing the target up first

assemble.py first, always — install.py reads assembled/habits.json, so skipping it silently installs the previous generation.

Show the user the dry-run diff before writing unless they have already said to go ahead. --write makes a timestamped .bak-<stamp> copy of the target.

Installing a subset

For a project CLAUDE.md, or when the user wants one specific snippet rather than the whole set:

python3 scripts/install.py --only agent-first,verify-dont-infer --target ./CLAUDE.md --write

Unknown ids are rejected rather than silently skipped. Habit ids are the filenames in habits/; assembled/habits.json has them with titles and stances if you need to pick.

Choosing a subset is a judgement call worth making deliberately. Habits that are about this user's preferences (no-unsolicited-security-advice, explain-less-do-more, ship-without-asking) belong at user level. Habits about working method (document-what-you-fix, agent-first, verify-dont-infer) travel fine into a shared project prompt. Ask which they want if the target is a repo other people read.

What it will not do

It will not remove existing hand-written prose that covers the same ground as a habit — that is a content decision, not a mechanical one, so the block gets added and the duplication is left in place. If the target already has sections saying the same thing in the user's own words, say so and offer reconcile-habits.

After installing at user level

Changes to ~/CLAUDE.md take effect in new sessions, not the running one. Say that rather than implying the habits are live immediately.