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One-pass orchestrated customization of the entire Alex welcome experience — loop menu, taglines, identity, North Star, and persona.
Unifies what was previously fragmented across 4 separate skills (sidebar-customization, project-taglines, identity-customization, north-star) into a single guided workflow that detects project context and generates all config files coherently.
When to Use
New heir project initialization (after alex.initialize)
Rebranding or pivoting an existing project
During meditation when customization surfaces as a consolidation target
When the sidebar feels generic and doesn't reflect the project's domain
When switching project phases (planning → active-development → release)
Quick Reference
Surface
Config File
What It Controls
Loop Menu
.github/config/loop-menu.json
Workflow buttons, groups, phase filtering
Taglines
.github/config/taglines.json
Rotating banner messages
Identity
.github/copilot-instructions.md
Persona, tone, domain voice
North Star
.github/NORTH-STAR.md
Vision document, Active Context
Cognitive Config
.github/config/cognitive-config.json
Specializations, debug settings
Skill Partials
loop-config.partial.json (in skills)
Skills injecting Loop tab buttons
Automatic Systems (no config needed)
System
Behavior
Frecency
Reorders buttons by usage history (7-day half-life)
Health Taglines
Selects pool based on brain health status
Persona Detection
Sets accent colors from workspace heuristics
Phase Filtering
Shows/hides groups based on projectPhase
Orchestrated Customization Workflow
Step 1: Detect Project Context
Read these sources to understand the project:
Source
What to extract
package.json / pyproject.toml / *.csproj
Name, description, stack
.github/copilot-instructions.md
Current identity, persona, North Star
README.md
Project purpose, audience
.github/config/loop-menu.json
Current loop config (if exists)
.github/config/taglines.json
Current taglines (if exists)
.github/NORTH-STAR.md
Vision (if exists)
Workspace file structure
Dominant technology, project type
Step 2: Classify Project Type
Type
Signals
Recommended Template
Web App
React/Vue/Angular, src/components/
Frontend-focused loop + UI taglines
API/Backend
FastAPI/Express/ASP.NET, src/routes/
Backend loop + architecture taglines
Data Pipeline
PySpark/Fabric/notebooks, *.ipynb
Data loop + analytics taglines
Infrastructure
Bicep/Terraform, infra/
IaC loop + cloud taglines
Research
Papers, datasets, research/
Research loop + discovery taglines
Content/Docs
Markdown-heavy, docs/, wiki
Content loop + writing taglines
Extension/Plugin
package.json with contributes, src/extension.ts
Extension loop + developer taglines
Mixed/Monorepo
Multiple project types
Composite loop with phase filtering
Step 3: Generate Config Files
Generate all files in sequence, ensuring cross-references are consistent:
3a. North Star (.github/NORTH-STAR.md)
# North Star: [Project Name]> [One-sentence ambitious vision]## What This Means
[2-3 sentences expanding the vision into concrete outcomes]
## Guiding Principles1. [Principle derived from project domain]
2. [Principle derived from team values]
3. [Principle derived from user needs]
3b. Identity (copilot-instructions.md)
Update the identity layer only (preserve Safety + Routing sections):
## Identity
[First-person domain voice, 1-3 sentences]
## Active Context
Persona: [detected or chosen persona]
Objective: [from North Star]
Tone: [project-appropriate: Direct/Friendly/Formal/Technical]
Focus: [comma-separated domain keywords]
Principles: KISS, DRY, Quality-First
North Star: [vision one-liner from NORTH-STAR.md]
Creative loop group always first (Ideate → Plan → Build → Test → Release → Improve)
Domain helpers second, collapsed by default
Use phase arrays to show/hide buttons per project phase
Use promptFile for prompts longer than one sentence
Max 6 buttons per group for scannability
Step 4: Validate Coherence
Cross-check all generated files:
Check
Rule
North Star ↔ Identity
North Star: field in CI matches NORTH-STAR.md vision
North Star ↔ Taglines
Vision taglines derive from NORTH-STAR.md
Identity ↔ Taglines
Project taglines match the persona voice
Identity ↔ Loop Menu
projectType in loop menu matches persona domain
Loop Menu ↔ Phase
projectPhase matches current reality
Project-Type Templates
Web App Template
Loop groups: Creative Loop, UI/UX, Components, Testing, Deploy
Taglines: "Pixel-perfect experiences", "Components that compose", "Ship with confidence"
Persona: Developer or Frontend
Phase default: active-development
API/Backend Template
Loop groups: Creative Loop, API Design, Data Layer, Testing, Deploy
Taglines: "APIs developers love", "Contracts before code", "Reliable at scale"
Persona: Developer or Architect
Phase default: active-development
Data Pipeline Template
Loop groups: Creative Loop, Ingest, Transform, Quality, Publish
Taglines: "Data you can trust", "From raw to refined", "Insights at scale"
Persona: Data-Engineer
Phase default: active-development
Infrastructure Template
Loop groups: Creative Loop, Provision, Configure, Monitor, Govern
Taglines: "Infrastructure as intention", "Repeatable by design", "Cloud-native governance"
Persona: DevOps or Architect
Phase default: planning
Research Template
Loop groups: Creative Loop, Literature, Method, Analysis, Writing
Taglines: "Evidence before opinion", "Rigor meets curiosity", "Discovery through method"
Persona: Researcher or Academic
Phase default: planning
Skill Partial Authoring
Skills can inject buttons into the Loop tab via loop-config.partial.json:
// .github/skills/my-skill/loop-config.partial.json{"group":"domain-helpers","buttons":[{"icon":"beaker","label":"Run My Skill","command":"openChat","prompt":"Use the my-skill workflow to..."}]}
Partials are merged into the Loop tab at load time by loopMenu.ts.
Phase Lifecycle
Update projectPhase in loop-menu.json as the project evolves:
Phase
When
Visible Groups
planning
Greenfield, requirements gathering
Ideate, Plan, Research
active-development
Building features
Full creative loop, domain helpers
testing
Stabilization, QA
Test, Review, Fix
release
Preparing for ship
Release, Deploy, Docs
maintenance
Post-launch
Monitor, Improve, Support
Integration with Meditation
During meditation sessions, the welcome experience is a natural consolidation target:
Review: What workflows did I actually use? (check frecency data)
Relate: Do the taglines still reflect where the project is?
Reinforce: Should any loop menu groups be added/removed/reordered?
Record: Update configs to match current project reality
Meditation prompt addition:
"Review the welcome experience — are the loop menu, taglines, and identity still aligned with the project's current phase and direction? Update any that have drifted."
Anti-Patterns
Pattern
Problem
Fix
Generic taglines
"Building great software"
Derive from North Star and domain
Too many loop groups
Cognitive overload, scroll fatigue
Max 4-5 groups, use phase filtering
Identity copy-paste
Same CI across all projects
Customize identity layer per project
Stale phase
projectPhase: planning on a shipped product
Update phase during meditation
Ignoring frecency
Manually reordering buttons
Let frecency handle it; use collapsed for priority
Checklist
Project context detected (type, stack, phase)
North Star created or updated
Identity layer customized (persona, tone, North Star reference)
