One-time setup for absolute: interview how you want it to behave (output style, autonomy, TDD strictness, spec dir, families) + detect the stack once, then write `.absolute.config.json` (project, committed) and `~/.absolute/config.json` (user defaults + per-project overrides). Every other absolute-* command reads it instead of re-detecting; non-blocking — commands proceed without it and soft-recommend it. Triggers on "absolute init", "set up absolute", "initialize absolute", "configure absolute", "first-time setup", "remember my conventions for this repo".
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One-time setup for absolute: interview how you want it to behave (output style, autonomy, TDD strictness, spec dir, families) + detect the stack once, then write `.absolute.config.json` (project, committed) and `~/.absolute/config.json` (user defaults + per-project overrides). Every other absolute-* command reads it instead of re-detecting; non-blocking — commands proceed without it and soft-recommend it. Triggers on "absolute init", "set up absolute", "initialize absolute", "configure absolute", "first-time setup", "remember my conventions for this repo".
"set up / initialize / configure absolute").
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Absolute Init
One-time setup. Detect the project's real conventions, ask a few questions about how you
want absolute to behave, then write that to JSON config the other ten commands read on
every run. Result: commands stop re-detecting your stack from scratch and respect your
preferences (output style, gating, TDD strictness) without being told each time.
This is the only command that writes config. It is non-destructive: an existing config is
shown and updated, never blindly overwritten. It never commits.
When to use
First time using absolute in a repo — gives every command cached conventions + your preferences.
Conventions changed (new package manager, new test/lint scripts, branch rename) — re-run to refresh.
You want to change how absolute behaves globally (output style, autonomy) across projects.
Other commands run fine without init — they fall back to on-the-fly detection and emit a
one-line suggestion to run it. init just makes them faster and tailored.
Key principles
Codebase before questions. Detect everything detectable first. Only ask what the repo can't tell you (preferences, ambiguous choices).
A few questions, not a grill. ~4-6 max, one at a time. This is setup, not design review.
Non-destructive. Existing config → show it, confirm each change, merge — don't clobber.
Never auto-commit. Write the project file; tell the user to commit it. (Commit policy itself is not configurable — absolute never commits.)
Two levels, project wins. Project config is team-shared and authoritative; global is your personal default + per-project overrides.
Step 1 — DETECT
Auto-detect the stack using the Codebase Convention Detection table in
references/work.md (package manager, language/runtime, test runner, linter/formatter,
build, CI, available scripts). Resolve each to the project's own script form
(npm test, make lint) so cached commands match CI — not raw tools.
Read the actual package.jsonscripts / Makefile targets to fill test, lint,
typecheck, format, build. Detect the default branch with git symbolic-ref --short refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
(fallback ). Anything you can't resolve confidently → leave it out and ask, or omit.
main
Also detect, from deps and marker files (omit the whole block if nothing is found):
conventions.format — formatter script: package.jsonformat/fmt scripts, a
Makefileformat target, ruff format, or gofmt.
conventions.ui — from package.json deps: framework (react/vue/svelte/none),
styling (tailwindcss → tailwind; css-modules; styled-components; else vanilla),
iconLibrary (lucide-react, @heroicons/, @phosphor-icons/, react-icons…),
componentLib (shadcn marker / @mui/material → mui / @chakra-ui → chakra / none), and
tokensPath (a tokens/theme CSS or TS file if one exists). Omit if the repo has no UI deps.
conventions.docs — stack + dir via absolute-docs's Stack Detection marker-file
table (source.config.ts/fumadocs, docusaurus.config.*, Starlight, mkdocs.yml,
.vitepress/, Mintlify, else markdown). Omit if no docs are present.
Step 2 — RESOLVE existing config
Before asking anything, check for existing config (precedence below). If found, print a
compact summary of current values and ask whether to update (default) or start fresh.
Treat existing values as the defaults for the interview so the user can keep them with one keystroke.
Step 3 — INTERVIEW
Use AskUserQuestion for every preference question. Present options as structured choices with descriptions; mark the recommended/default option first with "(Recommended)" in its label. Ask questions one at a time — wait for each answer before advancing.
Questions (skip any the existing config already answers, unless user asked to reconfigure):
question: "Autonomy level?"
header: "Autonomy"
options:
- label: "gate-all (Recommended)"
description: "Confirm before every change/wave — full control"
- label: "auto-low-risk"
description: "Auto-apply obviously-safe health waves, gate risky ones"
Q3 — TDD strictness
question: "TDD strictness?"
header: "TDD"
options:
- label: "strict (Recommended)"
description: "Test-first, red→green — failing test must exist before any code"
- label: "pragmatic"
description: "Tests required but not strictly written first"
Q4 — Spec / docs output dir
Ask as free text: "Where should spec/work write design docs? (default: docs/plans)". Accept blank to keep default.
Q6 — Confirm detected conventions
Show the detected conventions block as a code block and ask: "Are these correct? Reply with any corrections or press enter to accept.". Accept blank to proceed.
Step 4 — WRITE
Write .absolute.config.json at the repo root (pretty-printed, 2-space). This is the
committed, team-shared file. Then ask whether to also persist to the global file
~/.absolute/config.json:
defaults.preferences — your cross-project preference defaults.
projects["<absolute repo path>"] — a per-project override entry (machine-local, not committed).
Merge into any existing global file; never drop unrelated keys. After writing, print the
file paths and remind the user to commit .absolute.config.json (you never commit).
Config schema
Both files share conventions + preferences; the global file wraps them.
.absolute.config.json (project, committed):
{"version":1,"conventions":{"packageManager":"npm","languages":["typescript"],"test":"npm test","lint":"npm run lint","typecheck":"npm run typecheck","format":"npm run format","build":"npm run build","ci":".github/workflows/ci.yml","defaultBranch":"main","ui":{"framework":"react","styling":"tailwind","iconLibrary":"lucide-react","componentLib":"shadcn","tokensPath":"src/styles/tokens.css"},"docs":{"stack":"fumadocs","dir":"docs"}},"preferences":{"outputStyle":"normal","autonomy":"gate-all","tdd":"strict","specDir":"docs/plans","boardTracking":"gitignored","families":["build","health"],"health":{"protectedPaths":["dist/**","vendor/**","**/*.generated.*"],"deflakeRuns":20}}}
The conventions.ui and conventions.docs blocks are omitted entirely when nothing is
detected (no UI deps, no docs stack), keeping the file minimal.
Shallow-merge conventions and preferences separately; merge the nested conventions.ui,
conventions.docs, and preferences.health blocks one level deeper so a partial override
doesn't drop sibling keys. If none exist, there is no config — the command soft-recommends
init and uses on-the-fly detection.
Gotchas
Overwriting a hand-tuned config. Always RESOLVE first; merge, don't clobber.
Caching wrong commands. Cached test/lint that don't match CI poison every later command — verify each detected script actually runs.
Committing the global file.~/.absolute/config.json is machine-local; only .absolute.config.json is committed.
Stale conventions. A renamed branch or swapped package manager silently misroutes commands — re-run init after stack changes.
Treating init as a gate. It isn't. Commands proceed without it; init is an optimization, not a prerequisite.
Companion commands
/absolute work — the main consumer of cached conventions + tdd/autonomy/boardTracking prefs.
/absolute spec — reads conventions + specDir instead of re-detecting.
/absolute-upgrade|audit|prune|debt|deflake — health family reads conventions for DETECT, autonomy for gating, and preferences.health.* (prune protectedPaths, deflake deflakeRuns).
Re-run /absolute init anytime conventions or preferences change.
