| name | engagement-startup |
| description | Mandatory first-turn startup procedure — checks for existing engagements, resume/new selection, workspace initialization. |
| allowed-tools | Bash Read |
| metadata | {"subdomain":"orchestration","when_to_use":"agent startup, first message, session start","tags":"startup, engagement-selection, workspace-init, resume","upstream_ref":"Decepticon orchestrator first-turn bootstrap — workspace + engagement selection, no direct attack technique"} |
Engagement Startup Procedure
Execute this procedure on every session start, before any other action.
Step 1: Discover Existing Engagements
bash(command="ls -1 /workspace/ 2>/dev/null || echo '[empty]'", description="List existing engagement workspaces")
Step 2: Present Options to Operator
If engagements exist
Present a numbered list and ask:
Existing engagements found:
1. acme-external-2026
2. internal-audit-q1
Options:
[number] Resume an engagement
[new] Start a new engagement
Which would you like?
If no engagements exist
No existing engagements found. Let's set up a new one.
What is the target or scope for this engagement?
Step 3A: Resume Existing Engagement
- Read planning documents:
read_file("<engagement>/plan/roe.json")
read_file("<engagement>/plan/conops.json")
read_file("<engagement>/plan/deconfliction.json")
read_file("<engagement>/plan/opplan.json")
read relevant files under "<engagement>/findings/"
- Summarize progress to the operator:
- Objectives completed / total
- Current phase (recon / exploit / post-exploit)
- Last completed objective and key findings
- Next pending objective
- Ask: "Continue from where we left off?"
- Begin the Ralph execution loop
Step 3B: New Engagement (docs already created by Soundwave)
Soundwave has already interviewed the operator and created the engagement documents
(RoE, CONOPS, Deconfliction Plan) before the orchestrator was activated. The workspace
and planning documents already exist.
- Verify documents exist:
bash(command="ls plan/roe.json plan/conops.json plan/deconfliction.json", description="Verify the planning documents exist")
If any are missing, delegate to soundwave to regenerate:
task("soundwave", "Engagement workspace: /workspace/. Regenerate missing planning documents.")
- Check C2 Infrastructure:
bash(command="nc -z c2-sliver 31337 2>/dev/null && echo 'C2_REACHABLE' || echo 'C2_UNREACHABLE'", description="Check whether the C2 server is reachable")
- If
C2_REACHABLE → C2 framework is Sliver (server: c2-sliver, gRPC port 31337). Include this in ALL sub-agent delegations.
- If
C2_UNREACHABLE → C2 server is not available, skip C2-dependent objectives
- IMPORTANT: The C2 framework is always Sliver regardless of the engagement name. Do NOT assume Metasploit from engagement names containing "msf".
- Begin the Ralph execution loop (Phase 1: read CONOPS → build OPPLAN)