| name | start-right-quick |
| classification | active |
| description | Quick grounding at session start. Read directives, memory, check practice box, apply session priority order, then discuss with user. |
Start Right (Quick)
Session entry point. Ground yourself before starting work.
Foundation Documents
Read and internalise before proceeding:
| Document | Purpose |
|---|
.agent/directives/AGENT.md | Operational entry point, project context |
.agent/directives/principles.md | Authoritative rules |
.agent/directives/testing-strategy.md | TDD expectations and test types |
.agent/directives/orientation.md | Layering and authority order |
.agent/directives/metacognition.md | Reflective thinking before planning |
Memory
Read the three memory planes:
.agent/memory/README.md — memory contract and authority order.agent/memory/active/distilled.md (if exists) — curated high-signal patterns.agent/memory/active/napkin.md (if exists) — recent session context.agent/memory/operational/repo-continuity.md (if exists) — continuity state.agent/plans/high-level-plan.md — strategic cross-collection context
Guiding Questions
Before starting work, ask yourself:
- Right problem? Am I solving what the user actually needs?
- Right layer? Am I working at the correct level of abstraction?
- Could it be simpler? The First Question — apply it now.
- What assumptions am I making? Name them explicitly.
Practice Box
Check .agent/practice-core/incoming/ for incoming Practice Core files.
If files are present, alert the user — integration should happen via
the consolidation command.
If .agent/practice-context/incoming/ exists, note its contents for
the user.
Session Priority
Before choosing a lane, apply this order:
- Discovered bugs or regressions first. If entry reading, local
checks, or repo context reveals a bug, broken gate, contradictory
canon, or behavioural regression, fix or triage that before any
feature or planning continuation.
- Unfinished planned work second. If no bugs are discovered,
unresolved active-tranche completion work is the default priority.
Use the relevant domain
current/README.md to determine whether a
live active tranche exists.
- New work last. Start a fresh feature or research lane only after
confirming there is no higher-priority unfinished tranche, or the
user has explicitly superseded it.
Process
- Read all foundation documents
- Read memory files
- Check the Practice Box
- Review the relevant collection
current/README.md and identify whether
the session is bug-fix, unfinished completion, or genuinely new work
- If the current collection exposes unresolved completion work, open that
plan before considering new feature or research work
- If the task needs a deeper document tier, open the relevant
research/,
analysis/, reports/, reference/, or docs/explorations/ surface
- Review the current task list or plan (if any)
- If an active thread exists, open its next-session record before proceeding
- Discuss the first step with the user before proceeding
Quality Gates
All quality gates are blocking. The gate sequence for this repo:
format -> typecheck -> lint -> markdownlint -> codespell -> import-linter -> dependency-hygiene -> pip-audit -> repo-audit -> build -> test -> coverage
Non-mutating gate entry point:
uv run python -m oaknational.python_repo_template.devtools check-ci
Local fix-and-verify aggregate:
uv run python -m oaknational.python_repo_template.devtools check
