| name | brain-setup |
| description | First-session onboarding interview that fills _context/ with the user's identity, stack, current build, voice, and goals. Triggers on - set up my brain, setup brain, brain setup, onboard me, start here, interview me, getting started. |
Brain setup
Interview the user, then rewrite the _context/ files with real content. This runs once; after it, every other skill has context to work with.
Process
- Check
_context/me.md. If it does NOT contain STATUS: TEMPLATE, the brain is already set up; ask whether they want to update specific context files instead, and stop.
- Open as a conversation, not a system report: a short welcome, one line on what this is (a 10-minute conversation so everything the brain does starts from who they actually are), then straight into the first question. Never mention templates, markers, or internal state.
- Interview conversationally, a few questions at a time, never as one giant form. Cover, in order:
- Them (for
me.md): name, one-sentence what-they-do, career stage, background highlights, working style, links.
- Stack (for
stack.md): what they can ship with today, working knowledge, learning now and why, the want-to-learn queue, what they avoid on purpose. Honest levels, no resume inflation.
- Current build (for
now-building.md): the main project, why this one (portfolio, learning, income), status, what it is teaching them. If they are not building anything yet, that is fine; capture what they WANT to build and suggest new-project after setup.
- Goals (for
goals.md): up to three quarterly goals with numbers and dates (ship X, land Y role, publish N posts), the year headline, the not-doing list.
- Voice (for
voice.md): ask them to paste 2-3 real writing samples (a post, a README, a long comment). From the samples, extract tone, rhythm, vocabulary, opening and closing styles, formatting habits. Keep the samples in the file.
- Rewrite each
_context/ file: remove the STATUS: TEMPLATE line, fill the sections, set updated: to today.
- Seed
_ops/this-week.md with the current week and ask: "if only one thing ships this week, what is it?"
- Finish by pointing them at the ladder: say "where am I" to meet the coach and see level 0. (Onboarding itself completes most of the level 0 checklist; let the coach deliver that win.) Also mention: "TIL: (something)" and "start my day" are the two daily habits.
Rules
- Skipped questions are fine; write
(not captured yet) so a later session can fill the gap.
- Short answers are fine; never pad their words with invented detail.
- Many devs have never written publicly. If they have no samples, draft 3 short sample paragraphs in different tones, ask which feels most like them, and note that voice.md is provisional until real posts replace it.
