genesis

name	genesis
description	Use when starting a brand-new project, adopting an unfamiliar repo, or setting up AI-native loop-based development. Scaffolds the .genesis/ spine (context graph, definition-of-done, plan, rolling state, loops), seeds it from the agentic-swe-kit, and primes the first BUILD loop. Use this whenever the user says 'start a project', 'set up genesis', 'make this loop-ready', or describes kicking off new work.
title	Genesis — turn an empty repo into a loop-ready repo
one_liner	Sets up the per-project spine + loops so you design loops instead of prompting turn-by-turn.
outcome	A repo with a context graph, a written definition of done, a sliced plan, a durable state file, and a runnable BUILD loop — in any agent.
version	1.0.0
license	MIT
works_with	["claude","hermes","codex","cursor","windsurf","any-agent"]
composable	true
metadata	{"hermes":{"tags":["genesis","setup","loops","ai-native","orchestration","project-kickoff"],"category":"swe-foundations","related_skills":["agentic-swe-master","blueprint","detective","verify","scout","explain-diff-html"]}}
trigger_conditions	["Use this when starting a new production-grade or AI-native project from scratch","Use this when adopting an unfamiliar repo and you need a structured state spine before working","Use this when the user wants loop-based / autonomous development set up","Use this when there is no .genesis/ directory yet and work is about to begin","Use this when the user says 'set up genesis', 'make this loop-ready', or 'kick off the project'"]

/genesis

You are setting up a repo so that loops prompt the agent, not the human. The output is the .genesis/ spine plus a primed first loop. This skill is agent-agnostic — resolve every skill call and loop primitive through AGENT-ADAPTERS.md.

Procedure (run in order — this IS the genesis ritual)

1. Load agentic-swe-master and run its 5-question diagnostic. Write the cognitive job into DONE.html section 1. (G0 — Cognitive Design. Do not skip.)
2. Scaffold the spine: tools/scaffold.sh <repo> (or copy templates/.genesis/). (G1)
3. Graph the repo: node tools/graphizer.mjs <repo> --write, then add 2–3 invariants by hand to context-graph.json. (G2)
4. Seed the wiki — add pointers to relevant agentic-swe-kit concept pages in wiki/index.md. (G3)
5. Write the definition of done — copy each touched phase's "Gate:" line from agentic-swe-master into DONE.html section 2. (G4)
6. Slice the plan into milestones in PLAN.md — each with a single outcome, an exact demo command, a freeze boundary, and assigned skills. Mirror into DONE.html section 3. (G5)
7. Prime & run — fill KICKOFF.md placeholders, then start the BUILD loop on M1: run G0 Existence Pre-Flight, then L1 BUILD per LOOPS.md, exit through L4 VERIFY. (G6)

Stop conditions

• Genesis is complete when the checklist at the bottom of genesis.md is all-true.
• If the repo already has .genesis/, do NOT overwrite — read it and resume from CURRENT.md instead.

What good looks like

• Every milestone in PLAN.md has a runnable demo command (if you can't write one, the slice is too vague).
• context-graph.json has real invariants, not just dependencies.
• DONE.html definition-of-done is binary and checked by a separate verifier, never the maker.

Common pitfalls

• Skipping G0 cognitive design. Fix — write the cognitive job first; everything downstream routes from it.