| 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)
- 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.)
- Scaffold the spine:
tools/scaffold.sh <repo> (or copy templates/.genesis/). (G1)
- Graph the repo:
node tools/graphizer.mjs <repo> --write, then add 2–3 invariants by hand
to context-graph.json. (G2)
- Seed the wiki — add pointers to relevant agentic-swe-kit concept pages in
wiki/index.md. (G3)
- Write the definition of done — copy each touched phase's "Gate:" line from
agentic-swe-master
into DONE.html section 2. (G4)
- 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)
- 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.
