cypilot

name

cypilot

description

Invoke when user asks to do something with Cypilot, or wants to analyze/validate artifacts, or create/generate/implement anything using Cypilot workflows, or plan phased execution. Core capabilities: workflow routing (plan/analyze/generate/auto-config); deterministic validation (structure, cross-refs, traceability, TOC); code↔artifact traceability with @cpt-* markers; spec coverage measurement; ID search/navigation; init/bootstrap; adapter + registry discovery; auto-configuration of brownfield projects (scan conventions, generate rules); kit management (install/update with file-level diff); TOC generation; agent integrations (Windsurf, Cursor, Claude, Copilot, OpenAI).

Cypilot Unified Tool

• Cypilot Unified Tool
  • Goal
  • Preconditions
  • ⚠️ MUST Instruction Semantics ⚠️
  • Agent Acknowledgment
  • Execution Logging
  • Variables
    • Template Variable Resolution
  • CLI Resolution
  • Protocol Guard
  • Cypilot Mode
  • Agent-Safe Invocation
  • Quick Commands
    • Direct CLI Commands (No Workflow Routing)
    • Workflow Shortcuts
  • Workflow Routing
  • Command Reference
  • Auto-Configuration
  • Project Configuration

Goal

Cypilot provides artifact validation, cross-reference validation, code traceability, spec coverage measurement, ID search/navigation, kit management, TOC generation/validation, multi-agent integration, and design-to-code implementation with @cpt-* markers.

Preconditions

• cpt available (preferred) or python3 as fallback
• Target paths exist and are readable

---

⚠️ MUST Instruction Semantics ⚠️

MUST and ALWAYS are mandatory. Skipping any MUST instruction invalidates execution, the output must be discarded, and the workflow fails.

Agent Acknowledgment

• MUST/ALWAYS are mandatory; skipping any MUST invalidates execution.
• I will read all required files before proceeding.
• I will follow workflows step-by-step without shortcuts.
• I will not create or modify files, or execute any other write-capable Cypilot command, without explicit user confirmation, and I will not add auto-approval flags unless the user explicitly asks for them.
• I will list Cypilot files read, why, and the triggering instruction before any approval prompt.

By proceeding with Cypilot work, I acknowledge and accept these requirements.

ALWAYS SET {cypilot_mode} = on FIRST when loading this skill

Execution Logging

ALWAYS provide execution visibility:

• Notify the user when entering any H2 section of a Cypilot prompt.
• Notify the user when completing any - [ ] checklist task.
• Use - [CONTEXT]: MESSAGE; set context to the file/section and message to the action + why.
• Logging must help the user understand loaded prompts, routing decisions, debugging state, and workflow progress.

Example:

- [execution-protocol]: Entering "Load Rules" — target is CODE, loading codebase/rules.md
- [DESIGN rules]: Completing "Validate structure" — all required sections present
- [workflows/generate.md]: Entering "Determine Target" — user requested code implementation

Variables

Variable	Value	Use
{cypilot_path}	Directory path resolved from root AGENTS.md	Base path for all Cypilot-relative references
{cypilot_mode}	on or off	Current Cypilot mode state
{cpt_cmd}	cpt or python3 {cypilot_path}/.core/skills/cypilot/scripts/cypilot.py	Resolved CLI entrypoint
{cpt_installed}	true or false	Whether the cpt CLI is available

Setting {cypilot_mode}: explicit cypilot on/off or a prompt that activates/deactivates Cypilot workflows.

Template Variable Resolution

• Resolve variables from {cpt_cmd} --json info first; parse the returned variables dict.
• Use {cpt_cmd} --json resolve-vars only when a fresh or filtered map is needed.
• Variable sources: system (cypilot_path, project_root) + installed kit resources.
• ALWAYS resolve {variable} references to absolute paths before using kit markdown files.

CLI Resolution

Run before Protocol Guard when {cypilot_mode} is on:

1. command -v cpt → {cpt_cmd} = cpt, {cpt_installed} = true
2. Otherwise {cpt_cmd} = python3 {cypilot_path}/.core/skills/cypilot/scripts/cypilot.py, {cpt_installed} = false
3. If cpt is missing and ~/.cypilot/cache/cpt-prompt-dismissed does not exist, offer pipx install git+https://github.com/cyberfabric/cyber-pilot.git; on dismiss create the marker file
4. Re-offer installation if the user later asks about the long invocation path

ALWAYS use {cpt_cmd} for all later CLI invocations.

Protocol Guard

• ALWAYS FIRST open and remember {cypilot_path}/.gen/AGENTS.md
• ALWAYS open and follow {cypilot_path}/config/AGENTS.md when it exists
• ALWAYS open and follow {cypilot_path}/.gen/SKILL.md when it exists
• ALWAYS open and follow {cypilot_path}/config/SKILL.md when it exists
• ALWAYS FIRST run {cpt_cmd} --json info before any Cypilot workflow action
• ALWAYS store the variables dict from info output and use it to resolve {variable} references in AGENTS/SKILL/rules/workflows
• ALWAYS follow this load order: info → registry/intent/target/rules resolution from execution-protocol.md → matched WHEN-clause specs
• ALWAYS load matched WHEN-clause specs only after registry understanding, target determination, and rules.md resolution provide enough context to match safely
• ALWAYS FIRST parse and load all matched WHEN-clause specs before proceeding
• MUST NOT preload every AGENTS/SKILL/spec file up front; load only the smallest set needed for the current request
• Before opening a large AGENTS/SKILL/spec file, estimate size and prefer chunked reads of matched sections over full-file reads
• If safe WHEN-clause matching is not yet possible, stop after registry/target/rules resolution and continue only when enough context exists to load specs boundedly
• If required Protocol Guard context would exceed the current turn budget, checkpoint or escalate instead of proceeding with partial or unbounded spec loading
• ALWAYS include this block when editing code:

Cypilot Context:
- Cypilot: {path}
- Target: {artifact|codebase}
- Specs loaded: {list paths or "none required"}

• ALWAYS stop and re-run Protocol Guard when required specs should have been loaded but were not

Cypilot Mode

• ALWAYS set {cypilot_mode} = on first when user invokes cypilot {prompt}
• ALWAYS run info when enabling Cypilot mode
• ALWAYS show:

Cypilot Mode Enabled
Cypilot: {FOUND at path | NOT_FOUND}

Agent-Safe Invocation

• ALWAYS use {cpt_cmd} --json <subcommand> [options] for agent-driven CLI calls unless a command-specific exception below says otherwise
• ALWAYS pass --json immediately after {cpt_cmd} and before the subcommand when using machine-output mode
• EXCEPTION: NEVER run {cpt_cmd} init with --json; always invoke {cpt_cmd} init ... without --json
• EXCEPTION: NEVER run {cpt_cmd} delegate with --json; always invoke {cpt_cmd} delegate <plan_dir> ... without --json
• EXCEPTION: NEVER run {cpt_cmd} update with --json; always invoke {cpt_cmd} update ... without --json
• ALWAYS use = form for pattern args starting with - (example: --pattern=-req-)
• MUST obtain explicit user confirmation before executing any write-capable command, including direct CLI commands that do not route through a workflow
• MUST NOT add auto-approval flags such as --yes, -y, or --force to write-capable commands unless the user explicitly requested that non-interactive behavior

Quick Commands

Direct CLI Commands (No Workflow Routing)

No workflow routing skips workflow selection only. It does not waive confirmation: obtain explicit user confirmation before executing any write-capable direct CLI command below.

User invocation	Direct action
cypilot init	After explicit user confirmation, run {cpt_cmd} init without --json
cypilot update	After explicit user confirmation, run {cpt_cmd} update without --json
cypilot agents <name>	Run {cpt_cmd} --json agents --agent <name>
cypilot generate-agents <name>	After explicit user confirmation, run {cpt_cmd} --json generate-agents --agent <name>
cypilot workspace init	After explicit user confirmation, run {cpt_cmd} --json workspace-init [--root <dir>] [--output <path>] [--inline] [--force] [--max-depth <N>] [--dry-run]
cypilot workspace add	After explicit user confirmation, run {cpt_cmd} --json workspace-add --name <name> (--path <path> | --url <url>) [--branch <branch>] [--role <role>] [--adapter <path>] [--inline] [--force]
cypilot workspace info	Run {cpt_cmd} --json workspace-info
cypilot workspace sync	After explicit user confirmation, run {cpt_cmd} --json workspace-sync [--source <name>] [--dry-run] [--force]; --force is destructive

Workflow Shortcuts

User invocation	Action
cypilot auto-config / cypilot configure	Open and follow {cypilot_path}/.core/workflows/generate.md

Workflow Routing

Cypilot has exactly three core workflows plus specialized sub-workflows and dedicated capability agents. Routing priority is delegate > compile-phase > execute-phase > plan > generate/analyze. Delegation intent MUST route to the cypilot-ralphex capability agent rather than falling through to generic planning or generation. Generated-plan phase compilation intent MUST route to the dedicated cypilot-phase-compiler capability agent, and generated-plan phase execution intent MUST route to the dedicated cypilot-phase-runner capability agent rather than back into generic planning.

Oversized-input invariant: if the raw task input exceeds 500 total lines across the direct prompt text, attached or provided files, or one large file, Cypilot MUST route through /cypilot-plan before any direct /cypilot-generate or /cypilot-analyze execution. The planner MUST first compute the input signature using the read-only {cpt_cmd} --json chunk-input ... --dry-run mode (which writes no files) to check for existing package reuse, and MUST obtain explicit user approval before materializing that input under {cypilot_path}/.plans/{task-slug}/input/ using the write-capable {cpt_cmd} --json chunk-input ... --max-lines 300 --threshold-lines 500 command (without --dry-run). The planner MUST pass --include-stdin when direct prompt text must be packaged together with provided files; when stdin is used, it MUST also preserve that raw prompt as input/direct-prompt.md. The emitted chunk files become mandatory plan inputs for the relevant phases.

Completion invariants for workflow outputs:

• A /cypilot-plan run is not complete until it reaches one of three valid stopping points defined by workflows/plan.md: (a) the raw-input approval checkpoint, where the planner has identified oversized input and presented the Proceed with raw-input materialization? [y/n] prompt — the user may approve (y) to continue or reject (n) to cancel the plan with no filesystem mutations; (b) the brief checkpoint where plan.toml and every required brief-* file exist on disk and the response presents the explicit next-step choice set; or (c) the fully compiled plan state where every corresponding phase-* file also exists on disk after the user chose inline generation or cypilot-phase-compiler execution.
• A /cypilot-generate run that wrote or updated any files is not complete until the final response includes both Plan Review Prompt and Direct Review Prompt blocks. This applies on both the validated success path and the RELAXED explicitly unvalidated recovery path.
• A /cypilot-analyze run with any actionable issue is not complete until the final response includes both Fix Prompt and Plan Prompt blocks.
• A /cypilot delegate run is not complete until the final response includes delegation status, handoff result or error details, and next-step options.
• A native plan-phase compilation run is not complete until the final response includes compiled phase identity, output file path, and compile-time validation outcome.
• A native plan-phase execution run is not complete until the final response includes executed phase status, manifest update outcome, and the next-phase handoff or recovery action.
• MUST NOT end a workflow response immediately after the summary, analysis report, or next-step options when one of the required prompt pairs is still missing.

Intent	Match	Action
Delegate	delegate, delegate to ralphex, ralphex execute, ralphex review, hand off to ralphex, run with ralphex, ralphex delegation	Open and follow {cypilot_path}/.core/skills/cypilot/agents/cypilot-ralphex.md
Compile phase	compile phase, compile next phase, compile plan phase, generate phase file, compile from brief, build phase from brief	Open and follow {cypilot_path}/.core/skills/cypilot/agents/cypilot-phase-compiler.md
Execute phase	execute phase, run next phase, continue plan, resume plan, execute plan phase, run plan phase, execute the next phase	Open and follow {cypilot_path}/.core/skills/cypilot/agents/cypilot-phase-runner.md
Plan	plan, create a plan, execution plan, break down, decompose, or plan to ...	Open and follow {cypilot_path}/.core/workflows/plan.md first
Generate	create, edit, fix, update, implement, refactor, delete, add, setup, configure, build, code and user did not say plan	Open and follow {cypilot_path}/.core/workflows/generate.md
Analyze	analyze, validate, review, check, inspect, audit, compare, list, show, find and user did not say plan	Open and follow {cypilot_path}/.core/workflows/analyze.md
Workspace	workspace, multi-repo, add source, add repo, cross-reference, cross-repo	Open and follow {cypilot_path}/.core/workflows/workspace.md
Unclear	help, look at, work with, handle	Ask plan (phased execution) / generate (modify) / analyze (read-only)? and stop if the user cancels

configure and auto-config are workflow shortcuts, not direct no-protocol commands; both route through generate.md, which may auto-trigger requirements/auto-config.md for brownfield projects with no project-specific rules.

Command Reference

Entrypoint: {cpt_cmd} <command> [options] Machine output: add --json immediately after {cpt_cmd} and before the subcommand, except for init, delegate, and update, which MUST be run without --json. Exit codes: 0 = PASS, 1 = filesystem/config error, 2 = FAIL. Legacy aliases: validate-code = validate; validate-rules = validate-kits.

Category	Commands
Validation	{cpt_cmd} --json validate (artifacts + code), {cpt_cmd} --json validate-kits (kit config), {cpt_cmd} --json validate-toc (TOC integrity), {cpt_cmd} --json self-check (template/example sync), {cpt_cmd} --json spec-coverage (marker coverage)
Search	{cpt_cmd} --json list-ids (enumerate IDs), {cpt_cmd} --json list-id-kinds (kind counts), {cpt_cmd} --json get-content (fetch by ID), {cpt_cmd} --json where-defined (definition), {cpt_cmd} --json where-used (references)
Kit management	{cpt_cmd} --json kit install (install kit), {cpt_cmd} --json kit update (file-level kit update)
Delegation	{cpt_cmd} delegate <plan_dir> (compile and delegate plan to ralphex; MUST run without --json)
Utilities	{cpt_cmd} --json toc (generate TOC), {cpt_cmd} --json chunk-input (chunk oversized workflow input into input/ files), {cpt_cmd} --json info (discover config), {cpt_cmd} --json resolve-vars (expand template vars), {cpt_cmd} init (bootstrap project; MUST run without --json), {cpt_cmd} update (refresh adapter; MUST run without --json), {cpt_cmd} --json agents (show generated integrations), {cpt_cmd} --json generate-agents (generate/update integrations)
Migration	{cpt_cmd} --json migrate (v2→v3 project), {cpt_cmd} --json migrate-config (JSON→TOML config)
Workspace	{cpt_cmd} --json workspace-init (create workspace), {cpt_cmd} --json workspace-add (add source), {cpt_cmd} --json workspace-info (status), {cpt_cmd} --json workspace-sync (update Git sources)

See skills/cypilot/cypilot.clispec for full syntax, arguments, options, exit semantics, and examples.

Validation Commands

validate

validate [--artifact <path>] [--skip-code] [--verbose] [--output <path>] [--local-only] [--source <name>]

Validates artifacts and code with deterministic checks (structure, cross-refs, task statuses, traceability markers — pairing, coverage, orphans). Use --local-only to skip cross-repo workspace validation. Use --source <name> to validate a specific workspace source. Note: --local-only and --source are independent and can be combined — --source narrows which artifacts are validated, --local-only controls whether cross-repo IDs are included as reference context.

Legacy aliases: validate-code (same behavior), validate-rules (alias for validate-kits).

validate-kits

validate-kits [--kit <id>] [--template <path>] [--verbose]

Validates kit configuration — template frontmatter, constraints, resource paths.

validate-toc

validate-toc <files...> [--max-level <N>] [--verbose]

Validates Table of Contents in Markdown files — TOC exists, anchors point to real headings, all headings covered, not stale.

self-check

self-check [--kit <id>] [--verbose]

Validates example artifacts against their templates (template QA). Ensures templates and examples remain synchronized.

spec-coverage

spec-coverage [--system <slug>] [--min-coverage <N>] [--min-file-coverage <N>] [--min-granularity <N>] [--verbose] [--output <path>]

Measures CDSL marker coverage in codebase files. Reports coverage percentage, granularity score, per-file details, and uncovered line ranges. Use --system to limit to specific system slug(s). Use --min-file-coverage to enforce per-file minimum.

Search Commands

list-ids

list-ids [--artifact <path>] [--pattern <string>] [--regex] [--kind <string>] [--all] [--include-code] [--source <name>]

Lists all Cypilot IDs from registered artifacts. Supports filtering by pattern, kind, and optional code scanning. Use --source <name> to list IDs from a specific workspace source.

list-id-kinds

list-id-kinds [--artifact <path>]

Lists ID kinds that exist in artifacts with counts and template mappings.

get-content

get-content (--artifact <path> | --code <path>) --id <string> [--inst <string>]

Retrieves content block for a specific Cypilot ID from artifacts or code files.

where-defined

where-defined --id <id> [--artifact <path>]

Finds where a Cypilot ID is defined.

where-used

where-used --id <id> [--artifact <path>] [--include-definitions]

Finds all references to a Cypilot ID.

Kit Management Commands

kit install

kit install <source-path> [--dry-run] [--yes]

Installs a kit from a source directory. Copies kit files to config/kits/{slug}/.

kit update

kit update [--kit <slug>] [--dry-run] [--yes] [--auto-approve]

Updates kit files in config/kits/{slug}/ with file-level diff. Interactive prompts for modified files: accept/decline/accept-all/decline-all.

Utility Commands

toc

toc <files...> [--max-level <N>] [--indent <N>] [--dry-run] [--skip-validate]

Generates or updates Table of Contents in Markdown files between <!-- toc --> markers.

info

info [--root <path>] [--cypilot-root <path>]

Discovers Cypilot configuration and shows project status (cypilot_dir, project_name, specs, kits). Includes a variables dict mapping all template variables to absolute paths.

resolve-vars

resolve-vars [--root <path>] [--kit <slug>] [--flat]

Resolves all template variables ({adr_template}, {scripts}, etc.) to absolute file paths. Sources: system variables (cypilot_path, project_root) + kit resource bindings from core.toml. Use --kit to filter to a single kit. Use --flat for a plain variable→path dict.

init

init [--project-root <path>] [--cypilot-root <path>] [--project-name <string>] [--yes] [--dry-run] [--force]

Initializes Cypilot config directory (.core/, .gen/, config/) and root AGENTS.md.

update

update [--source <path>] [--force] [--dry-run]

Updates .core/ from cache, updates kit files in config/kits/ with file-level diff, regenerates .gen/ aggregates, ensures config/ scaffold.

agents

agents [--agent <name>] [--root <path>] [--cypilot-root <path>]

Shows generated agent integration status. Read-only dry-run — reports which integration files currently exist or would be created/updated for each supported agent without writing anything. Supported: windsurf, cursor, claude, copilot, openai.

generate-agents

generate-agents [--agent <name>] [--root <path>] [--cypilot-root <path>] [--dry-run] [--yes] [--show-layers] [--discover]

Generates agent-specific workflow proxies and skill entry points. Supported: windsurf, cursor, claude, copilot, openai.

Generates workflow commands, skill outputs, and subagents (isolated agent definitions with scoped tools and dedicated prompts). Two subagents are created for tools that support them: cypilot-codegen (full write access, worktree isolation) and cypilot-pr-review (read-only). Windsurf does not support subagents and is gracefully skipped.

Use --show-layers to display layer provenance report instead of generating. Use --discover to scan conventional dirs and populate manifest.toml before generating.

Shortcut: generate-agents --openai

Migration Commands

migrate

migrate [--project-root <path>] [--cypilot-root <path>] [--dry-run] [--yes]

Migrates Cypilot v2 projects to v3 (adapter-based → blueprint-based, artifacts.json → artifacts.toml, three-directory layout).

migrate-config

migrate-config [--project-root <path>] [--dry-run]

Converts legacy JSON config files to TOML format.

Workspace Commands

Workspaces are either standalone (.cypilot-workspace.toml at project root) or inline ([workspace] section in config/core.toml). The two types cannot be mixed.

workspace-init

workspace-init [--root <dir>] [--output <path>] [--inline] [--force] [--max-depth <N>] [--dry-run]

Initialize a multi-repo workspace by scanning nested sub-directories for repos with cypilot directories. Rejects cross-type conflicts (inline vs standalone) and requires --force to reinitialize an existing workspace. Scanning depth is limited by --max-depth (default 3) to prevent unbounded traversal; symlinks are skipped.

workspace-add

workspace-add --name <name> (--path <path> | --url <url>) [--branch <branch>] [--role <role>] [--adapter <path>] [--inline] [--force]

Add a source to a workspace config. Auto-detects standalone vs inline workspace. Use --inline to force adding to config/core.toml. Git URL sources are not supported in inline mode. --path is validated at add-time; returns error if directory not found. Returns error if source name already exists unless --force is specified.

workspace-info

workspace-info

Display workspace config, list sources, show per-source status (cypilot dir found, artifact count, reachability).

workspace-sync

workspace-sync [--source <name>] [--dry-run] [--force]

Fetch and update worktrees for Git URL sources. Use --source to sync a single source. Use --dry-run to preview without network operations. Use --force to skip dirty worktree check (WARNING: DESTRUCTIVE — uncommitted changes will be discarded via git reset --hard and local commits may be lost via git checkout -B). Local path sources are skipped. Source resolution does not perform network operations for existing repos — use workspace-sync to explicitly update.

---

Auto-Configuration

Use auto-config after cypilot init on a brownfield project, when project conventions are unknown, or after major structural changes. It scans structure/conventions, generates {cypilot_path}/config/rules/{slug}.md, adds WHEN rules to {cypilot_path}/config/AGENTS.md, and registers systems in {cypilot_path}/config/artifacts.toml. Invoke via cypilot auto-config, cypilot configure, or the automatic offer inside generate.md.

Project Configuration

Project configuration lives in {cypilot_path}/config/core.toml (systems, kits, ignore lists). Artifact registry lives in {cypilot_path}/config/artifacts.toml (artifact paths, kinds, system mappings, codebase paths, autodetect rules). All commands output JSON when invoked with --json. Exit codes: 0=PASS, 1=filesystem error, 2=FAIL.