| id | tailored-install |
| name | Tailored Install |
| summary | Install skills, settings, hooks and memory tailored to THIS user's environment: detect context, respect existing files, ask before overwriting. |
| type | skill |
| author | kisa |
| recommended | true |
| base | true |
| reminder | Before installing anything, detect the user's actual environment (agent, OS, paths, existing config). Never overwrite blindly. Ask when uncertain. Report what changed. |
| tags | ["install","setup","safety","agent-discipline"] |
| added | "2026-06-26T00:00:00.000Z" |
| description | Use BEFORE installing any skill, setting, hook, or memory/instruction file into a user's setup. Detects the target environment, resolves real paths, asks when unsure, installs idempotently without overwriting, and verifies. Use when: "install this skill", "set this up for me", "add this to my agent", "configure my agent". |
| triggers | ["install tailored","set up for my environment","install this skill safely"] |
| allowed-tools | ["Read","Glob","Grep","Bash","Edit","Write","AskUserQuestion"] |
Tailored Install
The base skill of the deploychan MCP. Whenever you (a connected agent) are about to
install a skill, setting/hook, or memory/instruction file for a user, run
this discipline first. It is the implicit step 0 of every leveling-up route:
"install X" always means "install X tailored to THIS user's machine" — not into a
template, not into assumed paths.
This skill is agent-agnostic; the appendices at the end give concrete paths for Claude
Code, Hermes and Codex.
Always keep in mind
- Detect before you write. Never assume a path you have not verified.
- Never overwrite blindly. Back up or merge, then confirm.
- Ask when uncertain. A wrong guess pollutes the user's setup.
- Install into the real environment, respecting what already exists.
- Report exactly what changed and where.
Step 1 — Detect the environment (read-only)
Gather facts before touching anything. Read-only only:
- Host agent: Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, Continue, Codex, Hermes, or generic? Look for
tell-tale config dirs/files (e.g. a
.claude/ dir, a .cursor/ dir, an AGENTS.md).
- Which runtime and model you are. This is step 0 of everything: downstream capability
choices branch on it. Hermes ships many things out of the box (memory providers, voice);
Claude Code / Codex usually vibe-code the equivalent. Pick the wrong branch and you install
a Hermes-only command into Claude Code, or hand-build what the host already has.
- OS and home directory.
- Where each surface lives for this agent: skill directory, memory/instruction
file(s), hooks/permissions/settings file(s).
- What already exists: installed skills, existing memory file, existing settings —
so you can merge instead of clobber.
If a fact cannot be determined read-only, do not guess it — it becomes a question in
Step 3.
Step 2 — Resolve target paths
From the detected facts, resolve the real destination for each in-scope surface:
- Skill files — the agent's skill directory (user scope vs project scope).
- Memory / instruction files — the agent's persistent instructions file.
- Hooks / permissions / safe defaults — the agent's settings file.
Decide user scope vs project scope explicitly. Verify each directory actually
exists before writing to it.
Step 3 — Ask when uncertain
Stop and ask the user (AskUserQuestion or the host's equivalent) when:
- The target path is ambiguous, or several candidates exist.
- An existing file would be overwritten or its meaning changed.
- The host agent is unknown or unsupported.
- User scope vs project scope is unclear.
- A value is user-specific (where to read an API key from, a preferred path).
Always offer a sensible default plus the alternatives. Asking is cheaper than undoing.
Step 4 — Install safely
- Preview first: show what will be written and to which path.
- No blind overwrite: back up the existing file or merge into it, then confirm.
- Idempotent: re-running must not duplicate entries or corrupt the file.
- No secrets in shared/committed files.
- Respect existing structure and naming; integrate, don't flatten.
Step 5 — Verify and report
- Confirm the install took effect: the file exists at the resolved path and the agent
recognizes it.
- Report exactly what changed and where (paths, keys/sections touched).
- State any required follow-up: restart the agent, supply an API key, reload config.
Important Rules
- Detect > assume. Never hardcode a path you did not verify.
- Ask > guess. Uncertainty means stop and ask, not improvise an alternative.
- Never overwrite without explicit confirmation.
- Respect the existing setup; merge, don't replace wholesale.
- Never expose or write secrets into shared or committed files.
- Scope: this skill governs skill files, memory/instruction files, and
hooks/permissions. Wiring MCP servers into the agent's config is out of scope.
Claude Code appendix
Concrete locations when the host is Claude Code:
- Skills:
~/.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md (user scope) or .claude/skills/
inside a project (project scope).
- Memory / instructions:
~/.claude/CLAUDE.md (user, global), CLAUDE.md at the
project root (project), or AGENTS.md.
- Hooks & permissions:
~/.claude/settings.json (user),
.claude/settings.json (project, shared), .claude/settings.local.json
(project, local — keep out of git).
Confirm user-vs-project scope before writing. For hooks/permissions, show the exact
JSON change and confirm before applying.
Hermes appendix
Concrete locations when the host is Hermes Agent:
- Skills:
~/.hermes/skills/<name>/SKILL.md (user scope). Project-scope skills are
loaded from the repo's .hermes/skills/ directory.
- Memory / instructions:
SOUL.md in $HERMES_HOME for agent identity; project rules
in .hermes.md or AGENTS.md at the project root.
- Hooks & permissions:
~/.hermes/config.yaml (approvals, command_allowlist). No
separate settings.json — approvals and allowlists live in config.yaml.
- Environment secrets:
~/.hermes/.env (API keys).
Confirm user-vs-project scope before writing. For config.yaml changes, show the exact
YAML change and confirm before applying. After writing skills to ~/.hermes/skills/, tell
the user to run /reload-skills or restart Hermes.
Codex appendix
Concrete locations when the host is Codex CLI:
- Skills: Codex has no native skill directory. Use
~/.codex/skills/<name>/SKILL.md as
a convention. Codex reads instructions from AGENTS.md or CODEX.md at the project root.
- Memory / instructions:
~/.codex/instructions.md for global instructions;
project-level CODEX.md or AGENTS.md.
- Hooks & permissions: Codex uses
--yolo, --full-auto, or approval prompts per
invocation — no persistent settings file.
- MCP servers: configured via
codex mcp add or ~/.codex/mcp.json.
Codex has no concept of user-scope skills natively. Prefer project-scope AGENTS.md or
CODEX.md for Codex-specific instructions unless the user explicitly asks for global.
Tool names across agents
The allowed-tools in this skill's frontmatter uses Claude Code tool names. For other
agents, map them to the equivalents:
| Claude Code | Hermes / Codex |
|---|
| Read | read_file |
| Glob | search_files |
| Grep | search_files |
| Bash | terminal |
| Edit | patch |
| Write | write_file |
| AskUserQuestion | clarify |
