Init

Skill ariaxhan/kernel-claude/skills/init

Initialize KERNEL links and AgentDB in a confirmed Vaults directory.From its SKILL.md

Install

npx -y skills add ariaxhan/kernel-claude --skill init

Assembled from the repository path, not quoted from the project. Check it against their README if it does not work.

One thing to look at

12 stars12 stars. Stars are a popularity signal and not a quality one, but at this level it is likely that nobody has read this closely except its author, and you would be relying on your own review.

SKILL.md

3.6 KB, as published. Nobody here has run it

KERNEL init

Explicit, once-per-machine setup. This skill never moves or replaces the whole ~/.claude directory.

Requirements

Git, SQLite 3, jq, Python 3, and Bash. Install the plugin first with the exact ID:

/plugin marketplace add ariaxhan/kernel-claude
/plugin install kernel@kernel-marketplace
/reload-plugins

Detection and confirmation

Locate the runtime selector at $HOME/.claude/plugins/cache/kernel-marketplace/kernel/current, source its hooks/scripts/common.sh, and call kernel_validate_runtime_root on the selected root. Stop if validation fails.

Call detect_vaults. Its order is: an existing valid KERNEL_VAULTS, $HOME/Documents/Vaults, $HOME/Vaults, $HOME/Downloads/Vaults, then the reported $HOME/Documents/Vaults fallback.

Before writing, show the exact Vaults path and ask:

Set up KERNEL in this Vaults directory?

Continue only after confirmation. A different path must be exported as KERNEL_VAULTS and detected again.

Writes

After confirmation, create only these directories when absent:

$VAULTS/_meta/agentdb
$VAULTS/_meta/research
$VAULTS/_meta/plans
$VAULTS/_meta/handoffs
$VAULTS/_meta/checkpoints
$VAULTS/_meta/retrospectives
$VAULTS/_meta/agents
$VAULTS/_meta/logs
$VAULTS/.claude/kernel
$VAULTS/.local/bin

Call kernel_update_current, then use kernel_init_host_link for exactly:

$VAULTS/.local/bin/agentdb          -> $CACHE/current/orchestration/agentdb/agentdb
$VAULTS/.claude/kernel/orchestration -> $CACHE/current/orchestration
$VAULTS/.claude/kernel/hooks         -> $CACHE/current/hooks

Missing links may be created. Correct links are unchanged. Recognizable numbered KERNEL links may be repaired. A regular file, directory, malformed link, or unrelated link is preserved and stops setup with an actionable message. Never force-replace links.

Initialize the database through the shared helper, which pins AgentDB to the selected Vaults even when init was invoked from another directory:

kernel_init_agentdb "$VAULTS" "$CACHE"

Do not edit a shell startup file automatically. If $VAULTS/.local/bin is not on PATH, print this line for the user to add to their chosen shell configuration:

export PATH="${KERNEL_VAULTS:-$HOME/Documents/Vaults}/.local/bin:$PATH"

Verify

"$VAULTS/.local/bin/agentdb" status
readlink "$HOME/.claude/plugins/cache/kernel-marketplace/kernel/current"
readlink "$VAULTS/.local/bin/agentdb"

Report every directory and link created. Existing AgentDB data, manifests, receipts, project configuration, and unrelated files are not rewritten.

Legacy `~/.claude` consolidation

This is not part of init. Moving an existing ~/.claude can affect plugins, credentials, settings, and other tools. If a user explicitly requests consolidation, make a dated backup, show a complete move plan and rollback command, and ask for a separate confirmation before any move. There is no one-line migration.

Recovery

Missing plugin: install kernel@kernel-marketplace, then reload.
Wrong Vaults: export KERNEL_VAULTS to the existing root and rerun init.
Unsafe host path: inspect the named object; KERNEL will not overwrite it.
Intentional runtime rollback: run scripts/select-runtime.sh /path/to/runtime from a trusted KERNEL checkout. It selects code only; it does not convert state formats.