Brain setup

Brain Setup

Guided first-time setup that builds the Brain folder system from scratch. Prompts for operator info and departments, scaffolds the full structure on disk, seeds a working DASHBOARD.md + awareness.md + workspace CLAUDE.md + per-dept CLAUDE.md files, and hands off with clear instructions for connecting the session rituals (sessionstart + sessionend).

Time to complete: ~7 minutes.

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⚠️ FIRST-TIME SKILL — No Brain Check

This skill creates the Brain. There is nothing to check yet. Skip any Brain Check. Begin directly with Stage 1.

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STAGE ROUTING

Where the operator is	Stage	Reference file
Just started — no info collected yet	Stage 1: Intake	references/stage1_intake.md
Profile confirmed, ready to build folders + docs	Stage 2: Scaffold	references/stage2_scaffold.md
Folders built, ready to verify + connect session rituals	Stage 3: Connect	references/stage3_connect.md
Running full setup end-to-end	All stages in sequence	Read all three reference files

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DEFAULT DEPARTMENTS (example pattern)

If the operator has no custom departments in mind, offer these as a starting point. Folder names are lowercase kebab-case; display names are friendly for docs.

Code	Folder (kebab-case)	Display name	Purpose
ops	ops/	Operations	Company infrastructure, SOPs, skills, dashboards
sales	sales/	Sales	Pipeline, outreach, proposal tracking
delivery	delivery/	Delivery	Client work, projects, service execution
products	products/	Products	Product builds, packaging, pricing
content	content/	Content	Marketing, social, content ops

Always ask before applying. Accept any list the operator provides.

Custom departments are welcome — accept any list, auto-convert names to kebab-case, confirm with operator before building.

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WORKSPACE PATHS

All paths are collected from the operator at runtime in Stage 1. Nothing is hardcoded — this skill works for any operator on any machine.

After Stage 1, the pattern is:

{workspace_root}/                          ← top-level project folder
{workspace_root}/CLAUDE.md                 ← workspace-root front door (created in Stage 2)
{workspace_root}/mission-control/             ← Master Brain (Chief of Staff)
{workspace_root}/mission-control/DASHBOARD.md
{workspace_root}/mission-control/awareness.md
{workspace_root}/mission-control/sessions/
{workspace_root}/mission-control/decisions/
{workspace_root}/mission-control/skills/      ← skill source-of-truth layer
{workspace_root}/mission-control/state/       ← live state

{workspace_root}/{dept-folder}/            ← one per department
{workspace_root}/{dept-folder}/CLAUDE.md   ← dept-scoped front door
{workspace_root}/{dept-folder}/brain/
{workspace_root}/{dept-folder}/brain/README.md
{workspace_root}/{dept-folder}/brain/sessions/
{workspace_root}/{dept-folder}/brain/decisions/
{workspace_root}/{dept-folder}/brain/decisions/decisions.md
{workspace_root}/{dept-folder}/brain/pipeline/

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SURFACE PRIMER (seeded into workspace CLAUDE.md)

The workspace CLAUDE.md seeds this primer so every new session knows where tasks belong:

• Claude Code = on-metal executor. Runs in the operator's terminal with Mac/Linux FS, local models, and git. Surface for drafting, planning, synthesis, file ops, repo work, local model runs, anything that touches process-state on the machine.
• Operator = relationship + decision layer. Human judgment, vendor/customer touches, sign-offs.

Routing rule: Everything goes through Claude Code unless the Operator needs to step in for a relationship or hard decision.

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KEY RULES

1. Confirm before building. Present the full profile and folder plan to the operator and wait for a 'yes' before running any commands. A wrong root path is painful to undo.

2. Never overwrite existing content. Before creating any folder or file, check if it exists. If a Brain is partially built, surface what's there and ask how to proceed — never silently skip or clobber existing files.

3. Folders use lowercase kebab-case. ops/, not Ops/. content-creation/, not ContentCreation/. Custom dept names get auto-converted.

4. Scaffold the docs, don't leave them empty. Every folder the skill creates gets a starter doc (CLAUDE.md, README.md, DASHBOARD.md, awareness.md, decisions.md). A Brain with empty folders is indistinguishable from a broken Brain.

5. Stop at instructions for session rituals — do not edit them. Give the operator the Brain root path + explicit what-to-change-where for sessionend AND sessionstart. Don't reach into another skill's files.

6. Verify before signing off. After scaffolding, list every folder + file that was created and confirm each exists. A setup that silently fails is worse than one that errors loudly.

7. Never seed operator-specific data. This skill ships to external operators. Do not embed any operator-specific identifiers into the scaffolded files. The operator supplies their own profile via Stage 1 intake — the skill scaffolds the structure, the operator owns the content.

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Scope Contract

Dimension	Scope
Read paths	Operator input collected via Stage 1 prompts (name, company, workspace root, department roster)
Write paths	New {workspace_root}/, {workspace_root}/mission-control/**, {workspace_root}/{dept}/brain/**, and starter docs — written once during Stage 2 scaffold
MCP / tool surface	Python stdlib (os, pathlib) for folder creation; file I/O for starter docs
Network egress	None
Surface	Claude Code
Credentials	None
Escalation trigger	If target root has existing content → HALT and surface per Rule 2; require operator confirmation or new path before any write

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References (auto-wikilinks)

• [[DASHBOARD]]
• [[awareness]]
• [[decisions]]
• [[stage1_intake]]
• [[stage2_scaffold]]
• [[stage3_connect]]

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