Setup

Setup

Interactive first-run configuration for Cothought. This creates the config file that all other skills depend on.

Check existing config

First, check if ~/.claude/cothought.json already exists. If it does, read it and ask the user if they want to reconfigure or just update specific values. Don't overwrite without confirmation.

Choose setup mode

Unless the user already passed advanced as an argument, ask upfront:

"Two ways to set up: quick gets you journaling in under a minute — just your notes folder and a dictation tool. Full setup also configures weekly review foundations, metamap options, and a vision exercise. Which do you want?"

• If they pick quick, run the simple setup below.
• If they pick full, run simple setup first, then continue into advanced setup.
• If $ARGUMENTS contains "advanced", skip the question and run both.

Simple setup

Get the user journaling as fast as possible. Ask only what's essential.

1. Notes directory

"Where do your notes live? This is the directory where journal entries, zettelkasten notes, and the metamap will be stored."

• Must be an absolute path
• Verify it exists with ls
• If it doesn't exist, ask if they want to create it

2. Reference files (optional, quick)

"Do you have any files in your notes directory you'd want the journal to read for context? A vision document, a plan, daily hooks — anything like that. You can always add these later."

• Each reference file has a name (key) and a path relative to the notes directory
• All optional — skip if the user doesn't have any yet
• Don't belabor this — one quick question, move on

3. Voice dictation

"Cothought works best with voice dictation — you talk, it captures your words. What are you using for speech-to-text?"

If they already have a setup (macOS Dictation, Whisper, Superwhisper, etc.), note it and move on.

If they don't have one or aren't sure, spawn a background research agent (Task tool, subagent_type: general-purpose, run_in_background: true) to find the best current voice dictation options for their platform. While waiting, continue with the rest of setup. When results come back, suggest 2-3 good options:

• macOS built-in Dictation — free, works everywhere, good enough to start. System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation.
• Wispr Flow — popular voice-to-text app for Mac, designed for developers and writers.
• Any other standout tools the research surfaces (Whisper-based apps, Superwhisper, etc.)

The goal is to make sure they leave setup with a working dictation method, not just a config file.

4. Done

Write ~/.claude/cothought.json with just the essentials:

{
  "notes_dir": "/Users/name/notes/",
  "reference_files": {}
}

Then offer: "That's it — you're ready to journal. Run /cothought:journal to start. If you want to configure review foundations, project directories, or other advanced settings, run /cothought:setup advanced anytime."

Advanced setup

Triggered by /cothought:setup advanced or if the user asks for more options. Includes everything from simple setup plus:

Review foundations

"When you do a weekly review, what areas of your life do you want to track? These are the 'foundations' — things like sleep, exercise, writing, finances. Each one gets a name and some keywords to search for in journal entries."

• Each foundation has a name and a list of keywords
• Default suggestion: Sleep, Exercise, Writing
• The user can customize or skip entirely

Metamap options

"The metamap can track IFS-style internal 'parts' — voices or modes you notice in yourself, like 'the anxious part' or 'the maximizer.' Want to enable this?"

• If yes, ask them to name their parts (they can add more later)
• If no or unsure, set ifs_enabled: false

Note: Dev directory and project categories are NOT configured here. The /cothought:project and /cothought:begin-project skills handle their own onboarding the first time they're used.

Write config

After gathering all info, write ~/.claude/cothought.json with the collected values. Show the user the final config and confirm before writing.

Seed notes directory (optional)

After writing the config, ask: "Want me to set up your notes directory with a starter metamap?"

If yes:

1. Check if metamap.md already exists in the notes directory. If it does, don't overwrite.
2. If it doesn't exist, copy the template from the cothought repo's templates/metamap.md into the notes directory.
3. Check if a CLAUDE.md exists in the notes directory. If not, offer to create one from templates/CLAUDE.md.

Vision (optional)

After the config and seed steps, ask: "One more thing — want to write your vision? This is a set of vivid 'example day' passages describing the life you're building toward. The journal and review skills use it for context, and you can read it back anytime with /cothought:vision. Takes about 10-15 minutes."

• If yes, tell them to run /cothought:write-vision — it walks through the whole process.
• If no, that's fine. Mention they can do it anytime later with /cothought:write-vision.

Finish

Tell the user they're set up. Mention:

• Config is at ~/.claude/cothought.json
• They can edit it anytime
• Suggest trying /cothought:journal to start their first session
• If they didn't seed the metamap, mention that the journal skill will create one automatically from their first few sessions
• If they skipped the vision, remind them /cothought:write-vision is there when they're ready