Init

Initialize Govctl

Establish a valid local governance scaffold and report the workflow that should own the user's next task. Setup does not create product behavior or governance history.

Discovery

Check for gov/config.toml, a usable local govctl, and any existing project-local agent assets. In the govctl source repository, prefer cargo run --quiet -- as the development invocation. Elsewhere, use the available project-local or installed binary.

Use govctl init --help, govctl agent --help, and govctl init-skills --help for current options, destination resolution, and overwrite behavior. Use agent doctor, agent install, and agent update for user-scoped runtime integration. Reserve init-skills for project-local or custom-directory projection. Before init-skills, map the logical destination to its resolved target, inspect existing path ancestors for symlinks, and determine whether the target is contained by the project root.

Hard Stops

• Do not create Work Items, product code, RFCs, or ADRs during setup.
• Obtain explicit user authorization before installing a binary or using any --force option.
• Obtain explicit user authorization before agent install or agent update changes user-scoped runtime configuration.
• Do not run init --force as a generic repair for an existing project.
• Do not overwrite project-local skills or agents without inspecting their destination and confirming that replacement is intended.
• Obtain separate explicit authorization before init-skills creates or replaces files when the resolved destination is outside the project root or any existing ancestor is a symlink. Show the exact resolved target first.
• Do not edit governed files directly; let govctl init own the scaffold.
• Hand raw VCS work to commit.

Setup Policy

If no usable invocation exists, report the missing prerequisite. Ask before installing govctl; if Rust tooling is also absent, stop with the required installation dependency rather than modifying the project.

When gov/config.toml is absent, initialize through govctl init. When it is present, treat the project as initialized and inspect govctl status rather than running initialization again. Follow diagnostics: outdated schemas or project-support files belong to deterministic govctl migrate, while invalid artifacts require correction through their owning workflows.

For user-scoped integration, run agent doctor before the authorized agent install or agent update, report failures without substituting manual runtime commands, and tell the user to start a new session after success. The installed session hook stays silent outside governed projects. Its direct-edit guidance is advisory: prefer the canonical CLI when it can express the change, but use direct editing for unsupported operations and run govctl check afterward.

Project-local skills and reviewer agents are optional. Project them only when the user wants local copies, using init-skills destination and format discovery. Default to a non-symlinked destination within the project. Preserve existing assets unless their replacement was explicitly authorized.

Completion Evidence

Setup is complete when:

• gov/config.toml and the expected scaffold exist;
• govctl status can read the project;
• initialization or asset-install diagnostics have no unresolved failure;
• the report distinguishes files created, skipped, and intentionally replaced; and
• the user is directed to discuss, spec, gov, quick, or migrate according to the next task.