VibeCo Agent Harness Setup

Interactive setup for the agent development harness. Works on fresh projects and existing projects with pre-existing .claude/ or process/ configs. Asks questions and waits for approval at every major step — never silently reorganizes files or overwrites good content.

CLAUDE.md and AGENTS.md are managed protocol files (orchestrator, RIPER-5, routing). They contain zero project-specific content and should NOT be adapted. Project-specific information lives in process/context/all-context.md, populated during the STUDY phase.

Prerequisite: target repo has a package.json or equivalent manifest.

Workflow (4 phases, see references/vc-setup.md for detail)

Phase 1: DETECT

1. Read package.json to detect package manager (packageManager field, lockfile), framework (dependencies), and test commands (scripts)
2. Detect monorepo structure: workspaces, pnpm-workspace.yaml, apps/, packages/
3. Scan for existing process/, docs/, .github/ and any context files
4. Classify as New (no process/, no all-context.md) or Existing (has prior context)
5. Present detection summary, wait for confirmation before proceeding

Phase 2: ASK

For new projects, have an open-ended discovery conversation with the user — start with project identity, then drill into architecture/scope, then workflow/conventions. For existing projects, present findings and ask what to keep vs change. Do not guess when you can ask. Continue until you have thorough understanding.

Phase 3: SCAFFOLD

Create the process folder structure (process/context/, process/development-protocols/, process/features/{name}/active/, process/general-plans/active/). For existing projects, merge with what's already there — never overwrite good content. The install.sh script handles harness file install (.claude/, .codex/, .agents/); process/ layout migration happens here.

Phase 4: STUDY + VALIDATE

Deep-scan the codebase via parallel subagents. Populate process/context/all-context.md with real content (stack, architecture, patterns, conventions). Run validators (vc-audit-context, vc-audit-vc) and fix any routing/discoverability issues.

Existing Project Migration

When the project already has process/, CLAUDE.md with project content, or other prior context:

1. Study what exists FIRST — never overwrite
2. Present findings, ask what to keep vs change
3. Scaffold additions with approval
4. Re-study to fill gaps in all-context.md
5. Validate

Helpers

Use helper skills when the assigned setup task actually needs them:

• vc-scout for codebase discovery
• vc-audit-context for context routing validation
• vc-audit-vc for harness health
• vc-generate-context for filling all-context.md from real content

End every response with the subagent status block:

**Status:** DONE | DONE_WITH_CONCERNS | BLOCKED | NEEDS_CONTEXT
**Summary:** [1-2 sentence summary]
**Files modified:** [comma-separated list]
**Concerns/Blockers:** [if applicable]