project-system-setup

When to load: first install of the system into a project, or when something structural changes (new repo, new chat platform, new CI, new review tool).

What it does: works through the setup interview conversationally and produces the project's config.yaml from the template.

Steps

1. Read setup/setup-interview.md and setup/config.template.yaml. The interview is the question script; the template is the output shape.
2. Interview the human, section by section. Ask only what's needed; explain why each section matters (cite the playbook it feeds). Accept "skip / not yet" for any optional section.
   • Required: project shape (Section 0), identity & repos, scope anchors, CI/tests, autonomy posture, secrets (if any public write).
   • Optional: chat/community, mentions, scheduled jobs.
3. Confirm each answer before writing it. Never guess — an unanswered question becomes a documented TODO in the output, not an assumption.
4. Write config.yaml from the template with the collected answers. Validate it parses, then run bin/config-lint on it from the steward-os checkout (the quickstart copies only skills/, so name the checkout path). The lint needs Ruby. A lint that can't run becomes a TODO, never a pass.
5. Emit a TODO list of skipped sections and a recommended starting job set based on the autonomy posture (conservative default: scoreboard + digests at Level 2; nothing public-writing until a watchdog exists). If Section 0 left scoreboard-refresh disabled for want of a location, keep it disabled and carry the TODO.
6. Point the human to adoption levels so they pick a starting level and know how to climb.

Pitfalls

• Don't put secrets in config. Record the path to the locked credentials file, never a token. If the human pastes a token, refuse it and explain the secret-isolating helper pattern.
• Don't over-automate at setup. Default new actions to Band B/C; autonomy is earned via the autonomy ladder, not granted at install.
• Scope anchors are the highest-value answer — if the human is vague here, push for specifics, because the whole fit screen depends on them.

Verification

• config.yaml exists and parses.
• bin/config-lint exits 0 on it, or its failure to run is a TODO.
• Every block the human confirmed as not applicable is listed under not_applicable and is deleted or {}.
• Every required section is filled or explicitly marked TODO.
• The human knows their starting adoption level and the next rung.