Setup

One job: give the agent a memory vault to read and write. Ask where it should live, scaffold the folder structure there, and record the path so the SessionStart hook and every skill resolve the same vault afterward. Run once per machine. Idempotent — it never overwrites files you've already started.

This exists mainly for the plugin install path, where there is no scripts/setup.sh in your working directory to run — the script ships inside the read-only plugin cache. This skill locates that bundled script, asks you where the vault goes, and runs it. On a clone it does the same with the local script.

Steps

1. Locate the bundled setup script. On pi the Foundation extension exports LOOP_GATE_ROOT; otherwise prefer the working copy, then fall back to the Claude Code plugin cache (the version-pinned path a plugin user can't easily type):

   script="${LOOP_GATE_ROOT:-.}/scripts/setup.sh"
   if [ ! -x "$script" ]; then
     script=$(find "${CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR:-$HOME/.claude}/plugins" \
       -path '*loop-and-gate-foundation*/scripts/setup.sh' 2>/dev/null | sort -V | tail -1)
   fi

   If neither resolves, tell the user the plugin isn't installed where expected and stop. Don't scaffold by hand — setup.sh is the one source of truth for what a vault contains.

2. Ask where the vault should live — this is a gate, don't decide it for the user. Check the OS first (uname). Ask with AskUserQuestion (Claude Code) or ask_user_question (pi), as a location choice:
   • On macOS, put the Obsidian iCloud folder first and mark it (Recommended) — ~/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~md~obsidian/Documents/SecondBrain syncs the vault to Obsidian on iPhone/iPad for free. Silently adopting a location is what broke earlier setups.
   • Offer a plain local folder (~/second-brain, no cloud sync).
   • Offer "an existing Obsidian vault" — the user pastes an absolute path and the scaffold lands inside it. Off macOS, drop the iCloud option and recommend the local folder.

3. Run the script with the chosen path as its one argument:

   "$script" "<chosen-vault-path>"

4. Report where the vault landed (the script prints and records the path) and the next steps: start a session, run profile-interview to teach it your voice, or run add-kits to add the rest of the Loop & Gate stack (the Build, Grow, and Accountability kits). Offer add-kits here but don't run it inline — it's a separate gated skill, and vault setup is done.

Rules

• Never reimplement the scaffold logic here. This skill's only job is to ask the location and run setup.sh. Two copies of the folder layout would drift.
• Never pick the location silently. The location is the user's call — that is the whole reason this skill asks the user instead of trusting the script's auto-detection.
• Run it once. It's a first-run step, not a session ritual.
• Keep setup.sh's git gate: the script prints the vault git-init command rather than running it. Don't git-init the vault for the user unasked.