trainingsites/campus-ai-os/campus-start

/campus-start - Found Your Business (about 5 minutes)

A founding moment, not a software install. Scripts and detail: interview.md, scaffold.md in this skill's references/.

Platform resolution (do this FIRST): resolve PLUGIN_MANIFEST and ENTRY_FILE per PLATFORM.md at the plugin root. Never hardcode either.

Version resolution (second): OS_VERSION = PLUGIN_MANIFEST -> version. Never write a hardcoded version literal.

Pack resolution (third): ACTIVE_PACK = packs/active.json -> active_pack; then packs/{ACTIVE_PACK}/pack.json -> identity supplies every niche string; never hardcode a pack name or its strings here.

Guard - never scaffold over an existing campus

Markers, checked on THIS run: workspace.json; a dean/ entry file (any of CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md / AGENTS.override.md / CODEX.md); shared/ with content; .campus-os/. Any present -> offer /update-workspace or /campus-doctor; NEVER rebuild. Filesystem only; nothing carries over from an earlier founding.

Step 0 - The founding frame

Say the pack's founding_frame in your own words, all three beats. Do NOT collect the name here.

Step 1 - Name me, then offer the fork (once, for BOTH paths)

Beat 1 - the rename, non-skippable: ask "Keep Dean, or a name you like better?" and WAIT; record assistant_name; "keep it" IS the confirmation.

Beat 2 - the fork, explicit, full first (wording in interview.md): A) Full onboarding (default) -> ask only the filing question (Q4), build the shell (files DEFAULT), run /full-onboarding. B) Quick start -> four questions one at a time, build, seed (SEEDED), First Win. No third path; B is never chosen silently.

Step 1b - Four quick questions (path B), ONE AT A TIME

Ask question 1. Wait. Read it. Then question 2. Push back ONCE on a vague answer - you cannot push back on an answer you have not seen.

⚠️ PRE-SUPPLIED CONTEXT - declare it, never write it unconfirmed

Host-supplied background defeats the pushback silently.

1. Declare. Before Q1, if you hold pre-supplied context about this

business, say in one line what you appear to know and where it came from.

1. Ask regardless. Pre-supplied context is a starting point, never a

substitute.

1. Never write it unconfirmed. No pre-supplied fact reaches any shared

context file, workspace.json, or a department file until the owner has said it in their own words in THIS conversation. Drafted from it, a ladder row is SEEDED, never COMPLETE.

The questions (wording in interview.md): 1 business (q1, pushback q1_pushback); 2 what you sell (q2_examples); 3 who it's for (customer_noun); 4 filing, asked on BOTH paths: "Your campus always has the same staff departments - {DEPT_LABELS}. Separate question: how should your FINISHED WORK be filed - by department, client, project, or a mix?" Sets the filing key only.

⚠️ `DEPT_LABELS` is RESOLVED, never typed. Render it from templates/registry.json -> the type: department entries -> each entry's label field, skipping dean-office; never typed, never from the pack (build-gate 22, 24).

Step 2 - Build the campus to match

Common core (notes and exact root entry-file text: scaffold.md):

{ENTRY_FILE}     (ROOT redirect, per PLATFORM.md)
dean/            {ENTRY_FILE} (from templates/dean-CLAUDE.md), memory.md, TASKS.md, .activity.jsonl
shared/          business.md, voice.md, goals.md, offers.md, audience.md, tools.md,
                 setup-progress.md
.campus-os/      registry.json, model-routing.md, context-files.md, ledger-paths.md,
                 run-id-and-interop.md, resolve-seat.py (from templates/ and tools/), .campus-os/scan/, registration-block-spec.md
                 (MATERIALIZED: tools/materialize_registration_spec.py --campus-root {root})
.campus-os/kernel/  the kernel kit (core tier), written FIRST - the tools above run from it
                 (`scaffold.md` -> "Kernel kit"; Kernel preamble §5)
atlas/config/  active-work/  inputs/  outputs/  wiki/  daily/

update-workspace creates the same set (build-gate check 8). Create every folder, even empty; write and verify the root entry file; never hand-build the org.

Departments: create one folder per department on the org chart - every type: department entry behind {DEPT_LABELS}, skipping dean-office (path: managers[].dept_dir if a manager declares one, else departments/{id}/) with a charter stub. An unstaffed department still gets its folder; the folders match the org chart exactly. Then confirm, as its own turn: "Starting departments: {DEPT_LABELS} - rename or change any?" Wait for the answer and apply any rename before Step 3. Clients / Projects / Mix: clients/_template/, projects/_template/, or both.

workspace.json (schema in scaffold.md): assistant_name; the business OBJECT; structure plus EXACTLY the matching filing key; version = OS_VERSION; created. .campus-os/model-routing.md only if absent; never regress a version marker.

Step 3 - The founding close

"{Name} here - your campus exists. Your campus is on v{OS_VERSION}." A -> /full-onboarding now; B -> /campus-first-win, then the setup ladder; never nag toward the full sit-down. No tours next. The close asks exactly one question (the next-step offer); the departments question was already its own turn in Step 2. Name departments only by their {DEPT_LABELS} label, never by folder or id (the education department is shown as its label).

Rules

• Grade-8 language; never "orchestrator", "scaffold", "registry", "kernel".
• One question per turn, through the close. Never end a turn with two questions.
• NEVER BATCH THE FOUNDING QUESTIONS. One question, one answer, then the

next - never a form, dialog, or list. Permission-to-batch wording is wrong; this rule wins (campus-doctor scans this file).

• ONE pushback per vague answer; ~5 minutes total.
• A confirming answer IS the confirmation.
• The structure choice must visibly change the folders; it can change later.

File anchoring (critical)

Kernel preamble §2 applies: references/kernel-preamble.md.

Kernel preamble §5 applies: references/kernel-preamble.md.