Compound Engineering Setup

Interaction Method

Ask each question below using the platform's blocking question tool: AskUserQuestion in Claude Code (call ToolSearch with select:AskUserQuestion first if its schema isn't loaded), request_user_input in Codex, ask_question in Antigravity CLI (agy), ask_user in Pi (requires the pi-ask-user extension). Fall back to a numbered list on the host's user-visible chat surface only when no blocking tool exists in the harness or the call errors. Never silently skip or auto-configure.

ce-setup is a lightweight health check and repo-local config helper. It does not bulk-install every optional dependency. Missing tools are reported as optional capabilities so the user can install only the workflows they use.

Artifact Root Resolution

Every Compound Engineering skill that writes or reads an artifact directory (solutions, plans, ideation, and the other CE-owned trees) resolves its root through the rule below. ce-setup carries the canonical statement and reports the resolved root so an operator can confirm where artifacts land before running other skills.

Resolve the CE artifact root <root> before composing any artifact path.

• Read docs_root from <repo-root>/.compound-engineering/config.yaml only (<repo-root> = git rev-parse --show-toplevel). Do not read it from config.local.yaml. Unset -> <root> is docs, exactly as before.
• Validate a set value: a repo-relative directory whose real, symlink-resolved path stays inside the repo and is neither the repo root nor under .git/. Otherwise stop with an error naming docs_root and the value -- never fall back to docs.
• Use <root> as the sole artifact location: create it if absent, compose each path as <root>/<subdir> with this skill's own subdirectory, and never also read docs.

Phase 1: Diagnose

Step 1: Determine Plugin Version

Detect the installed compound-engineering plugin version by reading the plugin metadata or manifest when the platform exposes it. If the version cannot be determined, skip this step.

If a version is found, pass it to the check script via --version. Otherwise omit the flag.

Step 2: Run the Health Check

Before running the script, display:

Compound Engineering -- checking your environment...

Run the bundled check script. Set SKILL_DIR to the absolute directory you loaded this ce-setup SKILL.md from — the Bash tool's CWD is the user's project, not the skill dir, so a bare scripts/ path will not resolve:

SKILL_DIR="<absolute path of the directory containing this SKILL.md>";
if [ -f "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/check-health" ]; then bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/check-health" --version VERSION; else echo "Bundled health script not found at $SKILL_DIR/scripts/check-health; run the inline checks from ce-setup instead."; fi

Use the same command without --version VERSION if Step 1 could not determine a version.

If the script is unavailable, run the inline equivalent listed in references/repo-fixes.md.

Display the diagnostic output to the user. Missing optional tools are not setup failures. The health report includes the resolved artifact root and which config layer supplied it (per Artifact Root Resolution above); surface that line so the operator can confirm where CE artifacts will be written. Missing config.yaml is a reported absence, not a project issue.

Step 3: Decide Whether Fixes Are Needed

Report-gated repo-local remediations apply only to the checkout the health report diagnosed; if Phase 2 will write a different writable checkout, diagnose that checkout first, while session-level findings such as plugin version and optional tools remain from this session's Phase 1.

After the health report, decide Phase 2 from writable-checkout availability:

• If this session has a writable git checkout, run Phase 2 locally, including when project_issues is 0. Phase 2 always refreshes the example and always offers to create config.yaml when that file is missing.
• If this session has no writable checkout, but the user named a repository and the harness exposes a remote repo-work surface with a writable checkout, run Phase 2 on that surface instead and report the remote repo-local fixes in Phase 3.
• Otherwise skip Phase 2 and go to Phase 3, saying repo-local writes were skipped because no writable checkout is available.

Also remediate these project issues when the report names them:

• obsolete compound-engineering.local.md
• .compound-engineering/config.local.yaml exists but is not safely gitignored
• .compound-engineering/config.example.yaml is missing or outdated
• the health report marks the ce-work skill implementation engine unavailable or invalid, detects retired scalar routing keys, or reports malformed dormant work_engine_preferences
• the health report marks docs_root invalid (Invalid docs_root ...) — CE artifacts will not be written until it is fixed

If optional tools are missing, do not offer a bulk install. The diagnostic already printed the relevant install command or project URL. Say: "Install optional tools only for the workflows you use."

Phase 2: Fix Repo-Local Issues

Read references/repo-fixes.md from this skill's directory before making any repo-local change. It carries Steps 4-8: removing the obsolete compound-engineering.local.md, refreshing the example config, offering to create config.yaml, repairing invalid work_engine_preferences and docs_root, and the two .gitignore offers.

All paths there resolve from the repository root (git rev-parse --show-toplevel), not the current working directory. Maintaining the generated example files is the work Phase 2 does on its own — refreshing config.example.yaml and removing the superseded config.local.example.yaml. Every change to a user-owned file is offered and applied only if the user approves.

Phase 3: Summary

User-runnable invocation rendering. In setup summaries, default to /ce-setup; use $ce-setup only when the active host is Codex or explicitly documents dollar-prefixed skill invocation. On oh-my-pi (omp), use /skill:ce-setup. Render only the invocation as inline code and output one form only.

Display a brief summary:

✅ Compound Engineering setup complete

Fixed:     <repo-local fixes applied, or none>
Skipped:   <repo-local fixes declined, or none>
Optional:  <missing optional tools, or all available>

Run `<rendered invocation>` anytime to re-check.