Bootstrap — minimal project setup

Bootstrap fills only missing AgentOps entry documents and the default durable verdict directory. It does not initialize Git, install hooks, create tracker state, start runtimes, or impose a delivery workflow.

Never-overwrite is what makes bootstrap safe to run on any repository: a setup step that can only add is idempotent by construction, while one that can replace must first prove it understands what it is replacing.

Named failure mode — scaffold sprawl: creating files the caller never requested because a "complete" setup feels more helpful than a minimal one.

Anti-pattern: inferring product intent from directory names and READMEs to avoid asking the caller. Corrective: ask for the missing content; a wrong PRODUCT.md written confidently is worse than a question.

Procedure

1. Inspect the target directory and report which canonical files already exist.
2. Ask the caller for missing product intent or goal content when it cannot be

inferred safely.

1. Create only missing, explicitly requested files. Never overwrite an existing

document.

1. Create .agents/ao/verdicts/sha256/ when durable local verdict storage is

requested.

1. Validate filesystem existence and report created, skipped, and failed paths.
2. Stop.

Typical documents are PRODUCT.md, GOALS.md, AGENTS.md, and a README section that explains the RPI traversal. Generated product copy starts from the operations-layer category and preserves the ownership boundary. Repositories remain free to use their own Git, CI, tracker, release, and deployment policies.

Naming. Three surfaces share the word "bootstrap"; they are distinct. This skill authors missing entry documents. ao init is the CLI command that creates the local evidence and verdict directories (.agents/ao/**). ao session bootstrap is a read-only session command that reports which local orientation files are present. This skill invokes neither.

Non-goals

• installing or invoking ao, br, bd, NTM, Agent Mail, or another runtime;
• creating .git, worktrees, branches, commits, hooks, or CI workflows;
• choosing work or claiming that repository setup is complete beyond the paths

actually inspected;

• running RPI automatically.

Output

Return target path, requested files, created files, existing files left intact, failed writes, and validation observations. Do not include a next action.

References

• Fitness
• Product
• Documentation
• Examples