Agent Bootstrap

Agent procedure

Session initialization MUST follow this order. Skip missing optional files; do not invent replacements mid-bootstrap.

1. Read the workspace contract

read_file FILESYSTEM.md

Understand structure, loading rules, and safety boundaries before any writes.

2. Inject shared behavior

read_file AGENTS.md          # SHOULD exist

If the harness only auto-loads a native file (for example CLAUDE.md), ensure that adapter points at AGENTS.md. Do not maintain divergent rule copies.

3. Inject optional identity overlays (MAY)

read_file SOUL.md            # OPTIONAL
read_file USER.md            # OPTIONAL

Load only if present and relevant to the task.

4. Load recent daily memory (SHOULD)

read_file MEMORY/daily/<today>.md
read_file MEMORY/daily/<yesterday>.md   # if exists

Do not auto-load MEMORY/observations/ or MEMORY/learned/ at bootstrap.

5. Index skills and tools (SHOULD)

list SKILLS/
# For each skill: read only title/summary/first section of SKILL.md
read_file TOOLS.md           # reference only; never secrets

Full skill bodies load on demand — see Skills.

6. Stop

No other directories are loaded at bootstrap unless the user explicitly requests them.

Bootstrap checklist

Human notes

Bootstrap exists to conserve context and make startups reproducible across Codex, Cursor, Claude Code, and custom runtimes.

Anti-patterns

• Dumping the whole monorepo into the first prompt
• Loading every SKILL.md “just in case”
• Putting API keys in TOOLS.md or identity files
• Skipping FILESYSTEM.md because “the agent already knows the repo”

Harness tip: keep narrative rules in AGENTS.md; symlink or @import into harness-native files.