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Newcomer Guide: Understanding the AgentOps Repo

If you're new to this repository, this guide gives you a practical mental model, a map of where things live, and a fast path to becoming productive.

What this repo is

AgentOps is the operational layer for coding agents: a skills + hooks + CLI system that provides bookkeeping, validation, primitives, and flows so sessions compound instead of restarting from zero.

At a high level:

  1. Run primitives and flows with skills (/research, /implement, /validation, /rpi)
  2. Persist bookkeeping in .agents/
  3. Inject the best prior learnings into the next session
  4. Enforce quality through hooks and CI gates

See also:

Repo structure (what matters most)

Think in five layers:

  1. Product/docs layer — docs/ + selected repo-root entrypoints such as README.md, CHANGELOG.md, GOALS.md, and PRODUCT.md
  2. Skills layer — skills/, checked-in skills-codex/, and skills-codex-overrides/ (SKILL.md contracts + per-skill scripts/references + Codex-only tailoring)
  3. Hooks layer — hooks/ with active runtime manifest in hooks/hooks.json
  4. CLI layer — cli/ (cli/cmd/ao/, cli/internal/, generated cli/docs/COMMANDS.md)
  5. Validation layer — scripts/, tests/, and .github/workflows/validate.yml

Source-of-truth precedence

When docs disagree, follow this order:

  1. Executable code + generated artifacts (cli/**, hooks/**, scripts/**, cli/docs/COMMANDS.md)
  2. Skill contracts/manifests (skills/**/SKILL.md, hooks/hooks.json, schemas/**)
  3. Explanatory docs (docs/**, README.md)

For Codex skills specifically:

  1. skills/<name>/SKILL.md is the canonical behavior contract
  2. skills-codex-overrides/<name>/ is the Codex-specific tailoring layer
  3. skills-codex-overrides/catalog.json records the Codex treatment decision for every skill
  4. skills-codex/<name>/ is the checked-in Codex runtime artifact

For the core Codex execution chain, skills-codex-overrides/catalog.json also stores machine-readable operator_contract markers. When you change one of those prompts, update the contract alongside the prose so the validator can enforce the intended Codex-specific guarantees. After Codex prompt/artifact changes, run bash scripts/refresh-codex-artifacts.sh --scope worktree so hash refresh and Codex-specific validators follow one obvious repair path.

Key concepts to learn first

1) Context quality is the core design principle

The architecture assumes output quality depends on input context quality. Most patterns in this repo are about context scoping, isolation, and compounding.

2) Skills are composable primitives and flows

Use the router in Skills Reference to choose the right entry point:

  • Start with uncertainty: /research
  • Break work into issues: /plan
  • Implement one issue: /implement
  • Run multi-issue waves: /crank
  • Run end-to-end lifecycle: /rpi

3) Hooks are part of runtime behavior

The active hook manifest in hooks/hooks.json is authoritative for what runs at session boundaries.

4) CLI docs are generated, not hand-maintained

cli/docs/COMMANDS.md is generated. If command behavior changes, regenerate docs and keep parity checks passing.

5) CI checks many non-code contracts

CI validates not just builds/tests but also docs parity, hook safety, skill integrity/schema, security scans, and contract compatibility.

Suggested learning path

Day 1 reading order

  1. README.md
  2. docs/documentation-index.md
  3. docs/how-it-works.md
  4. docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
  5. docs/SKILLS.md

Then pick one domain

  • CLI behavior: cli/cmd/ao/, cli/internal/, cli/docs/COMMANDS.md
  • Skill behavior: skills/<name>/SKILL.md
  • Hook/gate behavior: hooks/hooks.json + hooks/*.sh
  • Validation/release/security: scripts/*.sh + tests/ + .github/workflows/validate.yml

Recommended first contributions

  1. Docs-only fix (safe): update wording or cross-links and run docs validation scripts.
  2. Hook/docs parity fix (medium): update docs to match runtime hook manifest and validate parity.
  3. Small CLI command improvement (advanced beginner): update command behavior, regenerate CLI docs, and run CLI checks.

Practical tips

  • Activate the repo-managed git hooks once per clone/worktree: bash scripts/install-dev-hooks.sh
  • Trust runtime files over narrative docs when there is a mismatch.
  • Keep changes small and verify with local gates before pushing.
  • Treat .agents/ and hooks as first-class parts of the system behavior.
  • Treat Codex as a first-class runtime: when a skill change affects Codex UX or execution style, inspect skills-codex-overrides/, update skills-codex-overrides/catalog.json if treatment changes, update the checked-in skills-codex/ copy when needed, and run the Codex validation scripts.
  • If you touch command surfaces or hook contracts, expect related parity checks to fail until updated.

Where to go next