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archcore init

CLI

archcore init is the one command that turns any repository into an Archcore-aware project. Run it once per repo.

Usage

Section titled “Usage”
Terminal window
cd your-project
archcore init

What it does

Section titled “What it does”

  1. Creates .archcore/ with a default settings.json:

    {
      "sync": "none"
    }

  2. Auto-detects installed coding agents by looking for known configuration directories and files:

    AgentDetected by
    Claude Code.claude/ directory
    Cursor.cursor/ directory
    GitHub Copilot.github/copilot-instructions.md file
    Gemini CLI.gemini/ directory
    OpenCodeopencode.json file or .opencode/ directory
    Codex CLI.codex/ directory
    Roo Code.roo/ directory
    Cline.clinerules/ directory

    If no agents are detected, init falls back to Claude Code configuration so you have something to work with.

  3. Writes MCP config for every detected agent. The exact file location depends on the agent — see agent integrations for the full table.

  4. Installs session hooks for agents that support them (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, Gemini CLI). Hooks inject a summary of your .archcore/ documents into the agent’s context at session start.

After init

Section titled “After init”

Your project looks like this:

your-project/
├── .archcore/
│   └── settings.json
├── .mcp.json               # Claude Code MCP config (example)
├── .claude/
│   └── settings.json       # session hook
└── src/...

From here:

  • Create your first document by asking your agent to record a real decision — see Quick start.
  • Validate structure with archcore status.
  • Check full health with archcore doctor.

Re-running init

Section titled “Re-running init”

Safe to re-run. It will:

  • Leave existing .archcore/settings.json untouched.
  • Re-apply MCP and hook configs (idempotent writes).
  • Pick up any newly-installed agents.
Section titled “Related commands”
  • archcore mcp install — install MCP config without touching anything else.
  • archcore hooks install — install hooks without touching anything else.
  • archcore status / archcore doctor — check structure after init.

See commands for the full reference.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”
  • Quick start — create your first document.
  • MCP server — what init wires up.
  • Hooks — what the session-start hook actually does.