/setup — First-Time Cortex Setup

Set up Cortex for coordinating a team of AI agents through a shared markdown folder.

Steps

1. Check for existing config

Read ~/.cortex/config.yaml. If it exists, show the current config and ask: "Cortex is already configured. Do you want to reconfigure?" If no, stop.

2. Ask for team directory

Ask: "Where should the team directory live? This is the shared folder where agent notes, project notes, and templates are stored."

Default: ~/cortex-team

Expand ~ to the full home directory path for all file operations, but store the path with ~ in config for readability.

3. Create team directory structure

mkdir -p <team_dir>/agents
mkdir -p <team_dir>/projects
mkdir -p <team_dir>/templates

4. Write agent template

Write <team_dir>/templates/agent-template.md:

---
name: ""
project: ""
status: active
joined: ""
---

## Role


## Projects


## Capabilities


## Session Log
Last session: --
Status: registered

5. Write project template

Write <team_dir>/templates/project-template.md:

---
type: project
created: YYYY-MM-DD
status: active
---

## Next Action

## Notes

6. Ask for Telegram chat ID (optional)

Ask: "Would you like to connect Telegram so you can message the chief of staff from your phone? (Recommended, but you can also use terminal or remote control instead.)"

If yes: ask for their Telegram chat ID. The bot token is managed separately by the Claude Code Telegram plugin (/telegram:configure) — Cortex only needs the chat ID to know where to send messages.

"To find your chat ID:

1. If you already have a Telegram bot configured with the Claude Code Telegram plugin, your chat ID is in the plugin's config.
2. Otherwise, set up the Telegram plugin first with /telegram:configure, then come back to provide your chat ID.

Paste your chat ID when ready."

If they want to skip Telegram: set the value to an empty string in config. The chief of staff will work fine via terminal or remote control — Telegram just adds mobile access.

7. Ask for chief of staff project directory

Ask: "Where does the chief of staff agent run? This is the project directory where the chief of staff's Claude Code session lives."

Default: the team directory itself.

8. Ask for heartbeat and schedule preferences

Ask: "How often should agents poll for new work (in minutes)?" Default: 15

Ask: "What time should the daily briefing be sent? (HH:MM, 24h format)" Default: 09:00

Ask: "What time should the daily review be sent? (HH:MM, 24h format)" Default: 18:00

9. Write config

Create the ~/.cortex/ directory if it doesn't exist, then write ~/.cortex/config.yaml:

team_dir: <team_dir>
heartbeat_minutes: <heartbeat>
daily_briefing: "<briefing_time>"
daily_review: "<review_time>"
telegram_chat_id: "<chat_id>"
chief_of_staff_project: "<cos_project_dir>"

10. Create chief of staff agent

mkdir -p <team_dir>/agents/chief-of-staff

Write <team_dir>/agents/chief-of-staff/chief-of-staff.md:

---
name: Chief of Staff
project: <cos_project_dir>
status: active
joined: <today's date YYYY-MM-DD>
---

## Role
Coordinate the Cortex agent team — receive instructions from the user, dispatch work to agents, monitor progress, send daily briefings and reviews.

## Projects
(All projects — the chief of staff monitors every project in the team directory)

## Capabilities
- Agent registration and onboarding via /register
- Work dispatch — write tasks to agent task files
- Agent monitoring — read task files for liveness and progress
- Daily briefing (morning) and review (evening)
- User communication via Telegram, terminal, or remote control

## Session Log
Last session: --
Status: registered

Write <team_dir>/agents/chief-of-staff/tasks.md as an empty file.

11. Confirm

Respond:

"Cortex is set up!

• Team directory: <team_dir>
• Config: ~/.cortex/config.yaml
• Chief of staff registered at agents/chief-of-staff/chief-of-staff.md

Next steps:

1. In the chief of staff's project (<cos_project_dir>), run /join Chief of Staff
2. To add worker agents, have the chief of staff run /register <name>
3. In each worker's project, run /join <name>"