Install the tool in one command, on a machine with no toolchain

setup: bare
given:
  - 'a repository with no AI layer, and a machine with the tool already installed the way the installer installs it'
steps:
  - id: version
    run: ['version']
    note: 'the installed tool says which release it is; the installer refused to install an archive whose executable said anything else'
    expect:
      exit: 0
      stdout_contains: ['^majordomus [0-9]']
  - id: init
    run: ['init']
    note: 'the command the installer points at next, in the repository you want supervised'
    expect:
      exit: 0
      stdout_contains: ['next: majordomus update', 'next: majordomus doctor']
      files_exist: ['.ai/repo/policy.yaml', '.ai/manifest.yaml']
  - id: doctor
    run: ['doctor']
    note: 'the layer the installed tool created is a layer the installed tool accepts; the hook lines init printed are not in place yet, which is exactly what doctor is for'
    expect:
      exit: 12
      stdout_contains: ['^OK   layout      .ai/']
then:
  - 'nothing was installed into the project except .ai/ and the files the policy names'
  - 'the hook line init printed names the launcher, so an upgrade does not break it'
  - 'uninstalling removes the launchers and the prefix, and no repository state'

curl -fsSL https://majordomus.dev/install.sh | sh
majordomus init

curl -fsSL https://majordomus.dev/install.sh | sh -s -- --init

The scenario

Executed against the real tool, in a repository prepared by bare, every time this site is generated. What follows is not a description of what should happen; it is what happened.

What the tool did

Evidence of the run this page was generated from: pass, 3 step(s). Output is normalised: the repository's path, timestamps, ids and durations are placeholders; nothing else is edited.

Tested by test/cases/94_use_cases.sh, which runs every scenario and refuses a step whose recorded output is not what it produced.

1. 1$ majordomus version exit 0

   the installed tool says which release it is; the installer refused to install an archive whose executable said anything else

   majordomus 1.0.0-alpha.8

   • exit 0
   • stdout_contains /^majordomus [0-9]/
2. 2$ majordomus init exit 0

   the command the installer points at next, in the repository you want supervised

   created
     .ai/README.md
     .ai/manifest.yaml
     .ai/repo/README.md
     .ai/repo/policy.yaml
     .ai/repo/scope.yaml
     .ai/repo/profiles/
     .ai/repo/prompts/
     .ai/repo/profiles/README.md
     .ai/repo/prompts/README.md
     .ai/repo/rules/README.md
     .ai/repo/rules/project/README.md
     .ai/repo/rules/vendor/majordomus/
     .ai/repo/knowledge/
     .ai/repo/knowledge/curated/README.md
     .ai/repo/knowledge/candidates/README.md
     .ai/repo/workflows/
     .ai/repo/skills/
     .ai/repo/adrs/
     .ai/repo/use-cases/
     .ai/repo/applications/
     .ai/repo/why/
     .ai/repo/features/
     .ai/repo/sessions/README.md
     .ai/repo/deployments/README.md
     .ai/repo/project/README.md
     .ai/repo/mesh/
     .gitignore:.ai/local/
     .gitignore:.ai/repo/**/.tmp.*
   scope: no stack recognised at the root (looked for mix.exs, Cargo.toml); seeded only the entries every repository shares; add your own to .ai/repo/scope.yaml
   local state: .ai/local/state/ (ignored by git; this checkout's own)
   next: majordomus update      # generate the provider instruction files named in the policy
   next: majordomus doctor      # verify nothing is declared that is not wired
   hooks are not installed by init; add these two lines yourself, doctor verifies them:
     pre-commit: majordomus doctor || exit $?
     pre-push:   majordomus finish --check || exit $?

   • exit 0
   • stdout_contains /next: majordomus update/
   • stdout_contains /next: majordomus doctor/
   • file_exists .ai/repo/policy.yaml
   • file_exists .ai/manifest.yaml
3. 3$ majordomus doctor exit 12

   the layer the installed tool created is a layer the installed tool accepts; the hook lines init printed are not in place yet, which is exactly what doctor is for

   OK   knowledge   graph — buildable here: 0 node(s), 0 edge(s), compiled into a temporary file and removed; no stored index to go stale
   OK   knowledge   records — 0 record(s) valid against knowledge/v1; every reference resolves  [reproduce: majordomus knowledge check]
   OK   knowledge   candidates — 0 await review, cap 40
   OK   layout      .ai/manifest.yaml — schema ai-repository/v1
   OK   layout      .ai/repo/scope.yaml — version 1; 14 in pathspec(s); every key is one the schema declares
   OK   layout      .ai/local/ — ignored, and nothing under it is tracked
   OK   layout      .ai/ — every section the manifest names exists; the layer is readable without the tool
   OK   layout      .ai/repo/prompts — present
   OK   layout      .ai/local/state/handovers — present, 0 record(s)
   OK   layout      .ai/local/state/checkpoints — present, 0 record(s)
   OK   records     ledger.jsonl — every line is a well-formed event
   OK   policy      39 key(s) — every policy value the code reads is declared, with no reader-side default
   OK   bootstrap   3 projection(s) — each points at .ai/README.md, carries no rule of its own and names only rules in force
   OK   catalogue   0 use case(s), 0 application(s) — every command, doctrine, claim, responsibility, category, setup and cross-reference resolves, both directions
   OK   context     .ai/ — 20 context document(s) carry the contract; ids unique, references resolve, no final document superseded, no cycle  [reproduce: majordomus context validate]
   OK   policy      .ai/repo/policy.yaml — parsed, version 1
   OK   profiles    4 files — parsed; default 'implementation' exists
   INFO adr         .ai/repo/adrs/ — no decisions; nothing to validate
   OK   records     decisions.md — every entry is attributable
   INFO project     .ai/repo/project — no canonical project model here; nothing to validate
   OK   command     surface — 30 public command(s), reconciled against the dispatch table  [reproduce: majordomus doctor]
   OK   doctrine    50 of 61 rule(s) carry a validator — validator, dispatch, propagation, test and CI resolve for every one of the 50; the remaining 11 declare no validator and this check does not examine them
   FAIL wiring      doctor-on-commit — hook .git/hooks/pre-commit does not exist  [reproduce: ls -l .git/hooks/pre-commit]
   FAIL wiring      finish-on-push — hook .git/hooks/pre-push does not exist  [reproduce: ls -l .git/hooks/pre-push]
   OK   command     coverage — every public command is exercised and refuted  [reproduce: bash test/run.sh 31_command_coverage]
   OK   resolver    handovers — no record for this worktree and branch (absence, not a stale match)  [reproduce: majordomus handover --resolve]
   OK   lifecycle   ledger — no ledger yet; nothing has happened here to be silent about
   OK   knowledge   wiring — the close path and the compaction adapter call the deriver
   OK   knowledge   deriver — no ledger yet; no episode has closed here
   INFO project     .ai/repo/project — no canonical project model here; nothing to validate
   FAIL projection  AGENTS.md — missing (run: majordomus update)  [reproduce: majordomus update]
   FAIL projection  CLAUDE.md — missing (run: majordomus update)  [reproduce: majordomus update]
   FAIL projection  GEMINI.md — missing (run: majordomus update)  [reproduce: majordomus update]
   OK   context     builder — 21 lines, budget 300  [reproduce: majordomus context]
   OK   capture     share/schemas/majordomus/capture/capture.v1 — 2 file(s) describe majordomus.capture/v1 at the path the identifier derives: the record as JSON Schema, the document as protobuf
   OK   capture     .ai/local/prompts — ignored and untracked
   OK   capture     .ai/local/prompts — no records yet; the archive is empty
   OK   capture     .ai/local/prompts — every prompt is present as all three: the record, the Markdown and the YAML
   OK   prompts     .ai/local/prompts — the archive and every record in it are readable by their owner only
   OK   prompts     .ai/local/prompts — no records yet; the archive is empty
   OK   prompt      4 asset(s) — front matter valid, every token known
   OK   records     open-questions.md — every entry parses
   OK   retention   ledger — 0 lines, cap 5000
   OK   retention   handovers — 0 files, cap 200
   OK   retention   checkpoints — 0 files, cap 500
   OK   retention   sessions — 0 records, cap 500
   INFO project     .ai/repo/project — no canonical project model here; nothing to validate
   OK   rules       .ai/repo/rules/vendor/majordomus — every file matches the manifest (1 (1.0.0-alpha.8))
   OK   rules       61 rule(s) — resolve in one deterministic order; vendored baseline plus project rules, no override — 51 carry a validator, 10 are normative text this tool does not check
   OK   rules       blocking — all 44 blocking rule(s) carry a validator
   OK   schema      rules — 61 rule(s) resolve in one order: the vendored baseline in manifest order, then the project's, as a dependency graph
   OK   schema      share/kinds.yaml — 37 kind(s); every one that carries metadata declares a schema
   OK   schema      share/schemas — 54 schema(s), each valid JSON and each applied — by a kind, through an allow-list the tool reads, by a validator that names it, or as a generated document's contract (15)
   WARN session     .ai/repo/sessions/ — 1 record(s) exist here and are committed nowhere, so they reach no surface: README.md  [reproduce: git add .ai/repo/sessions && majordomus derive]
   OK   records     0 record(s) — every changed_files names work, not generated or local state
   OK   session     .ai/local/session-contexts — ignored and untracked
   OK   session     .ai/local/session-contexts — no working contexts yet; the store is empty
   INFO skill       .ai/repo/skills/ — no skills; nothing to validate
   OK   skill       reachable — no personal command or skill shares a name with a projected skill  [reproduce: majordomus run editors.status]
   INFO use-case    30 advisory gap(s) — not covered by an active use case, and the policy does not require it: command:init command:update command:doctor command:watch command:start command:context command:checkpoint command:handover command:check command:finish command:history command:decision command:question command:prompt command:evidence command:skills command:capture command:search command:doctrine command:plan command:version command:session command:knowledge command:adr command:usecase command:rules command:migrate command:recover command:bench command:archive  [reproduce: majordomus usecase coverage]
   OK   use-case    0 of 30 target(s) covered — every public command the policy requires is named and run by an active use case (policy use_cases.coverage)
   INFO env         - — bash <version>, git <version>, jq <version>, shellcheck present
   WARN clone       unpushed — commits on no remote: main(2) — work on one disk is invisible to every other session and cannot be integrated  [reproduce: git push -u origin <branch>]
   OK   clone       uncommitted — no linked worktree, so no uncommitted work can sit in one
   INFO clone       trunk — no remote-tracking branch, so this checkout's distance from the remote trunk cannot be measured
   INFO clone       release — no remote-tracking branch, so whether the trunk's landed work is released cannot be measured
   ·    reasoning   <decided by the advisors and the executable of the recording machine>
   ·    layout      - — <judged when the recording machine has built the executable>
   ·    budget      doctor — <timed against the policy budget>
   doctor: 5 failure(s)

   • exit 12
   • stdout_contains /^OK layout .ai//

Why the tool knows this

The chain from this page to the code: the use case names commands, rules and claims; each rule is dispatched from the registry and each claim names the test that proves it; the scenario above executed the commands. Nothing in this chain is prose about intent.

• majordomus versionPrint the version, without needing a repository or an installation.
• majordomus initCreate the .ai/ layer in this repository, and refuse to overwrite an existing one.
• majordomus doctorIt checks governance only: is Majordomus itself healthy, and is every enforcement it declares actually wired here?

Over MCP the same layer is reached through majordomus_distribution, majordomus_releases, majordomus_build, majordomus_artifact (the MCP surface).

The rules that make it hold

• ✕blocking AI layer integrityThe repository's AI layer is real: the manifest declares a format this executable reads and every section it names exists, the checkout-local half is ignored by git and nothing under it is tracked, and no project data remains under the pre-.ai .majordomus/ path.

Guarantees exercised

• ○guaranteed Every platform, artifact name and installation URL is derived from one model, and a projection that disagrees with it is refused
• ○guaranteed The documented one-line install command is composed from the model's parts, and a document that states a different one fails the suite
• ○guaranteed The installer verifies an artifact's digest and inspects its archive before anything is unpacked, and any failure leaves the previous installation working
• ○guaranteed A release publishes an artifact for every supported target or it is not published

Related use cases

Computed from what they share: claims, rules, commands, category, applications. Nobody maintains this list.

• Extend what the executable serves by adding a file, never by rebuilding itAdd a rule, a prompt or a knowledge node to .ai/ and have it appear as an MCP resource, an HTTP route and a reference entry, with the same binary.
• Say what your work is for, once, and have every surface say itRecord an operational failure mode as one file and have the command line, the API, MCP and the website answer it without registering it anywhere.
• Use the tool as your own in a shared repository, and propose it to the team when it has made its caseOne flag installs the same layer as yours alone: no tracked file changes, nothing is added to .gitignore, git status reads the same — the command checks it — and one more command hands the layer to the team.
• Serve the repository's AI layer to every AI client through one shared serverOpen the repository in any client the tool declares a provider for (docs/generated/providers.md) and have each of them read the same rules, prompts and knowledge over MCP from one process, seeing each other.
• Decide what belongs in the AI context, as dataRead the repository’s declared scope policy, see which paths are in and out of the index, and let doctor and the knowledge index apply it rather than a hardcoded list.