Getting Started¶

Prerequisites¶

Node.js 18+ — for the installer
A supported coding agent — Claude Code, Cursor, or OpenCode
Docker (Docker Desktop or Engine) — highly recommended for semantic search and docs UI; not required

Install¶

npx create-lore my-project
cd my-project

Customize Your Project Context¶

Open docs/context/agent-rules.md and describe your project. This file is injected into every agent session as project context:

About — what the project does, what domain it's in
Agent Behavior — communication style, preferences, constraints

Coding and docs conventions go in docs/context/conventions/ — also injected every session as a separate section.

The agent sees both before your first prompt every session.

For personal preferences that shouldn't be shared via git, edit docs/knowledge/local/operator-profile.md. This file is gitignored and injected into every session alongside project context. The default template is ignored until you customize it.

The installer also scaffolds .mcp.json at the instance root for the MCP search server — used by Claude Code (and Cursor via .cursor/mcp.json) when the Docker sidecar is running. See Configuration: MCP Search Server.

Start the Docker Sidecar¶

Run /lore-docker to start semantic search and a live docs UI. Highly recommended — start it before your first session.

See Docs UI & Semantic Search for setup, configuration, and details.

First Session¶

Start your agent in the project directory:

claude       # Claude Code
cursor .     # Cursor (open the project)
opencode     # OpenCode

Work normally. Lore's hooks reinforce knowledge capture as you go. To open a work repo in your IDE instead of the Lore instance directory, see /lore-link for an alternative that keeps hooks active.

After substantive work, run /lore-capture to trigger a full knowledge capture pass.

Working Across Repos¶

See Working Across Repos for the hub pattern and IDE linking.

Checking Status and Updating¶

Use /lore-status to verify your instance is healthy and /lore-update to pull the latest framework updates. See Commands for the full list.