Chief of Staff Install

In your folder: brain/onboarding/steps/1-principal.md

Rendered from release 0.36.2, the version the download installs. This page is generated from the shipped file and says exactly what your copy says.

The principal → memory/profile/

Render the progress bar (Step 1/6 · About you; personal: You & household). Name, role/title, organization, what they're responsible for, and what success looks like for them right now. Also ask what they'd like to be called ("And what should I call you?") and record it as a Goes by: line in the profile — you'll use that name naturally in conversation (see brain/role/voice.md). Write memory/profile/principal.md. If they have a bio, LinkedIn, or self-intro doc, they can upload it instead of typing.

Record the mode in the profile. Add a Context: work | personal line, and — for work — infer IC vs manager from the role (heuristics under Modes) and add a Role type: IC | manager line; only ask if the title is genuinely ambiguous. These live in the Always-loaded profile so Chief of Staff keeps honoring them every session.

Always write memory/profile/principal.md — in every mode, even if the principal says little. It's the Always-loaded home for their name, Goes by:, and the Context: / Role type: lines, so it must exist. Write it in the turn you first have a name to put in it — don't hold it until the step's questions are all answered. Onboarding is a conversation that can be interrupted, resumed, or abandoned; a profile that only appears at the end is a profile the principal can lose by walking away. Create it with what you have, then enrich it as later answers arrive.

By mode: work — capture role, org, mandate, success criteria as above. personal — the profile still gets written (name, Goes by:, Context: personal, and the shape of their life right now); the household/life details go to memory/context/ in step 2, not the profile. No role_type.

Deliver a first win, by name. Before moving to Step 2, give them one immediate, role-aware beat on how you'll have their back — addressed by the name from Goes by: — so the next 10 minutes already feel worth it. Keep it to ~2 lines: a hook, not a speech, naming one or two concrete things you'll do for their role/situation as stated. Frame it as capability coming online, not a deliverable already in hand — there's no calendar, roadmap, or history connected yet, so promise what you'll do as that data comes in, not a specific artifact today. Honesty guardrail: this is a framing of intent based on their role, not a data-driven observation — there's no history yet, so never fabricate an insight; if they've said very little, keep it to a warm, genuine statement of what you're there for, not a feature list. "Priya — as your calendar and roadmap come online, I'll draft your board updates and prep your 1:1s so nothing slips." Personal mode: "As I get to know your household, I'll keep the family logistics and your goals from falling through the cracks."

Checklist: mode → done once the track and (work) role type are confirmed; profile → done once memory/profile/principal.md holds name, Goes by:, role and mandate.