bootstrap/README.md

Mosaic Agent Framework

Universal agent standards layer for Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode.

One config, every runtime, same standards.

This repository is a generic framework baseline. No personal data, credentials, user-specific preferences, or machine-specific paths should be committed. All personalization happens at install time via mosaic init or by editing files in ~/.config/mosaic/ after installation.

Quick Install

Mac / Linux

curl -sL https://git.mosaicstack.dev/mosaic/bootstrap/raw/branch/main/remote-install.sh | sh

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://git.mosaicstack.dev/mosaic/bootstrap/raw/branch/main/remote-install.ps1 | iex

From Source (any platform)

git clone https://git.mosaicstack.dev/mosaic/bootstrap.git ~/src/mosaic-bootstrap
bash ~/src/mosaic-bootstrap/install.sh

The installer will:

• Install the framework to ~/.config/mosaic/
• Add ~/.config/mosaic/bin to your PATH
• Sync runtime adapters and skills
• Install and configure sequential-thinking MCP (hard requirement)
• Run a health audit
• Detect existing installs and prompt to keep or overwrite local files
• Prompt you to run mosaic init to set up your agent identity

First Run

After install, open a new terminal (or source ~/.bashrc) and run:

mosaic init

This generates three files loaded into every agent session:

• SOUL.md — agent identity contract (name, style, guardrails)
• USER.md — your user profile (name, timezone, accessibility, preferences)
• TOOLS.md — machine-level tool reference (git providers, credentials, CLI patterns)

Launching Agent Sessions

mosaic claude              # Launch Claude Code with full Mosaic injection
mosaic codex               # Launch Codex with full Mosaic injection
mosaic opencode            # Launch OpenCode with full Mosaic injection

The launcher:

1. Verifies ~/.config/mosaic exists
2. Verifies SOUL.md exists (auto-runs mosaic init if missing)
3. Injects AGENTS.md into the runtime
4. Forwards all arguments to the runtime CLI

You can still launch runtimes directly (claude, codex, etc.) — thin runtime adapters will tell the agent to read ~/.config/mosaic/AGENTS.md.

Architecture

~/.config/mosaic/
├── AGENTS.md              ← THE source of truth (all standards, all runtimes)
├── SOUL.md                ← Agent identity (generated by mosaic init)
├── USER.md                ← User profile and accessibility (generated by mosaic init)
├── TOOLS.md               ← Machine-level tool reference (generated by mosaic init)
├── STANDARDS.md           ← Machine-wide standards
├── guides/E2E-DELIVERY.md ← Mandatory E2E software delivery procedure
├── guides/PRD.md          ← Mandatory PRD requirements gate before coding
├── guides/DOCUMENTATION.md ← Mandatory documentation standard and gates
├── bin/                   ← CLI tools (mosaic, mosaic-init, mosaic-doctor, etc.)
├── guides/                ← Operational guides
├── rails/                 ← Quality rails, git scripts, portainer scripts
├── runtime/               ← Runtime adapters + runtime-specific references
│   ├── claude/CLAUDE.md
│   ├── claude/RUNTIME.md
│   ├── opencode/AGENTS.md
│   ├── opencode/RUNTIME.md
│   ├── codex/instructions.md
│   ├── codex/RUNTIME.md
│   └── mcp/SEQUENTIAL-THINKING.json
├── skills/                ← Universal skills (synced from mosaic/agent-skills)
├── skills-local/          ← Local cross-runtime skills
└── templates/             ← SOUL.md template, project templates

How AGENTS.md Gets Loaded

Launch method	Injection mechanism
mosaic claude	--append-system-prompt with composed runtime contract (AGENTS.md + runtime reference)
mosaic codex	Writes composed runtime contract to ~/.codex/instructions.md before launch
mosaic opencode	Writes composed runtime contract to ~/.config/opencode/AGENTS.md before launch
claude (direct)	~/.claude/CLAUDE.md thin pointer → load AGENTS + runtime reference
codex (direct)	~/.codex/instructions.md thin pointer → load AGENTS + runtime reference
opencode (direct)	~/.config/opencode/AGENTS.md thin pointer → load AGENTS + runtime reference

Mosaic AGENTS.md enforces loading guides/E2E-DELIVERY.md before execution and requires guides/PRD.md before coding and guides/DOCUMENTATION.md for code/API/auth/infra documentation gates.

Management Commands

mosaic help                # Show all commands
mosaic init                # Generate SOUL.md (agent identity)
mosaic doctor              # Health audit — detect drift and missing files
mosaic sync                # Sync skills from canonical source
mosaic bootstrap <path>    # Bootstrap a repo with Mosaic standards
mosaic upgrade check       # Check release upgrade status (no changes)
mosaic upgrade             # Upgrade installed Mosaic release (keeps SOUL.md by default)
mosaic upgrade --dry-run   # Preview release upgrade without changes
mosaic upgrade --ref main  # Upgrade from a specific branch/tag/commit ref
mosaic upgrade --overwrite # Upgrade release and overwrite local files
mosaic upgrade project ... # Project file cleanup mode (see below)

Upgrading Mosaic Release

Upgrade the installed framework in place:

# Default (safe): keep local SOUL.md, USER.md, TOOLS.md + memory
mosaic upgrade

# Check current/target release info without changing files
mosaic upgrade check

# Non-interactive
mosaic upgrade --yes

# Pull a specific ref
mosaic upgrade --ref main

# Force full overwrite (fresh install semantics)
mosaic upgrade --overwrite --yes

mosaic upgrade re-runs the remote installer and passes install mode controls (keep/overwrite). This is the manual upgrade path today and is suitable for future app-driven update checks.

Upgrading Projects

After centralizing AGENTS.md and SOUL.md, existing projects may have stale files:

# Preview what would change across all projects
mosaic upgrade project --all --dry-run

# Apply to all projects
mosaic upgrade project --all

# Apply to a specific project
mosaic upgrade project ~/src/my-project

Backward compatibility is preserved for historical usage:

mosaic upgrade --all          # still routes to project-upgrade
mosaic upgrade ~/src/my-repo  # still routes to project-upgrade

What it does per project:

File	Action
SOUL.md	Removed — now global at ~/.config/mosaic/SOUL.md
CLAUDE.md	Replaced with thin pointer to global AGENTS.md
AGENTS.md	Stale load-order sections stripped; project content preserved

Backups (.mosaic-bak) are created before any modification.

Universal Skills

The installer syncs skills from mosaic/agent-skills into ~/.config/mosaic/skills/, then links each skill into runtime directories (~/.claude/skills, ~/.codex/skills, ~/.config/opencode/skills).

mosaic sync                                    # Full sync (clone + link)
~/.config/mosaic/bin/mosaic-sync-skills --link-only   # Re-link only

Runtime Compatibility

The installer pushes thin runtime adapters as regular files (not symlinks):

• ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md — pointer to ~/.config/mosaic/AGENTS.md
• ~/.claude/settings.json, hooks-config.json, context7-integration.md
• ~/.config/opencode/AGENTS.md — pointer to ~/.config/mosaic/AGENTS.md
• ~/.codex/instructions.md — pointer to ~/.config/mosaic/AGENTS.md
• ~/.claude/settings.json, ~/.codex/config.toml, and ~/.config/opencode/config.json include sequential-thinking MCP config

Re-sync manually:

~/.config/mosaic/bin/mosaic-link-runtime-assets

sequential-thinking MCP Requirement

sequential-thinking MCP is a hard requirement for Mosaic Stack.

Use:

~/.config/mosaic/bin/mosaic-ensure-sequential-thinking
~/.config/mosaic/bin/mosaic-ensure-sequential-thinking --check

Bootstrap Any Repo

Attach any repository to the Mosaic standards layer:

mosaic bootstrap /path/to/repo

This creates .mosaic/, scripts/agent/, and an AGENTS.md if missing.

Quality Rails

Apply and verify quality templates:

~/.config/mosaic/bin/mosaic-quality-apply --template typescript-node --target /path/to/repo
~/.config/mosaic/bin/mosaic-quality-verify --target /path/to/repo

Templates: typescript-node, typescript-nextjs, monorepo

Health Audit

mosaic doctor                                          # Standard audit
~/.config/mosaic/bin/mosaic-doctor --fail-on-warn      # Strict mode

Re-installing / Updating

Pull the latest and re-run the installer:

cd ~/src/mosaic-bootstrap && git pull && bash install.sh

If an existing install is detected, the installer prompts for:

• keep (recommended): preserve local SOUL.md, USER.md, TOOLS.md, and memory/
• overwrite: replace everything in ~/.config/mosaic

Or use the one-liner again — it always pulls the latest:

curl -sL https://git.mosaicstack.dev/mosaic/bootstrap/raw/branch/main/remote-install.sh | sh