Project Setup

Set up a project once so every later session starts with the conventions it needs: an AGENTS.md, a kb/ layout, and style files when the author has samples.

First, Load One Environment Walkthrough

Ask the author where they work, or infer it from the session, then read exactly one of these and follow its setup and walkthrough:

• resources/meridian-cli.md — meridian-cli, with the package installed by mars add.
• resources/claude-code.md — Claude Code with this plugin.
• resources/claude-desktop.md — claude.ai, Claude Desktop, or Cowork.
• resources/other-harnesses.md — Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, or Grok.

Do not load the others. Meridian Flow, the writing app, has no setup path yet: it will import packages once its importer ships, so use the environment you are in.

Learn About the Project

Ask about:

• What kind of project: novel, short story collection, serial?
• How far along: starting fresh, or existing chapters and worldbuilding?
• Single POV or multiple? Linear or non-linear timeline? How much worldbuilding?
• Where they keep their writing? What is the existing layout?

Writing Samples and Style

Writing samples are the foundation for style analysis:

• Do they have sample chapters or scenes already written?
• Do they have writing from other projects that captures the voice they want?
• Are there published works they want to draw style inspiration from?
• Voice goals: close third, omniscient, first person? Formal, colloquial?

Collect whatever they have and save it to kb/samples/. If there is enough material, offer to analyze it with /creative-writing-craft: read the samples, identify the voice dimensions, and write initial style files to kb/styles/. Style files are the most impactful thing to get right early; every writing agent depends on them.

If they are starting fresh, capture their voice goals in AGENTS.md so style files can be created from the first drafts.

Propose and Iterate

Draft AGENTS.md and show it to the author. Cover:

• Project overview: what the project is, one paragraph.
• Author's space: where the author keeps their writing and how it is organized. Agents read from here; they do not write to it.
• KB structure: which subdirectories exist under kb/ and what each is for. Load /story-memory; its resources/kb-layout.md has the layers, page conventions, and the default layout. Pick the subset this project needs: simple (short story, single POV), medium (novel, a few POVs), or complex (series, large world).
• Voice and style: which style files exist, which samples they came from, and which voice goals are not captured yet.
• Conventions: naming patterns, chapter numbering, POV tagging, spoiler handling, anything else project-specific.
• Shared vocabulary: early canonical terms, aliases, invented words, genre terms with project-specific meanings, and terms agents should avoid or distinguish.

Present the draft and let the author adjust until they are satisfied.

Create the Files

Once approved:

1. Write or update AGENTS.md with the agreed content.
2. Create the kb/ directories it names.
3. Create kb/vocab.md when the project has named concepts agents must use consistently; add domain vocab files when a domain already has enough distinct terms.
4. Create work/ with outline/, drafts/, critique-reports/, and brainstorm/.
5. Save the writing samples to kb/samples/.
6. If samples were provided and the author wants it, produce initial style files in kb/styles/.

Existing Projects

If AGENTS.md already has creative writing conventions, read it first and propose updates. Do not overwrite the author's decisions.