chief-install

Install the Chief into the current project.

Arguments

The first argument is the target version (branch or tag). Optional.

No argument → install the latest stable release (highest semver tag). Find it by running
```
git ls-remote --tags https://github.com/thaitype/chief.git
```
, strip
```
refs/tags/
```
, ignore
```
^{}
```
entries, and pick the highest semver version.
```
canary
```
→ latest canary branch (active development, unreleased)
```
v1.0.0
```
,
```
v2.0.0
```
, etc. → specific tagged version

Steps

1. Check for existing installation

Check if the Chief is already installed by looking for these signals:

```
.agents/agents/chief-agent.md
```
exists
```
.chief/
```
directory exists
```
AGENTS.md
```
or
```
CLAUDE.md
```
at root contains the keyword "Chief" (check file content, not just existence — these files may exist from other setups)

If any of these match → the framework is likely already installed. Warn the user and suggest upgrading instead. Show them:

npx skills@latest add thaitype/chief --skill chief-upgrade
/chief-upgrade

Do NOT proceed unless the user explicitly confirms they want a fresh install.

If none match → proceed.

2. Ask coding agent and install mode

Ask the user:

Which coding agent? — Supported agents:

claude-code

opencode

codex

cursor

copilot

gemini-cli

amp

windsurf

kiro

aider

Install mode? (relevant for
```
claude-code
```
and
```
copilot
```
)
- link (recommended) — symlinks from agent-specific directory to
```
.agents/
```
- copy — copies files instead of symlinking
- On Windows, link mode requires Developer Mode enabled and
```
git config --global core.symlinks true
```
  . If unavailable, suggest copy mode.
- For all other agents, mode does not affect behavior since they read
```
AGENTS.md
```
  and
```
.agents/
```
  directly

3. Clone and run setup script

bash

git clone --depth 1 --branch <version> https://github.com/thaitype/chief.git .chief-agent-tmp
bash .chief-agent-tmp/scripts/setup.sh --agent <agent> --mode <mode>

If the setup script fails completely (non-zero exit code or crashes), skip to step 3b for full manual install. Do NOT run

rm -rf .chief-agent-tmp

yet — it's needed for manual steps.

If the setup script succeeds, proceed to step 4.

3b. Full manual install (fallback if setup script fails)

If the setup script failed, perform the entire install manually:

bash

# Core files (source is under template/)
cp -r .chief-agent-tmp/template/.agents .agents
cp -r .chief-agent-tmp/template/.chief .chief
cp .chief-agent-tmp/template/AGENTS.md AGENTS.md

For

claude-code

only, set up Claude Code integration:

Link mode:

bash

ln -s AGENTS.md CLAUDE.md
mkdir -p .claude/agents .claude/skills
for f in .agents/agents/*.md; do ln -s "../../$f" ".claude/agents/$(basename "$f")"; done
for d in .agents/skills/*/; do ln -s "../../$d" ".claude/skills/$(basename "$d")"; done

Copy mode:

bash

cp AGENTS.md CLAUDE.md
mkdir -p .claude/agents .claude/skills
cp .agents/agents/*.md .claude/agents/
cp -r .agents/skills/* .claude/skills/

For

copilot

only, set up GitHub Copilot integration:

Link mode:

bash

mkdir -p .github/agents
for f in .agents/agents/*.md; do ln -s "../../$f" ".github/agents/$(basename "$f")"; done

Copy mode:

bash

mkdir -p .github/agents
cp .agents/agents/*.md .github/agents/

For all other agents — no extra steps needed.

For non-

claude-code

agents, ask the user for model names:

Thinking Model (for chief-agent, e.g.
```
o3
```
,
```
gemini-2.5-pro
```
)
Coding Model (for builder/tester/review-plan, e.g.
```
gpt-4.1
```
,
```
gemini-2.5-flash
```
)

Replace

${thinking_model}

with the Thinking Model in chief-agent, and

${coding_model}

with the Coding Model in all other agent files. For

claude-code

, auto-replace with

opus

and

sonnet

(no prompt needed). For

copilot

, update files in

.github/agents/

. For other agents, update files in

.agents/agents/

Skip any file or directory that already exists (warn the user).

4. Verify installation

After the setup script or manual install completes, verify that the installation is correct:

Core files exist:

```
.agents/agents/chief-agent.md
```
```
.agents/agents/builder-agent.md
```
```
.agents/agents/tester-agent.md
```
```
.agents/agents/review-plan-agent.md
```
```
.agents/skills/grill-me/SKILL.md
```
```
.chief/project.md
```
```
.chief/_rules/
```
```
AGENTS.md
```

Claude Code only (if agent is
```
claude-code
```
):
- ```
CLAUDE.md
```
  exists (symlink or copy depending on mode)
- ```
.claude/agents/
```
  contains entries for all 4 agents
- ```
.claude/skills/
```
  contains entry for grill-me
- If link mode: verify symlinks resolve correctly
Copilot only (if agent is
```
copilot
```
):
- ```
.github/agents/
```
  contains entries for all 4 agents (symlinks or copies depending on mode)
- If link mode: verify symlinks resolve correctly
- Model values have been replaced if the user provided model names

5. Fix issues (fallback)

If any verification check fails, fix it manually:

Missing core file → copy from
```
.chief-agent-tmp/template/
```
if it still exists, otherwise clone again and copy the specific file
Missing CLAUDE.md → create symlink (
```
ln -s AGENTS.md CLAUDE.md
```
) or copy depending on mode

Missing .claude/ symlinks → create them individually:

bash

mkdir -p .claude/agents .claude/skills
ln -s ../../.agents/agents/<file>.md .claude/agents/<file>.md
ln -s ../../.agents/skills/<skill> .claude/skills/<skill>

Broken symlink → remove and recreate
Wrong mode (e.g. user wanted link but got copy) → remove and recreate with correct mode

6. Clean up

Ensure

.chief-agent-tmp

is removed:

bash

rm -rf .chief-agent-tmp

7. Next steps

Tell the user:

Edit

.chief/project.md

with your project details (or run

chief-agent: use grill-me to help me fill in project.md

)

Review
```
AGENTS.md
```
and customize if needed
Start using: ask chief-agent to plan your first milestone

Important rules

NEVER overwrite existing files without explicit user approval
If the framework is already installed, suggest
```
/chief-upgrade
```
instead
Always clean up
```
.chief-agent-tmp
```
even if the install is cancelled or fails
If the setup script fails, attempt manual fixes before giving up
Report all verification results to the user — even successful ones

chief-install

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Arguments

Steps

1. Check for existing installation

2. Ask coding agent and install mode

3. Clone and run setup script

3b. Full manual install (fallback if setup script fails)

4. Verify installation

5. Fix issues (fallback)

6. Clean up

7. Next steps

Important rules