Compound Engineering Setup

Interaction Method

Ask each question below using the host's blocking question tool already in the current tool list (match by capability, not by a host-specific name). Presence in the current tool list is proof the tool exists; never call a user-facing question tool to discover whether it exists. If a matching tool is listed but unloaded, use the host's tool-discovery primitive to load that capability — do not search for another host's tool name. Fall back to a numbered list on the host's user-visible chat surface only when no such tool is in the list or a real question call errors. Never silently skip or auto-configure.

ce-setup is a lightweight health check and repo-local config helper. It does not bulk-install every optional dependency. Missing tools are reported as optional capabilities so the user can install only the workflows they use.

Artifact Root Resolution

Every Compound Engineering skill that writes or reads an artifact directory (solutions, plans, ideation, and the other CE-owned trees) resolves its root through the rule below. ce-setup carries the canonical statement and reports the resolved root so an operator can confirm where artifacts land before running other skills.

Resolve the CE artifact root <root> before composing any artifact path.

• Read docs_root from <repo-root>/.compound-engineering/config.yaml only (<repo-root> = git rev-parse --show-toplevel). Do not read it from config.local.yaml. Unset -> <root> is docs, exactly as before.
• Validate a set value: a repo-relative directory whose real, symlink-resolved path stays inside the repo and is neither the repo root nor under .git/. Otherwise stop with an error naming docs_root and the value -- never fall back to docs.
• Use <root> as the sole artifact location: create it if absent, compose each path as <root>/<subdir> with this skill's own subdirectory, and never also read docs.