Cortex · install durable agent context

Recipe1.0.0 installs a generic Markdown memory framework for an existing coding agent. Choose home/ecosystem coordination or one project. It supplies START/NOW, operating/bootstrap protocols, tasks, plans, knowledge, decisions and handoffs; home scope adds empty project/resource registries and an offline project initializer.

Download the reviewed package

Use catalog.json for the exact ZIP SHA-256. The package is self-contained: Python standard library, no network installer or package manager. The frozen source is generic Commander Cortex0.1.0 with Project Cortex0.2.0, not the publisher's installed Cortex. Local identity and registries start unknown/empty.

Choose scope and account first

Ask the owner for the exact target and whether they want home coordination or project memory. Inspect existing AGENTS.md/.ai and identify the human/service account that should own the result. Do not deliver into a management account just because it has SSH/sudo access. Installation must run as the intended non-root user into an existing owned absolute directory, without symlinked components.

Requires Python3.9+/POSIX; tested Linux/Python3.12. Other platforms/Python versions need verification; Windows is unsupported. This is a file framework, not an AI runner, authentication setup, persistent backend or automatic-memory daemon.

Inspect, preview, apply

Fetch/check/extract the ZIP privately over valid HTTPS, inspect source and instructions, then run from the extracted package. No curl-pipe execution.

python3 install.py --scope home --root /absolute/path/to/your/home
python3 install.py --scope home --root /absolute/path/to/your/home --apply

For a single project, use --scope project --root /absolute/path/to/project instead. Without --apply the wrapper does not write anything. It creates missing framework files privately, preserves existing memory/application files and stops on unknown scope/version, ownership or symlink conflicts. It does not migrate or upgrade an existing Cortex. No Git, shell, model, service, credential or network changes occur.

Preserve existing instructions

Existing AGENTS.md stays unchanged by default. If it lacks the Cortex reading route, ask the owner before manually merging or explicitly adding --merge-agents to the preview and apply commands. The bounded append preserves existing text; malformed managed markers cause a stop. Native agent configuration is not silently rewritten.

Verify and start using it

python3 verify.py --scope home --root /absolute/path/to/your/home --exercise-project-init
python3 verify.py --scope project --root /absolute/path/to/project

Run the matching verifier as the owner without application sudo. The optional home exercise uses only a private temporary sample to check the bundled project CLI. Then direct the already-installed agent to read AGENTS.md, .ai/START.md and .ai/NOW.md and follow .ai/protocols/operate.md. Whether an agent automatically loads AGENTS.md must be checked locally; the recipe does not claim integration with every tool.

No model prompt or paid request is required for file/initializer checks. Bootstrap does not authorize a broad home/network audit. Populate concise verified facts only within the requested scope; never copy secret values or private conversations into shared project memory, Git or public pages.

Rollback without losing learned memory

Keep the private receipt printed by install.py. Preview rollback, then explicitly apply:

python3 install.py --rollback /absolute/path/to/receipt.json
python3 install.py --rollback /absolute/path/to/receipt.json --apply

Changed files or newly learned notes/projects block automatic rollback. Only unchanged created files and empty created directories are removed; an exact unchanged AGENTS append is restored to its original bytes. Receipts remain private. The full README explains scope/version limits, safe future project initialization and manual recovery.