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Quick Start

Get Actio running in under a minute.

1. Create a new project​

From any directory:

actio create my-app

When run in a terminal, you’ll be asked to choose a project structure: minimal (core only), standard (adds scripts), or full (adds scripts and plugin dirs). You can skip the prompt with --preset=minimal, --preset=standard, or --preset=full. See actio create for details.

This creates (standard preset):

my-app/
├── ENTRYPOINT.yaml
├── src/
└── actio/
    ├── router.yaml
    ├── architecture/
    │   └── system.md
    ├── interfaces/
    │   └── contracts.yaml
    ├── patterns/
    │   └── pattern.md
    ├── rules/
    │   └── rules.md
    ├── tasks/
    │   └── task.md
    └── scripts/
        ├── manifest.yaml   # single maintained file: list scripts and usage
        └── example.py

2. Validate​

cd my-app
actio validate

Expected: Actio validation passed.

3. Add Actio to an existing repo​

If you already have a project:

cd /path/to/your/repo
actio init

You can choose the same structure presets (minimal, standard, full) as with actio create. This adds the actio/ sidecar and ENTRYPOINT.yaml without overwriting existing files.

4. Check health​

actio doctor

Reports any missing or invalid Actio files. Exit code is always 0 (non-blocking).

What agents see​

When an AI agent opens your repo:

  1. ENTRYPOINT.yaml tells it to read actio/router.yaml first.
  2. router.yaml routes it to architecture, rules, and task guides.
  3. The agent uses that context before writing or changing code.

No more “scan everything” — agents get deterministic context.

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