Dos Setup

dos-setup — confirm the plugin is wired, then point at the next move

The plugin ships JSON + markdown; the brains ship as a pip package. The bundled hooks shell python -m dos.cli … and the bundled MCP server runs python -m dos_mcp.server — both need the dos-kernel package importable in the SAME Python that Claude Code launches. This skill verifies that one prerequisite and shows you what the plugin gave you. It is the only DOS skill that names the pip package; the rest are domain-free.

Step 1 — Is the kernel importable? (the one prerequisite)

python -c "import dos, dos_mcp; print('dos', dos.__version__)"

• Prints a version → the package is installed and importable. Go to Step 2.

• ModuleNotFoundError: dos → the plugin's hooks/MCP cannot work yet. Install the package (the [mcp] extra pulls the MCP server framework the bundled server needs):

  pip install "dos-kernel[mcp]"
  

  Install it into the SAME interpreter Claude Code runs (the one python resolves to here). Then re-run Step 1. If python is the wrong interpreter, the hooks will silently no-op (they fail safe, by design) and the MCP server will print an install hint in /mcp.

• ModuleNotFoundError: dos_mcp → the core installed but not the MCP extra; re-run the pip install "dos-kernel[mcp]" line above.

Step 2 — Does the kernel see this workspace? (confirm wiring)

python -m dos.cli doctor --workspace . --json

A JSON object with lanes, paths, and stamp means the kernel is reading THIS repo. Skim it once — those values are the layout the bundled skills and the MCP dos_arbitrate / dos_verify tools read instead of hardcoding anything. If this repo has no dos.toml, the lanes are auto-derived from your top-level directories and everything still works (the generic default).

Step 3 — See it work end to end (60 seconds, throwaway repo)

Before reading the skills, watch the kernel make a real call. This runs in a disposable git repo and cleans up after itself:

python -m dos.cli quickstart --driver workshop

It scaffolds a repo under the workshop reference driver (a worked host-policy pack with two concurrent lanes + one exclusive release lane), then shows BOTH halves of DOS against real artifacts:

• the truth syscall — AUTH1 was committed → SHIPPED (exit 0); AUTH2 was only claimed → NOT_SHIPPED (exit 1). The verdict comes from git, not the agent.
• the admission kernel — frontend and backend acquire concurrently (their file trees are disjoint), while release refuses (it is exclusive and runs alone). This is the concurrency policy your own lanes will get.

workshop is the copy-me template for declaring your own lanes — see Step 5. (The plain dos quickstart, no --driver, shows just the truth-syscall half.)

Step 4 — What the plugin bundled (so you know what you have)

• Hooks (active on every Claude Code launch in this project, all fail-safe — they emit nothing and exit 0 if anything goes wrong, so they never break a turn):

  • PreToolUse → dos hook pretool: can DENY a structurally-refused call before it runs (e.g. a self-modify of the kernel's own path). Advisory by default — a behavioral deny needs a ruling handler wired; out of the box it only observes.
  • PostToolUse → dos hook posttool: re-surfaces a stalled tool stream (a read-loop spinning on the same file) as advisory context.
  • Stop → dos hook stop: refuses to stop on an unverified claim, so the loop does not close on "I'm done" the git history does not back.

  Every one of those calls is counted and logged: the bundled native dos-hook binary appends one record per hook call to .dos/metrics/observations.jsonl, so the kernel emits evidence about its OWN behavior (docs/276). Read it back any time with /dos-kernel:dos-stats (or "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/bin/dos-hook" stats --workspace .) — counts by verb/outcome, the delegate + stop-block rates, and per-verb latency.

• MCP tools (the dos server — check /mcp shows it connected): dos_verify (did a claim actually ship, from git not self-report), dos_arbitrate (may two workers run concurrently without colliding), dos_commit_audit, dos_refuse_reasons / dos_check_reason, dos_status, dos_recall, dos_citation_resolve (does a cited legal case exist in a third-party reporter), dos_doctor.

• The generic skill pack — the domain-free dispatch screenplays, namespaced under this plugin. The usual first one to read is /dos-kernel:dos-next-up (snapshot the portfolio) or /dos-kernel:dos-dispatch (plan-and-ship one lane safely). And /dos-kernel:dos-stats shows the kernel's own activity on this project.

Step 5 — Adopt DOS in this repo (optional, makes it yours)

The plugin works against any git repo with zero config. To make the layout explicit and editable (a dos.toml with your lanes, and the skills as local files you can tune), scaffold it:

python -m dos.cli init .                    # lanes auto-derived from your top-level dirs
python -m dos.cli init . --example workshop  # OR start from the worked reference taxonomy

The bare form derives one concurrent lane per top-level source dir. The --example workshop form scaffolds the same lanes the Step-3 demo used (two concurrent clusters + an exclusive release lane) for you to rename to your real concurrency topics. Both are optional — the bundled surfaces already work without any dos.toml.

What this skill deliberately does NOT do

• It installs nothing. It only TELLS you the pip command if the import fails; it never runs pip for you (that would mutate your environment without asking, and the target interpreter is ambiguous). You run the install.
• It wires nothing. The hooks and MCP server are already wired BY the plugin; this skill confirms them, it does not re-install or edit any config file.
• It decides no ground truth. Like every DOS skill, it shells dos verbs and reads the verdict; the kernel decides, the skill reports.