How do I install the Journey Substrate skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add butterbase-ai/journey-substrate in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Journey Substrate safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: makes network calls. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Journey Substrate?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Journey Substrate free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Journey Substrate?

butterbase-ai (@butterbase-ai) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Journey Substrate by butterbase-ai — Agent Skill

Name: Journey Substrate
Rating: 4.666666666666667 (3 reviews)
Author: butterbase-ai

Journey Substrate

Use as the optional substrate-linking stage of the Butterbase journey, after deploy and before submit. Asks whether to connect the deployed app to the owner's substrate (so functions get ctx.substrate). Skipped by default in hackathon mode.

butterbase-ai Updated Sep 9, 2026

File contents

Journey Substrate Stage (optional)

Connect the deployed app to the owner's substrate so functions get ctx.substrate injected at cold start. Skip if the user has no AI-agent / memory use case.

When to use

Invoke automatically when the journey orchestrator's cursor reaches substrate. The row is optional in the checklist; skip silently if the user declines.

Procedure

Refresh docs. Call butterbase_docs with topic: "substrate". If the plan mentions AI memory / agent state / cross-session knowledge, also WebFetch https://docs.butterbase.ai/substrate. Skip if docs/butterbase/03b-docs-cache.md already covers substrate.
Confirm. Ask the user:

"Connect <app_id> to your substrate? This lets the app's functions read/write your agent memory via ctx.substrate. You can disable later. (yes / skip)"

Default: skip.
On skip: mark the row - [x] substrate (skipped — no agent memory needed) in docs/butterbase/00-state.md. Write docs/butterbase/04b-substrate.md with one line: Skipped on <date>. Return.
On yes: a. If platform_users.substrate_provisioned_at is NULL for the caller, call POST /v1/me/substrate/provision first (or invoke whatever MCP wrapper exists — check butterbase_docs topic substrate). b. Link the app. Use whichever surface you have:
- MCP: manage_app with { action: "link_substrate", app_id: "<app_id>" }.
- CLI: butterbase apps link-substrate <app_id>.
- REST (curl): POST /v1/me/apps/<app_id>/substrate-link with empty body and Authorization: Bearer <bb_sk_*> for the app owner. The route enforces caller == app owner and sets apps.substrate_user_id to the caller's id. c. Verify: manage_app with { action: "get_config", app_id: "<app_id>" } and assert substrate_user_id is non-null. d. Smoke: invoke any HTTP function the app already has and check ctx.substrate is defined (if the function logs it). If no function exists yet, skip the smoke and note in the artifact.

Write artifact. docs/butterbase/04b-substrate.md:

---
linked_at: <ISO>
app_id: <id>
substrate_user_id: <id>
---

# Substrate Linkage

- App linked at <ISO>
- Substrate user ID: <id>
- Smoke: <pass / skipped — no function yet>

Update state. Tick the substrate row in 00-state.md.

Anti-patterns

❌ Auto-linking without asking. Substrate is a privacy-sensitive surface.
❌ Linking before the app has any function deployed. Wait until journey-functions has run.
❌ Forgetting to handle the "substrate not yet provisioned" case. Lazy provisioning is by design.

---name: journey-substratedescription: Use as the optional substrate-linking stage of the Butterbase journey, after deploy and before submit. Asks whether to connect the deployed app to the owner's substrate (so functions get ctx.substrate). Skipped by default in hackathon mode.--- # Journey Substrate Stage (optional) Connect the deployed app to the owner's substrate so functions get `ctx.substrate` injected at cold start. Skip if the user has no AI-agent / memory use case. ## When to use Invoke automatically when the journey orchestrator's cursor reaches `substrate`. The row is optional in the checklist; skip silently if the user declines. ## Procedure 0. **Refresh docs.** Call `butterbase_docs` with `topic: "substrate"`. If the plan mentions AI memory / agent state / cross-session knowledge, also WebFetch `https://docs.butterbase.ai/substrate`. Skip if `docs/butterbase/03b-docs-cache.md` already covers `substrate`. 1. **Confirm.** Ask the user: > "Connect `<app_id>` to your substrate? This lets the app's functions read/write your agent memory via `ctx.substrate`. You can disable later. (yes / skip)" Default: **skip**. 2. **On skip:** mark the row `- [x] substrate (skipped — no agent memory needed)` in `docs/butterbase/00-state.md`. Write `docs/butterbase/04b-substrate.md` with one line: `Skipped on <date>.` Return. 3. **On yes:** a. If `platform_users.substrate_provisioned_at` is NULL for the caller, call `POST /v1/me/substrate/provision` first (or invoke whatever MCP wrapper exists — check `butterbase_docs` topic `substrate`). b. Link the app. Use whichever surface you have: - **MCP:** `manage_app` with `{ action: "link_substrate", app_id: "<app_id>" }`. - **CLI:** `butterbase apps link-substrate <app_id>`. - **REST (curl):** `POST /v1/me/apps/<app_id>/substrate-link` with empty body and `Authorization: Bearer <bb_sk_*>` for the app owner. The route enforces caller == app owner and sets `apps.substrate_user_id` to the caller's id. c. Verify: `manage_app` with `{ action: "get_config", app_id: "<app_id>" }` and assert `substrate_user_id` is non-null. d. Smoke: invoke any HTTP function the app already has and check `ctx.substrate` is defined (if the function logs it). If no function exists yet, skip the smoke and note in the artifact. 4. **Write artifact.** `docs/butterbase/04b-substrate.md`: ```markdown --- linked_at: <ISO> app_id: <id> substrate_user_id: <id> --- # Substrate Linkage - App linked at <ISO> - Substrate user ID: <id> - Smoke: <pass / skipped — no function yet> ``` 5. **Update state.** Tick the `substrate` row in `00-state.md`. ## Anti-patterns - ❌ Auto-linking without asking. Substrate is a privacy-sensitive surface. - ❌ Linking before the app has any function deployed. Wait until `journey-functions` has run. - ❌ Forgetting to handle the "substrate not yet provisioned" case. Lazy provisioning is by design.

Frequently asked questions