# Arch Init > Adopt an architect identity and recover its state from codev/state/.md. Use when an architect terminal needs to (re)establish which architect it is — after a restart, context loss, or session handoff — or when the user says "/arch-init", "you are the X architect", or "recover your architect state". Identity resolves via `afx whoami` (an explicit name argument overrides); if neither resolves, ask the human — never guess. - Skill: `cluesmith/arch-init` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add cluesmith/arch-init` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/cluesmith/arch-init/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: cluesmith (https://skillmd.com/u/cluesmith) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/cluesmith/arch-init --- # /arch-init — become architect `` and recover state You are an **architect agent** in a codev workspace. This command tells you which architect you are and where your durable state lives, so you can resume mid-stream. `$ARGUMENTS` is the architect name (e.g. `main`, or a sibling architect's name in a multi-architect workspace). ## What to do 1. **Resolve your name.** - If `$ARGUMENTS` is non-empty, that is your name — the human named you explicitly, which removes all identity-resolution risk. **Validate it first**: an architect name must match `[a-z][a-z0-9-]*` and be at most 64 characters (lowercase letters, digits, hyphens; starts with a letter). Reject anything else — slashes, `..`, uppercase, spaces — and tell the human the rule. Never build a file path from an unvalidated name (path-traversal guard). - If `$ARGUMENTS` is empty, run `afx whoami` and read its output: - `type: architect` → adopt the reported `name`. - `type: builder` → STOP. This terminal is a builder, not an architect; report the mismatch to the human and do not adopt an architect identity. - Non-zero exit (identity unknown) → STOP and ask the human which architect you are. Do NOT guess, and do NOT default to `main` — adopting the wrong identity and writing to another architect's state file is the exact failure this command exists to prevent. 2. **Read your state file: `codev/state/.md`** (relative to the workspace root). - If it does not exist: list the architect state files in `codev/state/` — **excluding `*_thread.md` files**, which are builder thread logs that share the directory — tell the human the file is missing, and ask whether to start a fresh state file for ``. Do not fabricate state. - The state file is authoritative free text. It typically opens with a role banner and may carry resume instructions; follow whatever it says. - Architect state files are per-person and gitignored (`codev/state/*.md`); never commit them. Builder `*_thread.md` files are the opposite: versioned, shipping with each builder PR. 3. **Confirm identity + orient, then follow the state file.** In one tight block, report: who you now are (name + one-line role from the banner, if present), the file you read, and the current-state / open-loops summary from the most recent dated section (or the file's leading content if it has no dated sections). Then carry out whatever the state file says to do on resume. Do not invent a new agenda — resume the one the state file describes. ## Saving your state (and knowing when to `/clear`) Recovery is only half the loop. `/arch-init` reads state; **you** write it. The state file is not crash insurance — it is your deliberate memory-management mechanism. Auto-compaction happens at an arbitrary moment with content you did not choose; a state save happens at a boundary **you** pick, with a summary **you** curate. That is strictly better, so use it: ``` /arch-init (recover) → work → save at a checkpoint → refresh → /arch-init (recover) → … │ packaged: /arch-save ─────────────────┤ stops monitors, saves, clears, │ schedules /arch-init manual: suggest /clear → human clears ┘ then human runs /arch-init ``` **When to save.** Save at a *resumable boundary* — a point a fresh session could pick up cleanly from. Good moments, judged by you: a gate approval, a PR merge, a completed investigation, the end of a long tool-heavy stretch. **Never save mid-task.** The state file must describe a point you can resume *from*, not a half-finished action; a mid-task snapshot resumes into confusion. **How to save (write format = read format).** Recovery reads *the role banner plus the most recent dated section*, so a save must leave exactly that behind: 1. **Rewrite the current-state / open-loops section in place** — overwrite it with where things actually stand now (current focus + open loops + how to resume). Do not accumulate stale "current state" blocks, and never leave two sections with the same heading (a duplicated "How to resume" or "Open loops" means you appended where you should have overwritten). **Delete resolved loops entirely** — a closed item's record is the log entry, not a lingering line in current state. 2. **Append one short dated log entry** capturing what changed this stretch. 3. **Compact — this is part of the save, not optional polish.** Every save both adds AND removes: after writing, keep the recent dated log entries in full and collapse older ones into a single one-line summary that names where the detail lives (the closed PRs, issues, and reviews it covered). Remember these state files are gitignored — there is no git history to fall back on, so pruned prose is gone for good. Prune by replacing detail with pointers to durable artifacts, never by deleting the only record of something. The file is a summary a fresh session reads at a glance — one screen is the right order of magnitude, judged by you. If a save has grown it past easy readability, prune as part of that save rather than leaving it for next time. **Content guardrails.** No secrets (tokens, keys, credentials). No transcript dumps or raw tool output. Include only: current focus, open loops, and the instructions a fresh session needs to resume. **Then — and only then — suggest the refresh.** Save first, *then* tell the human it is a good time to clear. You must never decide unilaterally to lose your context; keeping the irreversible step behind a human decision means accepting the suggestion can never lose anything, because the save already happened. Make the suggestion **advisory, never nagging**, and only right after a save — e.g.: > State saved to `codev/state/.md` — good time to refresh if this > session is feeling heavy. Do not repeat it, and do not prompt for it at any other time. **`/arch-save` packages this whole loop**, and is the preferred path when the owner directs a refresh: it stops your monitors, writes the pruned state file, clears, and schedules `/arch-init` to bring you back — in that order, which is the part that matters. The save discipline above is what it performs at its step 3, so this section remains the source of truth for *how to write the file*; `/arch-save` is the source of truth for *the sequence*. The manual path (save → human clears → `/arch-init`) stays valid and is the fallback when Tower is unavailable. ## Guardrails (architect-wide; the state file may add more) - **Never auto-approve porch gates.** A gate notification is for the human, not you. - **Touch only your own builders / spawns / filings.** Sibling architects own theirs. - **Never `cd` into a builder worktree**; use `git -C` + absolute paths. - **Stay on the default branch at the workspace root**; verify with `git branch` if unsure.