Bootstrap Core

Bootstrap Core

Activate Core's own runtime without requiring Manager. Copilot plugins expose skills and commands but do not load .instructions.md files as plugin components. This skill copies only Core's 17 canonical instruction sources and its Core-owned receipt to the active user instruction location after explicit consent.

Preview First

Run the bundled script without --apply:

node <this-skill>/scripts/bootstrap-core.cjs

The preview resolves exactly 17 canonical sources from the installed Core plugin root, verifies exact parity with Core's manifest instruction inventory, calculates source and destination hashes, reports the resolved distribution target and its source, reports create, replace, or preserve actions, includes the current Core version, inspects legacy mixed-receipt evidence, and writes nothing.

When COPILOT_HOME is an absolute path, the default target is $COPILOT_HOME/instructions; otherwise it is ~/.copilot/instructions. Use --target-instructions <path> only for an explicit alternate target or a disposable test. Use --workspace-instructions <path> to recursively report possible workspace overlap before applying user-scope instructions.

Apply After Consent

Show the resolved target, its source, exact file actions, user scope, receipt action, overlap report, and current Core version. Ask:

Activate these 17 Core instructions for every workspace on this machine?

After an explicit yes, rerun the same command with --apply. The script writes only changed files, writes .alex-act-core-bootstrap.json atomically when its content needs creation or refresh, and verifies every destination and the receipt against canonical sources. A no-op apply preserves receipt bytes.

The receipt owns only Core files. It never claims Manager's greeting instruction or any user-authored file. A valid legacy mixed receipt is evidence for preserving matching bytes, not authority to rewrite or delete Manager state.

Repair And Idempotency

A current bootstrap requires:

1. Exactly 17 canonical Core source instructions.
2. A schema-v2 Core receipt with the installed Core version.
3. Sixteen disjoint Core-owned receipt entries.
4. Source, destination, and receipt SHA-256 parity.

Equal versions do not hide byte drift. A second preview after apply must report only preserve actions and a preserved receipt.

Remove Core Instructions

Preview removal with --remove. Apply only after explicit removal consent by adding --apply. The script removes only receipt-owned destinations whose current hashes still match the receipt. Modified or unowned files are preserved and reported. Receipt entries must match Core's exact manifest-backed ownership set; unsafe, duplicate, foreign, or malformed entries fail closed before path resolution. Clean removal verifies all 17 deletions and removes the receipt. Modified owned bytes and their receipt remain as recovery evidence. Manager greeting and Manager receipt files are never removed.

Boundaries

• Core self-activation is not general plugin lifecycle management.
• Do not install, update, enable, disable, or uninstall plugins here.
• Do not copy plugin directories, caches, settings, or non-Core instructions.
• Do not write non-Core instruction or external continuity state.
• Do not fetch instruction bodies from the network.
• Do not silently apply during install or session start.
• Do not delete by filename glob; receipt and hash ownership are required.

Anti-Patterns

Would Revise If

Revise by 2026-11-15 if Core-alone cannot activate all 17 sources, a preview mutates state, a receipt claims a Manager or user-owned file, source resolution fails in a delivered plugin, or removal deletes modified bytes.