Setup

Set up Nightshift in this project. Do the scaffolding first, then the gates conversation, then print a summary.

The four state files and what each holds are in $NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT/skills/nightshift/references/shift/state-map.md. Ordinary plans belong in the drafting table, never in Hunt or the parking lot.

Resolve the installed plugin root to an absolute $NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT — ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT} on Claude Code, $PLUGIN_ROOT on Codex when set, otherwise the absolute path this skill was attached from (skills/setup/SKILL.md). Run every command below through "$NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT/runtime/ns" — native Windows: & "$NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT\runtime\windows\ns.ps1" in the PowerShell tool, same verbs — which resolves the host and the workspace; ns help lists the verbs, and ns bind prints the six resolved facts (TASK_ROOT, NIGHTSHIFT_WORKSPACE, NS, NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT, HOST, SOURCE); $NS below is that NS. Never a bare relative path: the working directory persists between calls.

Once the workspace and work target are resolved, the bundled mechanical scaffold is ns setup --work-target "$WORK_TARGET" --mode "$WORK_MODE", which exists on native Windows only; on every other host this skill writes the same templates itself, as below. It copies only absent files, writes state version 1 for a new site, persists the work target and work mode (-Mode repository or -Mode artifact), and keeps $NS/ private. It refuses a notes folder under default repository mode: pass -Mode artifact for a notes folder that is not a Git repository. Read its output back rather than restating it. The skill still owns every owner choice below; the script asks nothing and never invents gates, permissions, profiles, migration approval, a receipts choice, or a tooling policy.

If the user explicitly identifies a different existing workspace containing .nightshift/, show both absolute paths and ask for confirmation. On yes, run "$NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT/runtime/ns" link-workspace --host-root "$TASK_ROOT" --workspace "$PROPOSED_WORKSPACE". The pointer is local-only and state remains in the authoritative workspace; never copy it.

0. Reject disposable ChatGPT scratch workspaces

Before creating or changing any file, resolve the project root to an absolute path. If it is under /workspace/scratch/, this is a disposable ChatGPT scratch workspace that cannot affect the user's repository. Stop immediately: create no $NS/ directory, rules, settings, receipts repo, or other files. Tell the user directly:

Nightshift needs a persistent software project workspace. This ChatGPT conversation is using a temporary workspace, so files created here will not affect your repository.

Open your project in Codex (a Git repository or a persistent local folder), or start Codex connected to its GitHub repository. Then mention Nightshift and say: “Set up Nightshift in this project.”

Do not mention Claude Code in this ChatGPT-specific redirect: the user is already in an OpenAI product, so give them the shortest OpenAI-native route. Do not infer “temporary” merely because the project is not a git repository — local non-git projects and the recommended parent-workspace layout remain valid. The explicit disposable scratch path is the stop signal.

Detect the work mode, explain it, and ask before persisting it. Use ns_propose_work_mode (POSIX) or Get-NSProposedWorkMode after importing Nightshift.psm1 (native Windows):

• repository — the workspace is a Git repository, or exactly one immediate non-hidden child is. Skip a symlink or reparse child; it is not a nested checkout. several child repositories still mean repository mode; show the choices and require an explicit target, never guess.
• artifact — there is no Git repository here. The persistent folder itself is the work target (research, docs, audits, planning). Say so plainly: gates, commits, and stack detection that require Git do not apply; complete each item with "$NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT/runtime/ns" write-receipt. Completion in that folder is $NS/receipts/, not a git log. When $NS/receipts exists but is not a usable directory, say so and do not treat artifact setup as complete.
• scratch (ns_propose_work_mode status 2, or Get-NSProposedWorkMode throwing) — stop; create nothing.

Never persist a mode until the owner confirms. Never git init a notes folder to change an artifact proposal into repository mode. Then write $NS/work-mode as repository or artifact (one word, one newline) and $NS/work-target as the absolute canonical path of the chosen folder. On POSIX: ns_record_work_target "$NIGHTSHIFT_WORKSPACE" "$WORK_TARGET" "$WORK_MODE". On later setup runs, validate and retain that mode and target unless the owner explicitly changes them. Repository mode: stack detection, Git checks, gates, commits, and verification operate in the work target. Artifact mode: inspection, edits, and verification operate in that folder without pretending it is a repository.

1. Scaffold $NS/ (never clobber an existing shift)

"$NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT/runtime/ns" scaffold

It writes each state file that is not already there and reports wrote <name> or kept <name>, so a name the owner already has is left exactly as it is and a second run is a safe repair. Read its output back. The copies carry resolved absolute paths — a person pasting a command out of their own punch list has no $NS — and the shipped templates are unchanged. Never write those tokens into rules.json: revival and clock-out text stay owner-editable, and the gate qualifies bare .nightshift/ mentions at injection time.

Create $NS/shift-log.md with a one-line header if absent.

State version. $NS/state-version is the schema marker. This plugin supports integer 1. If this run created $NS/ (the directory did not exist when setup started), write exactly 1 followed by a newline to $NS/state-version after the templates. If $NS/ already existed and the marker is missing, that workspace is legacy version 0 — offer "$NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT/runtime/ns" migrate-state and run it only after an explicit yes; the script writes only the marker and refuses while armed. On native Windows the scaffold's --migrate-legacy switch is the same idempotent marker write. A marker newer than 1, or a malformed file, fails closed: print the diagnostic, do not rewrite or downgrade it, and do not continue scaffolding as if the site were current.

2. Private by default

• Keep run state out of git. If $NIGHTSHIFT_WORKSPACE is itself a git repo, append a line .nightshift/ to $NIGHTSHIFT_WORKSPACE/.gitignore (create the file if needed; do not duplicate the line). If it is not one — the recommended layout, where the code repo sits a level below — .nightshift/ is already outside every repo, so write no .gitignore there. Run history is the owner's; it never enters the project repo.
• Receipts repo — ask, default no. The run state can be versioned in its own local-only git repo inside $NS/, so every punch-list change and log line has history. Most people don't want a git repo living inside their project, so ask — "version the run state in a local receipts repo? (never pushed, never touches your project's history)" — and on anything but a clear yes, skip it: the receipts still exist as plain files. Present the question neutrally — never describe the repo as recommended; the default is no. On yes: if $NS/.git does not exist, run git -C "$NS" init rather than cd-ing there. Ensure $NS/.gitignore contains the transient markers STOP, .stall, .notified, deadline, .session-end, .shift-pulse, .mint-failed, .shift-session, .shift-session.tmp.*, .shift-worker, .shift-lease, .shift-lease.tmp.*, .mutex-scope, .mutex-scope.tmp.*, .watchman, .watchman-tick, .lock.d/, and .lease-lock.d/; preserve existing lines. Make one initial commit only when setup created the receipts repository. Creating the repo does not turn on headless auto-commit — that is receiptsAutoCommit in rules.json, shipped false; the owner commits the receipts tree when they want. Never add a remote to it, never push it. On native Windows, after a clear yes, rerun the bundled scaffold with the same --work-target plus --receipts; the idempotent pass creates only this local receipts repo.
• Cursor CLI file hooks — ask, default no. The installed Cursor plugin already holds the IDE Agent tab. The Cursor CLI (agent) currently ignores marketplace and local plugin hooks and only runs project file hooks — a Cursor limitation, not a Nightshift skip. Ask — "write a project .cursor/hooks.json so the Cursor CLI is held by the same Nightshift hooks?" — and on anything but a clear yes, skip it. Present the question neutrally; the default is no. The IDE plugin keeps working either way. On yes: if $NIGHTSHIFT_WORKSPACE/.cursor/hooks.json does not exist, create .cursor/ if needed and copy $NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT/hooks/cursor/hooks.json there. That file execs the same plugin scripts via ${CURSOR_PLUGIN_ROOT}. If a .cursor/hooks.json already exists, show the diff against the shipped file and write only on an explicit yes to replace; never merge unknown owner hooks silently. Never create a second .nightshift/.

3. Gates — ask, never impose

Detect the stack in the persisted work target from the table in $NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT/skills/nightshift/references/compose/gates-catalog.md (monorepo-aware). A plugin or marketplace manifest may sit at the work-target root or one directory down at plugins/<name>/.claude-plugin/ / plugins/<name>/.codex-plugin/; that nested layout is a match when no language-stack row already won. Then ask the user, showing the detected proposal, with three first-class answers:

• accept the proposal as-is,
• edit it — add, remove, or replace with THEIR own commands (any shell command is a valid gate),
• none — fully respected: the shift runs without automated checks.

If gates were accepted or edited, also ask the site-inspection interval (every N items or every H hours). Write the result into the ## Gates block of $NS/punch-list.md, replacing the placeholder. If the answer was none, leave the placeholder as-is.

The ## Gates block is plain markdown the owner may edit anytime — run Setup again (/nightshift:setup on Claude Code, or ask Nightshift to set up on Codex) to re-detect after a stack change. The contract's immutability binds the agent, not the owner.

Project defaults — ask once. Independent from gates. Ask one question covering the verification profile (fast, balanced, strict, or custom), typical hours, and tooling policy (existing tools only, review missing tools first, or automatically add standard development tools). Persist the answer with "$NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT/runtime/ns" shift-policy defaults-set --verificationProfile <name> --hours <n|null> --toolingPolicy <name> --execution review-first|run-direct. The helper writes the shift block of $NS/rules.json — the one file the owner edits — and reports what it stored; never put the answer in the punch list. It only prefills the one question Hunt and Quality ask before composing — it decides nothing on its own, and either skill may change it for a single shift.

• Artifact — do not ask. Persist fast and existing-tools only, without prompting. A notes folder has no repository toolchain to add; repository-tool policies (auto-add and review-missing) are invalid there.
• Repository — ask the full question above (including review-first vs run-direct), then persist the answer.

4. Permissions — the night cannot click Allow

An unattended shift stalls forever on a permission prompt, and a watchman revival runs headless — denied means denied. Ask one question:

Overnight runs can't answer permission prompts. Enable frictionless permissions for this project's unattended runs? (recommended — Nightshift's guards stay armed in every permission mode)

• Yes, on Claude Code → merge {"permissions": {"defaultMode": "bypassPermissions"}} into $TASK_ROOT/.claude/settings.local.json (create the file if absent; never clobber keys the owner already has). Write the full path: a copy that lands in a nested code repo grants the project nothing, and the first prompt of the night proves it. Settings on disk are what revivals inherit — a mode picked at launch dies with the process.
• Yes, on Codex → there is no settings file to write: approvals are per launch. Tell the owner that unattended execution and sandbox scope are two separate choices, and say the trade plainly: a contract that does not commit runs unattended under -a never -s workspace-write — ticks alone finish a night, in the gate and the stall guard alike, and the commit rule is theirs to strip from the punch list and clockOutMessage. Under Codex's workspace-write sandbox .git is protected, so the default contract, which commits once per item, cannot run under it and is started with the launch command on the Codex host page, $NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT/skills/nightshift/references/hosts/codex.md. The fence around that access is nightshift's own guards, which hold in every mode — the same trade bypassPermissions makes on Claude Code.
• No → respect it and say the cost plainly: "a permission prompt mid-shift freezes the night until morning — if the shift stalls on one, that was tonight's trade." Suggest the narrower alternative: pre-allow just the punch list's tools (test runner, linter, git) in the same file.

5. The rules file — every knob in one place

Copy $NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT/skills/nightshift/references/nightshift-rules-template.json to $NS/rules.json as-is, if it does not already exist — the owner's one config file, defaults inline. It lives in nightshift's own folder on purpose: everything nightshift is in one place, kept out of repo history by the same .nightshift/ gitignore, versioned by the receipts repo when one exists — and deleting $NS/ removes all of nightshift, rules included. Validate the file with jq -e 'type == "object"' and report a broken one plainly — never half-apply it. On native Windows, validate with Get-Content -Raw -LiteralPath "$NS\rules.json" | ConvertFrom-Json; PowerShell's JSON parser is built in, so native setup has no jq or Python prerequisite.

The template's $schema field points at $NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT/skills/nightshift/references/nightshift-rules.schema.json so editors catch invalid names, types, and values; it is ignored at runtime. Editor discovery is documented in https://github.com/orwa-mahmoud/nightshift/blob/main/docs/knobs.md.

The rules file is portable across hosts, so never generate a host-specific copy. Its toolDeny map carries three native question names: AskUserQuestion for Claude Code, request_user_input for Codex, and AskQuestion for Cursor. A non-empty value denies that exact tool with the owner's message; an empty value allows it. All three entries stay present so deleting a key can never activate an invisible default. JSON has no comments; the schema descriptions and https://github.com/orwa-mahmoud/nightshift/blob/main/docs/knobs.md#tool-rules are the inline help.

The hooks read this file directly on every tool call: an owner's edit applies from their very next action. Nothing is synced anywhere, nothing needs a restart, and there is no second copy. Env vars of the matching names (NIGHTSHIFT_FORBIDDEN_COMMANDS, NIGHTSHIFT_TOOL_RULES, …) remain session-start overrides for tests and one-off exceptions — say so only if asked. If Claude Code's $TASK_ROOT/.claude/settings.local.json still carries NIGHTSHIFT_* env keys an earlier version synced from this file, offer to remove them: the file is the one copy.

Local rule profiles — offer, never impose. Setup may list the shipped examples in $NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT/skills/nightshift/references/profiles/ (every version-1 or version-2 JSON file there) and preview one with "$NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT/runtime/ns" apply-profile --profile <name> --mode fill|replace. The helper prints the preview and the complete next file; read it out rather than describing it. Applying requires an explicit yes and --apply. Refuse --apply while armed. Profiles are a one-time local copy — no network, no subscription. After applying a profile, write a preset receipt from $NIGHTSHIFT_PLUGIN_ROOT/skills/nightshift/references/receipts/cycle-specialist-evidence.md so branch mode, allowed sources, verification profile, receipt retention, resource limits, and direct-mode boundaries trace to rules.json. Owner rules remain authoritative; presets never capture hidden policy.

Template evolution — offer, never impose. On a re-run with the file already present, compare the shipped template's top-level keys and its nested toolDeny keys to the owner's file (read the JSON in the skill; do not ask the owner to install jq or Python; on native Windows, (Get-Content -Raw -LiteralPath "$NS\rules.json" | ConvertFrom-Json).PSObject.Properties.Name and the same for .toolDeny): offer any missing key with its default — "this version added request_user_input; add it?" — and never touch a value the owner already has. A missing native question key is a configuration error, not permission to invent a fallback.

Same posture for the contract: if the shipped punch-list template's contract (the text above ## Items) has changed since the owner's copy was scaffolded, show the diff and offer a merge — the owner's wording wins every conflict, and a punch list with open boxes is never touched at all. The same offer applies when the owner's contract is leftover campaign text (a finished branch, release, or issue-close list) even if the shipped template has not changed: show the diff and offer to restore the template contract, or keep theirs. Never rewrite without an explicit yes.

6. Summarize

Print the workspace-state path and resolved work target, what was scaffolded, whether a receipts repo was created, the gates that were written (or that none were), and the project defaults stored in the shift block of $NS/rules.json. Tell the user to draft items in $NS/drafting-table.md, promote them into the punch list, then start the shift (/nightshift:start on Claude Code, or ask Nightshift to start on Codex). Mention that the open-ended product-evolution shift keeps its evidence and ranked work in $NS/product-research.md and $NS/opportunity-map.md, while the quality skill can turn existing lint/type debt into proposed items whenever they want it.