# Start > One command from "plugin installed" to "running brief on your idea." Combines /mycelium:setup (project-state initialization) and /mycelium:interview (10-minute discovery brief) into a single flow. Run this immediately after installing the Mycelium plugin — it's the recommended entry point for first-time users. - Skill: `majiayu000/start-6` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add majiayu000/start-6` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/majiayu000/start-6/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Product & Planning - Author: majiayu000 (https://skillmd.com/u/majiayu000) - Updated: 2026-09-09 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/majiayu000/start-6 --- # /mycelium:start — combined first-time entry When this skill runs, follow the flow below. The skill is designed so a first-time user goes from "plugin installed" to "holding a one-page brief on their idea" in a single invocation. ## Step 1: Welcome (~30 seconds of context, then move on) Output a short welcome before doing anything. Do NOT skip this — the install-to-here gap is the friction point this skill exists to address. The user just installed a 45-skill framework and has no context yet. > "Welcome to Mycelium. > > Mycelium is a discovery-and-discipline harness for AI agents — it forces the agent to think before it codes. 30+ product-thinking frameworks (JTBD, OST, Wardley, Cagan four risks, Cynefin, BVSSH...) connected by evidence gates, so critical steps cannot be skipped. > > What I'm about to do, in two steps: > 1. Set up project-state directories in your `.claude/` (canvas, diamonds, memory). ~10 seconds. > 2. Run a 10-minute discovery brief: 4 questions about your idea, then a one-page brief covering who it's for, the biggest assumption, the biggest risk, and your next concrete move. > > Your project root files (CLAUDE.md, README.md, LICENSE, etc.) are NOT touched — Mycelium ships as a Claude Code plugin and lives in plugin cache. Only your `.claude/` directory is created. > > Let's begin." ## Step 2: Detect existing state — HARD GATE **This must be the very first action after the welcome. Do NOT run any other Bash commands, Edit/Write operations, or "let me prepare the directories" reasoning before this gate fires.** Run exactly this check, and only this check: ```bash test -f "$CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR/.claude/diamonds/active.yml" ``` - **If exit code 0** (file EXISTS): the project already has Mycelium state. Skip directly to Step 4 routing output. **Do NOT run setup. Do NOT run mkdir. Do NOT touch `.gitkeep` stubs.** Setup-style operations on an already-initialized project waste tokens and trigger Read-before-Write tool errors when the agent then tries to write to existing files. Detected during 2026-05-09 plugin-form dogfood — the agent ran `mkdir -p .claude/...` before honoring this gate, then hit a Write error on `active.yml` and only then realized the project was initialized. The fix is structural: the gate is the first action. - **If exit code 1** (file does NOT exist): invoke the setup workflow inline. Follow the instructions in `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/setup/SKILL.md` exactly — same Step 1 detection (which will fall through), Step 2 directory creation with `.gitkeep` stubs, Step 3 starter file writes, Step 4 AGENTS.md prompt (default-yes in non-interactive contexts), Step 5 confirmation message. Do not duplicate the setup logic here; reference it. After setup completes, do NOT print setup's "Next:" line — this skill is the next step. Print: > "Setup done. Now: 4 questions about your idea, ~10 minutes." ## Step 3: Run interview (universal-flow shape) Invoke the interview workflow inline. Follow the instructions in `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/interview/SKILL.md` from Phase 0 onward. Because setup just ran, the canvas is empty — /interview's canvas-state detection will route to the Universal Brief Flow (the 4-question brief shape, not the legacy time-budget-routed ceremony). Render the brief, write canvas state, render the depth menu. Per opp-006 narration discipline in interview/SKILL.md, do not narrate phase numbers to the user — reference the outcome (e.g., "the brief", "the project-type question") instead of the phase index. After the brief is rendered and the user picks a depth-menu option, the start skill is done. Hand off to whatever the user chose (`/mycelium:assumption-test` for "Test the biggest assumption", continued discovery for "Go deeper", graceful exit for "Stop for now", etc.). ## Step 4: Routing for already-initialized projects If Step 2 detected existing canvas state (the user has Mycelium installed already on this project), do NOT run setup or interview. Instead, print: > "This project already has Mycelium state from [date of last write to .claude/diamonds/active.yml]. Last diamond touched: [scale, phase, confidence, name]. Three options: > 1. Run `/mycelium:diamond-assess` to see current state and what to work on next. > 2. Run `/mycelium:interview` to add a new idea as a sibling diamond on this product. > 3. Stop and look around. Canvas files are in `.claude/canvas/`." Then exit. The user picks the next move. ## What this skill does NOT do - Does NOT modify CLAUDE.md, README.md, CONTRIBUTORS.md, or LICENSE. - Does NOT block or prompt at the welcome step — it's read-and-continue, not interactive. - Does NOT replace setup or interview. They remain invocable directly. start is the convenience composition. - Does NOT run on every session — only on first invocation. After the first run, canvas state exists and Step 2 routes to diamond-assess. ## Why this skill exists Without `/mycelium:start`, the first-time plugin user has to: 1. Run `/plugin install mycelium@haabe-mycelium` (Claude Code message: "installed") 2. Wonder what to do 3. Find `/mycelium:setup` (no obvious pointer at install time) 4. Run setup (gets a brief next-step message) 5. Run `/mycelium:interview` 6. Get value (the brief) That's 5 typed commands and 2 cognitive gaps before value lands. The void between steps 1 and 5 is real friction. `/mycelium:start` collapses 1→6 into 1→2 with a welcome message that gives the framework a 30-second introduction at exactly the moment the user has the question "what is this and what do I do." Setup+interview both still exist as separate skills for users who want them piecewise. ## Theory grounding - Norman: visible affordances at the moment of cognitive need (the welcome message at the install gate). - Krug "Don't Make Me Think": one command instead of two, with explanation built in. - Hashimoto regeneration zones: the welcome is generation-cheap context that the user can re-read or skip; doesn't add discipline cost to the actual work. - Brownfield-additive principle (Bentes 2026-05-08): the start skill respects the same "no project root modification" constraint as setup — it adds project state without touching user-owned root files. ## Source The friction this skill addresses surfaced 2026-05-09 during the founder's smoke-test of the v0.20.x plugin form. The user reported: "the onboarding has worsened substantially since converting to plugin. The user is left in the unknown void for quite a bit." Setup + welcome + immediate interview transition is the first response. If the welcome-as-text approach proves insufficient (subsequent dogfood reports the void persists), graduate to: SessionStart hook that detects first-run-after-install and emits the welcome unprompted.