serenakeyitan Tree — Operational Skill
This skill is the operational handbook for the tree product. If you have
not yet loaded the first-tree entry-point skill, load that first — it
explains what a Context Tree is and why you would use one. This skill
covers how to drive the first-tree tree CLI.
When To Use This Skill
Load this skill when the task involves any of:
- Running a
first-tree tree <command>subcommand - Onboarding a repo, a shared tree, or a workspace root to a Context Tree
- Writing or verifying
NODE.mdfiles,soft_links, or ownership frontmatter - Publishing a tree repo to GitHub or refreshing bound source/workspace repos
- Wiring Context Tree CI (CODEOWNERS, PR review, SessionStart hooks)
Core Concepts
The tree CLI centers on three concepts:
- source / workspace root — a repo (or a workspace of repos) whose work should consult a Context Tree
- tree repo — the repository that stores the
NODE.md+ leaf-node files - binding — the relationship that wires a source/workspace root to a specific tree repo
Most commands accept or classify one of these three shapes.
Default Onboarding Workflow
- Run
first-tree tree inspect --json. - Run
first-tree tree init— it handles both cases:- no existing tree → creates a sibling tree and binds it
- existing tree → pass
--tree-path <path>or--tree-url <url>and it binds
- If the current root is a workspace, pass
--scope workspace.initsyncs currently discovered child repos by default; rerunfirst-tree tree workspace syncafter adding new repos.
init internally delegates to bind (and to bootstrap when scaffolding a new
tree), installs the bundled first-tree skill in both the source and the tree
repo, and refreshes binding metadata in both locations. Use bind directly only
when you need explicit --mode control (e.g. workspace-member binds).
CLI Commands
Primary (start here)
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
first-tree tree inspect |
Classify the current folder and report bindings / child repos |
first-tree tree status |
Alias for inspect (human-friendly name) |
first-tree tree init |
Onboard a repo or workspace — creates a new tree, or binds to an existing one when given --tree-path / --tree-url |
first-tree tree verify |
Validate a tree repo: frontmatter, owners, soft_links, members, progress |
first-tree tree upgrade |
Refresh the installed skill payloads or tree metadata from the bundled package |
first-tree tree publish |
Publish a tree repo to GitHub and refresh locally bound source/workspace repos |
Advanced (agent / power-user)
These are primitives init composes, plus CI helpers and member-management
utilities. Reach for them only when the primary commands don't cover the case.
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
first-tree tree bootstrap |
Low-level tree-repo bootstrap for an explicit tree checkout. Use when the current repo itself is the tree (--here) or when init's scaffolding default is wrong. |
first-tree tree bind |
Lower-level primitive used by init --tree-path. Exposes --mode standalone-source / shared-source / workspace-root / workspace-member that init normally infers. |
first-tree tree integrate |
Install the first-tree skill + source-integration block in the current repo without touching any tree repo. |
first-tree tree workspace sync |
Bind newly added child repos to the shared tree, or rerun the workspace-member binding step manually. init --scope workspace already syncs currently discovered repos by default. |
first-tree tree review |
CI helper: run Claude Code PR review against tree changes |
first-tree tree generate-codeowners |
Regenerate .github/CODEOWNERS from tree ownership |
first-tree tree inject-context |
Output a Claude Code SessionStart hook payload from NODE.md |
first-tree tree invite |
Invite a new member to the Context Tree (human, personal_assistant, or autonomous_agent) |
first-tree tree join |
Accept an invite and join a Context Tree |
first-tree tree help onboarding |
Show the onboarding narrative |
For full options on any command, run first-tree tree <command> --help.
Recommended Invocation
npx first-tree tree <command>
This is the recommended human-facing one-off invocation. The CLI auto-checks for
updates on every invocation; pass --skip-version-check to suppress the
check for latency-sensitive callers like SessionStart hooks.
To refresh source/workspace integration or tree metadata from the current package:
npx first-tree tree upgrade
If you only need to wipe and reinstall the four shipped skill payloads under
.agents/skills/* and .claude/skills/*, use npx first-tree skill upgrade
instead.
Ownership
- Every directory has a
NODE.mddeclaringownersin its frontmatter. - Empty
owners: []inherits from the parent. owners: [*]means anyone may edit.- Otherwise only the listed owners may approve changes.
Ownership model and node-naming rules: see the
ownership-and-naming.md reference in the first-tree entry-point skill.
Related Skills
first-tree— entry-point skill: methodology, references, and routing between product skills. Load this first.breeze— load if the task involves the breeze daemon or notifications.gardener— load if the task involves any tree-maintenance runtime: drift sync (gardener sync), verdict comments on source-repo PRs (gardener comment), or responses to sync-PR review feedback (gardener respond).