init: set up a repository
Before aayudha can file and check work, your repository needs its labels, issue forms, config, and a place to keep
records. init adds them, shows what it will change, and asks before it uses your admin access.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| In plain words | Sets up a repository for aayudha: labels, issue forms, config, and the records branch; more on request. |
| Journey stage | Set up |
| Accountable seat | Founder (Atri) |
| Does the work | Atri, the Accountable seat's twin, in the chore model lane, with the seat's paired human when it has one |
| Consulted | DevOps & DevEx Tinkerer (Nala) |
| Informed | Engineering Manager (Drona) |
| Layers it can touch | L09 Platform / operations |
| Who reasons | no model: it is deterministic |
| Writes as | a person's own GitHub identity |
| Where it runs | the aayu command |
When to use it
- A new repository:
aayu tourrunsinitfor you, then installs the skills in your agent. - You are at Level 1 and want the merge gate:
aayu init --gates. - You want agents to write as a bot, or baselines from your analytics:
--identity, then--integrations. - You want the gate to check what your product does:
--verify-skillstarts a feature map.
Setting up your agent rather than the repository is install. Checking a setup that already exists
is doctor.
Run it
Run it yourself, in your own terminal, inside a clone of the repository. It is not a skill and never offered to agents: it asks a yes on a terminal before it uses your admin access. Most people run it through the tour.
aayu init
| Input | Required | What it does |
|---|---|---|
--resume |
no | Resume a partial run from .aayudha/state.json. |
--projects |
no | Create Projects v2 views. |
--gates |
no | Install gate workflows. |
--identity |
no | Create the GitHub App bot identity. |
--integrations |
no | Configure external integrations. |
--verify-skill |
no | Write the product's verify skill: an empty feature map and a control tool in the product's stack. |
The step up to Level 2 is aayu init --gates; see adopt at your own pace.
Needs setup:
--identitycreates a GitHub App and stores its key as a secret.--integrationsneeds read-only tokens for the services you connect, such as PostHog or Sentry. Until a bot App exists, agents write as you, tagged as human fallback.
What you get back
On GitHub: the type: and other labels, issue types on an organisation's repository, and the ledger branch, where
aayudha keeps its records, with its ruleset. In your checkout: the issue forms
(.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/aayudha-*.yml), .aayudha/ with the config and its run state in .aayudha/state.json,
and one marked section in AGENTS.md.
You should see one line per change, a count of GitHub calls, and Commit the written files … through a pull request. A run that stopped partway says to run aayu init --resume. Stuck? See
tour problems.
Gates
It checks these before it acts, and stops when one fails:
- tty-confirm: Interactive confirmation on a TTY; refused for agents.
Answer no, or run it from a script with no terminal, and it stops with exit 4 and changes nothing.
What only a person does
- It writes under a person's own GitHub identity.
- It is never offered to agents as an MCP tool.
- It asks a person to confirm in a terminal, and refuses agents.
Running it again changes nothing that is already in place. aayu uninit removes what init created, after the same
yes; external resources such as the bot App are listed for you to remove by hand.
What's next
- File your first story:
grill. - The whole first run, step by step: your first hour.
- Every skill.