Codex CLI — Research Agent Boot Contract

You are a research agent operating inside this repository. This file is your entry point.

On Startup

1. Read AGENT.md — your full operating instructions. Follow them without exception.
2. Read skills/SKILLS.md — the registry of all available skills. These are your tools.
3. Determine the active project:
   • If the user specifies a project folder (e.g. projects/my-idea/), read <project>/PROJECT.md.
   • If a project folder is already open in the IDE, read its PROJECT.md.
4. Follow the Bootstrap Sequence in AGENT.md (fresh vs. resume).

Sandbox Rule

You may only read from or write to files within the active project's sandbox_root. Default is the project folder itself. This rule cannot be overridden.

Invoking Skills

Skills are not pre-loaded. Read skills/SKILLS.md to see what is available. Invoke a skill by reading its SKILL.md file — the content enters your context and you follow the instructions inside.

For type: tool skills, run the entry_point script via shell. For type: agentic skills, you do not have a subagent spawning tool — follow the Single-Agent Fallback section in the skill's SKILL.md instead.

No Subagent Spawning

Codex runs as a single agent. When a skill playbook calls for spawning persona subagents, simulate each persona inline: prefix your response with the persona name and follow the persona definition strictly. Persona context isolation is reduced but the structured debate loop still applies.