A-Novel developer guide

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Set up an agent ​

An agent loads the team's conventions from its workspace root: AGENTS.md and the skills in .agents/skills. Make the stack root its workspace, ~/git-projects/a-novel by default. Each repository below the stack root is a separate checkout. An agent started inside one never sees the conventions.

The team works mostly with Claude Code and Codex. Any agent that loads these conventions works too, such as the others below.

Claude Code ​

Install ​

For the terminal, skip to Open the workspace if this prints a version:

bash
claude --version
bash
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

The desktop app includes Claude Code. The VS Code extension installs from its marketplace, and the JetBrains plugin runs the terminal version.

Open the workspace ​

In a terminal, start it in the stack root, wherever you put it:

bash
a-novel claude

In the desktop app's Code tab, select Local, then Select folder, and choose the stack root. In VS Code or JetBrains, open the stack root as the project.

Sign in on first launch. The team uses the most capable model and the Explanatory output style.

Codex ​

Install ​

For the terminal, skip to Open the workspace if this prints a version:

bash
codex --version
bash
curl -fsSL https://chatgpt.com/codex/install.sh | sh

The Codex app and the IDE extension install from their own pages.

Open the workspace ​

In a terminal:

bash
codex --cd ~/git-projects/a-novel

In the app, open the stack root as a project. Codex reads AGENTS.md and skills from the project's primary folder only. If you add folders, keep the stack root primary with Edit project → Make primary. In the IDE extension, open the stack root as the project.

Sign in on first launch.

GitHub Copilot ​

In VS Code, open the stack root with File → Open Folder. Copilot's agent reads AGENTS.md and the skills from there.

For the terminal, install the Copilot CLI, start it from the stack root, and trust the folder when it asks:

bash
npm install -g @github/copilot
cd ~/git-projects/a-novel
copilot

Cursor ​

Download Cursor, then open the stack root with File → Open Folder. Its agent reads AGENTS.md and the skills from there.

Antigravity CLI ​

Antigravity CLI is Google's terminal agent.

bash
curl -fsSL https://antigravity.google/cli/install.sh | bash

Start it from the stack root, and confirm the workspace trust prompt:

bash
cd ~/git-projects/a-novel
agy

OpenCode ​

OpenCode is an open-source terminal agent that works with your own model provider:

bash
npm install -g opencode-ai
opencode ~/git-projects/a-novel