Agent Startup and Context Ingestion
Guides an agent on setting up its startup files and context so it works on the right task after launch.
- Repository
- mvschwarz/openrig
- Stars
- 8,553
- Licence
- Apache-2.0
- Files
- 1 file
What it does
This skill teaches an AI agent how to get useful quickly after it is launched in a multi-agent setup. It covers how startup files (role, culture, and context files), rig specs, and refocus messages should be designed, and how to avoid common failures like stale instructions or a startup file that becomes a dumping ground. It also tells the agent to look up the current task first and read only the context that task needs, rather than loading everything.
Great for
- Engineers designing startup files and context for AI agents in an OpenRig multi-agent setup
- Teams auditing whether running agents picked up current operating guidance
- Anyone building a startup map for agent teams who wants to avoid stale or bloated context
Skip it if
- Simple single-agent chats where no startup configuration exists (the guidance adds little)
- Creating reusable skills or methodology content, which belongs in skills rather than startup files (the skill itself warns against mixing them)
- Environments outside OpenRig where the referenced commands (rig whoami, rig context) and documents are unavailable, so many steps cannot run as written
Try asking
- “Audit whether our agents are running on stale rig specs after the operating mode changed”
- “Design the startup files for a new agent role in our OpenRig rig”
- “Plan how the orchestrator should pass product intent, not just implementation steps, to the next agent”
- “Write a refocus message to get existing agents to adopt new guidance”
Install in 3 steps
- 1
Download the skill
The ZIP contains the 1 original files, the Apache-2.0 licence and an attribution note.
agent-startup-and-context-ingestion.zip - 2
Add it to your agent
Claude Code (all projects)
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip agent-startup-and-context-ingestion.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)
mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip agent-startup-and-context-ingestion.zip -d .claude/skills/Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.
- 3
Ask for the task
No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.
Get better results
- Use it inside an OpenRig rig; the commands it names only exist there, so verify them in your setup first.
- When testing startup changes, use a disposable fresh session. The skill notes that editing files does not change already-running agents, so plan a refresh or next-launch check.
- Keep startup files as pointers to canonical sources rather than copies of them, as the skill recommends.
What's inside
- SKILL.md
Redistributed unmodified from mvschwarz/openrig under the Apache-2.0 licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.