Install and initialize

This path gets a repository from no YarraMate files to a valid, queryable workspace.

1. Install the CLI

YarraMate requires Node.js 22 or newer.

npm install --global yarramate
yarramate --version

2. Initialize the repository

yarramate init

Run this from the repository root. Commit the native workspace under .yarramate/ with the code it describes.

3. Choose a workflow

For an existing codebase, install the coding-agent skill and ask it to bring the system into the model from repository evidence, then validate what it proposes:

yarramate check .yarramate/workspace.yaml --json

For a new system, a deliberate redesign, or if you are working from the CLI alone, run the design interview directly:

yarramate design .yarramate/workspace.yaml

Both paths help you author native documents. They do not replace engineering judgment.

4. Validate the model

yarramate check .yarramate/workspace.yaml --json

A passing check means the documents are structurally valid and internally consistent; it does not prove that the architecture is complete or good.

5. Use the context

yarramate ask .yarramate/workspace.yaml

ask provides a compact orientation. Install the coding-agent skill so a supported harness follows the same workflow without a bespoke briefing.

Commit source, regenerate output

Treat .yarramate/ as the source of truth. Generated projections belong in .yarramate-out/ and should be reproducible rather than hand-edited.

Next: choose a workflow →

These adoption guides are maintained by the website team. Read the normative product documentation →