Install and Onboard | Personal OS

Setup takes about 20 minutes. The majority of that time is the onboarding conversation — your agent asking you questions and using your answers to configure the system. The technical steps take under two minutes.

This guide covers Claude Code, which is the canonical platform with full support. If you’re using Gemini CLI, Codex, or Cursor, see Choose Your Tool for the platform-specific setup, then return here — the onboarding conversation is identical across all platforms.

Prerequisites

Claude Code installed
Git installed (git --version to verify)
About 20 minutes of uninterrupted time

Step 1: Clone the Repo


git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/personal-os.git
cd personal-os

The folder structure is already in place:


personal-os/
  00-cockpit/       # dashboard, inbox, weekly review
  01-projects/      # active projects (empty to start)
  02-areas/         # ongoing responsibilities
  03-resources/     # playbooks and knowledge base
  04-archives/      # completed items go here
  05-habits/        # identity and tracking
  .claude/
    agents/         # specialist agent definitions
    commands/       # slash command definitions
  CLAUDE.md         # agent instructions
  AGENTS.md         # mirror for Codex

Step 2: Open Claude Code


claude

Claude Code reads CLAUDE.md automatically when you open a project. Your agent is now active and aware of the system.

You should see something like:


Claude Code ready.
Working directory: /path/to/personal-os

Step 3: Run Onboarding

Type:


/onboard

Your agent will respond:


Welcome to Personal OS — your AI-powered operating system for getting
things done and becoming who you want to be.

I'm going to ask you some questions to personalize the system. This
takes about 15-20 minutes. Your answers stay completely local —
nothing is sent anywhere.

Ready? Let's start with identity.

From here, the agent walks you through five blocks of questions, one at a time.

What the Onboarding Questionnaire Covers

Block 1: Identity (Questions 1-4)

The agent asks about your roles, your identity statements, and who you’re becoming.

Example exchange:


Agent: What are your most important roles in life?
       Examples: parent, engineer, creator, partner, founder, athlete

You:   Engineering manager, father, and I'm building a side business
       in health coaching.

Agent: Good. For each role, let's complete this sentence:
       "I am someone who ___"

       Start with engineering manager — who are you as a leader?

Your answers get written directly to 05-habits/identity.md. The agent also creates the “leaving behind” section — old beliefs or patterns you’re actively replacing.

Block 2: Goals (Questions 5-7)

The agent asks for your quarterly objectives (maximum 3-5), what a typical week looks like, and your single most important thing for this quarter.

These answers populate 00-cockpit/dashboard.md. If any objective is large enough to be a project, the agent creates a file in 01-projects/ for it.

Example exchange:


Agent: What are you working toward this quarter? Walk me through your
       top objectives — what does "done" look like for each?

You:   Main thing is shipping the MVP of my coaching app by end of
       October. Also want to lose 12 pounds before the holidays.
       And I'm trying to be more present at home — I've been too
       heads-down.

Agent: Those are three solid objectives. Let me reflect them back:

       1. Ship coaching app MVP by October 31
       2. Lose 12 lbs by November 30
       3. Increase presence at home — what would "done" look like here?
          Fewer phone-at-dinner moments? A weekly family activity?

Block 3: Habits (Questions 8-10)

The agent identifies your keystone habits — the 3-5 daily practices that matter most — and notes your energy patterns (are you a morning person? when does your focus peak?).

Answers are written to 05-habits/tracker.md with the tracking structure ready to use from day one.

Example exchange:


Agent: What are the 3-5 daily habits that, if you did them consistently,
       would make the biggest difference in your life?

You:   Morning workout, reading before bed instead of scrolling, and
       a weekly call with my co-founder.

Agent: Got it. I'll track:
       - Morning workout (daily)
       - Evening reading (daily)
       - Co-founder sync (weekly)

       When is your energy typically highest during the day?

Block 4: Tools (Questions 11-15)

The agent asks which external tools you use — calendar, email, Notion, health wearables, task managers — and configures connections where possible.

You don’t need to connect everything now. The system works on local files alone. External connections add value (your triage becomes much richer when the agent can read your actual calendar), but they’re optional.

Block 5: Personal Context (Questions 16-19)

Name, how you want the agent to address you, communication style preferences, and anything else relevant to how you operate. This gets stored in the agent’s memory and persists across sessions.

What Gets Created

After completing all five blocks, the agent has written to:

File	What Changed
`05-habits/identity.md`	Your roles, identity statements, role models, and leaving-behind table
`05-habits/tracker.md`	Habit tracking table with your keystone habits
`00-cockpit/dashboard.md`	Quarterly objectives, Top 3 (initially blank — set each morning), active projects radar
`01-projects/`	Project files created for any objective large enough to need one

Module Activation

After the core questionnaire, the agent presents the optional modules:


Now, a few optional modules that extend the system into specialized
domains. Which of these interest you?

  1. Health Data Integration — wearable data, morning health briefings,
     experiment tracking
  2. Learning System — curriculum architecture, study sessions,
     content-from-learning pipeline
  3. Relationship Management — contact tracking, relationship health,
     meeting prep
  4. Financial Organization — budget awareness, financial reviews,
     net worth tracking
  5. Brand & Content — voice guide, content queue, social engagement
  6. Career & Role Management — 1:1 prep, stakeholder management,
     career capital tracking

Which of these interest you? You can activate any combination now,
or skip and add them later.

Activating a module creates the corresponding folder structure in 02-areas/ and tells the agent to invoke the specialist agent for that domain when relevant.

Saving Your Setup

The agent commits the initial configuration automatically at the end of onboarding:


Agent: You're all set. Committing your configuration to git...

[system] Complete initial onboarding

- Identity: 3 roles, identity statements written
- Goals: 3 quarterly objectives set
- Habits: 4 keystone habits configured
- Modules: Health Data, Learning System activated

Done. Ready to start?

What Comes Next

Once onboarding is complete, the agent offers to start your first reflection session:


Here's your daily toolkit:
  /reflect  — morning journaling and evening review
  /triage   — scan your inbound and surface what matters
  /plan     — build your daily sprint
  /capture  — quick-add anything to your inbox
  /review   — weekly review (do this every Friday)

Want to start with /reflect right now?

Say yes. Your first reflection session takes about 10 minutes and sets the tone for how you’ll use the system.

Key Files

File	Purpose
`onboarding/00-core.md`	The full questionnaire the agent reads from
`05-habits/identity.md`	Written during Block 1 — your identity foundation
`05-habits/tracker.md`	Written during Block 3 — habit tracking ready to use
`00-cockpit/dashboard.md`	Written during Block 2 — your daily command center
`CLAUDE.md`	Agent instructions — read at the start of every session

Next Steps

Your First Day — Walk through a complete first day with the system
Daily Loop — Deep dive into reflect, triage, and plan
Modules — Activate optional modules when you’re ready