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Getting started

This guide walks through your first use of Synapse in a project: initialise rules, inspect the router, run the web server, and understand where files live.

Before you begin

Initialise a project

From your repository root:

synapse init

This will:

  1. Create Synapse metadata under ~/.synapse/ (and project-specific state as implemented).
  2. Load rules from configured sources (by default ./config relative to the current directory).
  3. Deploy rules to assistant targets (for example .claude/, .cursor/, .codex/) according to ~/.synapse/config.yaml.

If a source path is missing, synapse doctor will report it.

Everyday commands

# List rules grouped by category
synapse list

# Search local rules by keyword
synapse search jwt

# See which rules the router would activate for a prompt
synapse test "add OAuth2 to the API"

# Check config paths, sources, and LLM settings
synapse doctor

# HTTP API + embedded UI (default http://127.0.0.1:8090)
synapse serve

# Third-party tools (RTK, AgentsView, etc.)
synapse integrations

browse (open browser to the UI) may be unavailable until implemented; use synapse serve and open the URL manually.

Update deployed rules

After you change rule files or pull updates:

synapse update

This refreshes installed copies and redeploys to your configured targets.

Remove Synapse from a project

synapse uninstall

Removes Synapse-managed files from the current project directory (does not delete your global ~/.synapse config unless documented otherwise).

Rule files

Rules, skills, agents, and contexts are Markdown with optional YAML frontmatter.

---
description: Short summary for lists and routing
keywords: [api, security, jwt]
tools: Read, Grep, Bash
alwaysApply: false
---

# Title

Your guidance for the assistant...

Typical layout in a rule package:

  • config/rules/ — coding standards, workflows
  • config/skills/ — language or stack skills
  • config/agents/ — sub-agent definitions
  • config/contexts/ — session contexts

Run synapse init after adding or editing files so they are installed and deployed.

Next steps