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Team Onboarding

Help a teammate get from a fresh checkout to a useful first workflow without making them read raw project context first.

Time to complete: ~20-30 minutes

What You'll Set Up

  • A current project context for the repository
  • A generated orientation document that explains the project at a high level
  • A first-day checklist for new teammates
  • Clear first workflow options for feature work, PR review, Arcade monitoring, and project exploration

Prerequisites

Before You Begin

First-Day Checklist For A Teammate

Step Teammate outcome
1. Install and verify rp1 They can run rp1 verify and see their host integration.
2. Open the generated orientation They get the project shape before diving into files.
3. Build or refresh project context Their host has current project knowledge.
4. Pick a first workflow They know whether to ship a change, review a PR, or monitor Arcade.
5. Open Arcade They can inspect runs, artifacts, links, and waiting states.
6. Learn the source docs They know which .rp1/context/ files are maintainer material.

Prepare The Project For Onboarding

flowchart LR
    Context[Refresh project context] --> Orientation[Generate orientation]
    Orientation --> FirstDay[Share first-day path]
    FirstDay --> Workflow[Choose first workflow]

1. Refresh Project Context

Run the context workflow from the project root.

/knowledge-build

/rp1-base-knowledge-build

$rp1-base-knowledge-build

/rp1-base-knowledge-build

This updates .rp1/context/ so workflows can use the current repository structure and conventions.

2. Generate An Orientation Document

Run the project overview workflow after context is current.

/project-birds-eye-view

/rp1-base-project-birds-eye-view

$rp1-base-project-birds-eye-view

/rp1-base-project-birds-eye-view

Share the generated orientation before asking a teammate to read lower-level context files. The workflow prints and registers the output location.

3. Share The First Workflow Options

Give the teammate one of these next steps based on their first job.

First job Recommended path
Ship a small change Your First Workflow
Start planned feature work Feature Development
Review an existing PR PR Review
Monitor agent work Arcade Overview
Understand team conventions Scaling with Teams

What To Share

For most teammates, share these in order:

  1. The generated orientation document
  2. Installation and Host Setup
  3. Your First Workflow
  4. Arcade Overview
  5. A team-specific note with repository commands, review expectations, and owners

Maintainer Source Files

The raw .rp1/context/ files are useful when someone needs source-level project context or wants to update onboarding material. They should not be the first reading path for a new teammate.

Source file Best for
.rp1/context/index.md Quick project summary and loading map
.rp1/context/architecture.md System shape and integrations
.rp1/context/interaction-model.md User-visible states and surfaces
.rp1/context/modules.md Components and responsibilities
.rp1/context/patterns.md Coding and workflow conventions

Keeping Onboarding Current

Refresh onboarding material when:

  • the architecture changed materially
  • new modules or major user surfaces shipped
  • conventions changed enough that old examples would mislead readers
  • a new teammate struggled because an onboarding page was missing context

The maintenance loop is:

  1. Re-run knowledge-build
  2. Re-run project-birds-eye-view
  3. Review the generated orientation
  4. Update any team-specific notes
  5. Share the refreshed path with the team