AI Onboarding Quick Start

For new AI sessions starting work on Athena. Read this first!

🚀 First 3 Steps

1. Load the protocol:

   cat AI_COLLABORATION_PROTOCOL.md
   

2. Check current state:

   TodoRead  # What's in progress?
   git status  # Clean working directory?
   

3. Get oriented:

   cat docs/QUICK_START.md  # System overview
   ls docs/  # Available documentation
   

📋 Essential Checklists

Development Checklists - Lightweight reminders:

• ⚡ Quick checklist for simple changes
• 🚀 Starting new features
• 🚨 When things go wrong
• 🎯 Philosophy checks (minimal approach)

🗺️ Key Documentation Map

System Understanding

• QUICK_START.md - 5-minute system overview
• SYSTEM_ARCHITECTURE.md - Technical design
• EXISTING_TOOLS_AND_SYSTEMS.md - What’s already built (CHECK FIRST!)
• ash_chat/ - Main Phoenix LiveView application

Philosophy & Methodology

• AI_COLLABORATION_PROTOCOL.md - How we work
• COLLABORATION_METHODOLOGY.md - Research patterns
• journal/ - Real discoveries and learnings

Practical Resources

• AI_QUICK_REFERENCE.md - Common commands
• DEVELOPMENT_CHECKLISTS.md - Process reminders
• CONVERSATION_ARCHAEOLOGY.md - Tracing decisions

🔑 Key Commands

# In IEx (cd ash_chat && iex -S mix)
AshChat.Setup.reset_demo_data()  # Create test data
AshChat.Setup.quick_test()       # Verify system

# Check persistence (new!)
./test_demo_persistence.sh       # SQLite status

⚠️ Common Pitfalls

1. Testing in wrong context - Use IEx, not standalone scripts
2. Missing dependencies - Check with mix hex.info package_name
3. Gitleaks blocking commits - Check .gitleaks.toml for allowlist
4. Over-engineering - Ask “What’s the minimal solution?”

🎯 Core Philosophy

• Small sharp tools - Single purpose, does it well
• High agility - Easy to modify or remove
• Minimal approach - What’s the smallest useful version?
• Push every commit - Real-time progress tracking

📊 Current System State

• Chat persistence: SQLite added (messages, rooms, users, agent_cards)
• 100+ conversations preserved in chat-history/
• Phoenix server: Usually running on port 4000
• Multi-agent chat: Sam and Maya bots in Conversation Lounge

🚦 Ready to Start?

1. ✅ Protocol loaded
2. ✅ Todos checked
3. ✅ Git status clean
4. ✅ Philosophy understood
5. Go build something minimal and useful!

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Remember: When in doubt, check the checklists and keep it minimal.