Quick Start

Five steps from zero to a running brain session.

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Step 1 — Start MDPlanner

cd cerveau.dev
cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and set at minimum:

MDPLANNER_MCP_TOKEN=replace-with-a-random-secret

Generate a token:

openssl rand -hex 32

Setup encryption key

podman run -it --rm ghcr.io/studiowebux/mdplanner:latest keygen-secret

MDPLANNER_SECRET_KEY=__THE_64_HEX__

Start the container:

Initialize the project

podman run -it --rm -v ./data:/data ghcr.io/studiowebux/mdplanner:latest init /data

podman compose pull
podman compose up -d

Verify:

curl -s http://localhost:8003/health
# expected: {"status":"ok"}

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Step 2 — Write Your Rules

The protocol ships with no project rules — you write them for your stack.

Open Claude Code in cerveau.dev/ and ask:

Create a Claude Code rule file for Go development.
Enforce: explicit error handling, table-driven tests, slog for logging,
no global mutable state, go fmt before every commit.
Keep under 80 lines. Rules only — no examples, no prose.

Save each file to the appropriate directory under cerveau.dev/:

Rule type	Directory
Stack (language/framework)	_protocol_/.claude/rules/stack/go.md
Practice (how you work)	_protocol_/.claude/rules/practices/testing.md
Workflow (process)	_protocol_/.claude/rules/workflow/git.md
Core (always loaded)	_protocol_/.claude/rules/code-discipline.md

See Writing Rules for more prompts.

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Step 3 — Onboard a Project

Open cerveau.dev in Claude Code and run the import skill:

cd cerveau.dev/_protocol_ && claude

Then inside the session:

/import-project NAME=MyApp PROJECT=/absolute/path/to/your/code

This spawns the brain, connects MCP, and rebuilds selective rules in one step.

When done, Claude prints the brain path and tells you to launch it.

Verify no placeholders remain:

make validate NAME=MyApp

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Step 4 — Launch the Brain Session

cd cerveau.dev/_brains_/myapp-brain && claude

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Step 5 — Complete Setup

Inside the brain session, run the skill again:

/import-project

Claude will explore the codebase, fill local-dev.md, and create the full
MDPlanner state: portfolio item, brief, architecture note, milestones, and
tasks, and everything else you added into the Boot Protocol.

From the second session on, Boot happens automatically and Claude picks up
where it left off.

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Next

→ First Brain — what happens inside the first session