cf init

Overview

Interactive setup for Coding Friend. Run it in the root directory of your project:

cf init
cf init --agent codex
cf init --agent codex --trust-project

cf init has two modes depending on whether the project has been initialized before:

First run (no .coding-friend/ directory) — runs a linear step-by-step wizard that walks you through all settings in order.
Subsequent runs (.coding-friend/ directory exists) — shows an interactive menu where you pick which setting to configure or reconfigure. Each menu item shows its current status.

You can run cf init as many times as you want.

💡 To edit individual settings later, you can also use cf config.

Codex Mode

Claude Code is the default setup path. Use cf init --agent codex to initialize the same project for Codex CLI.

Codex mode:

Creates AGENTS.md with Coding Friend rules and $cf-* skill references
Registers the coding-friend-memory MCP server in Codex config
Writes project .codex/config.toml
Copies generated project agent TOMLs into .codex/agents/
Sets agents.max_depth = 2 in ~/.codex/config.toml for nested Coding Friend agents

Add --trust-project when you want the CLI to mark the current project trusted in ~/.codex/config.toml.

Config File Locations

At the start, cf init displays config file locations:

Config files:
  Global: ~/.coding-friend/config.json
  Local:  .coding-friend/config.json (this project)
Local overrides global at property level.

Status Display

Configs can be stored in two different locations - global and local. Local overrides global at the property level.

Global config: ~/.coding-friend/config.json
Local config: <project>/.coding-friend/config.json
The meaning of the labels is as follows:
- [global] - effective value comes from global config (not overridden locally)
- [local] - effective value comes from this project (overrides global if also set)
- [-] - not configured anywhere (using defaults)

Setup Steps

Step 1 - Docs folder name (default: "docs"), where plans, memory, research, and session docs are stored in your project.
Step 2 - Configure .gitignore. Keeps Coding Friend's AI-generated docs and config out of your git history. You can edit it later in .gitignore.
Step 3 - Docs language. Skills like /cf-plan, /cf-ask, /cf-remember will write docs in this language.
Step 4 - /cf-learn config. The settings for the learning extraction skill. You can configure the language, output directory (default: ~/.coding-friend/learn/), and categories. Settings are always saved to global config. The CF Learn MCP is auto-registered in Claude Code after this step.
Step 5 - Shell completion. Adds tab completion for cf commands to your shell.
Step 6 - Statusline. The statusline is a small section at the bottom of the screen that shows the current status of the Coding Friend session. You can configure it later with cf statusline.
Step 7 - CF Memory. Runs the full memory setup wizard — installs dependencies, builds the database, configures MCP, and optionally enables memory.autoCapture. You can configure it later with cf memory config.
Step 8 - Auto-approve. Opt-in hook that auto-approves safe tool calls (read-only commands), blocks destructive ones, and prompts for ambiguous operations. Uses two-tier classification: rule-based + Sonnet LLM fallback.
Step 9 - Claude permissions. Offers to apply all recommended Coding Friend permissions (Tier 1 static rules + Tier 2 plugin script rules). You choose the scope: project-level (.claude/settings.local.json) or user-level (~/.claude/settings.json). Learn directory rules are always included (pointing to ~/.coding-friend/learn/). For fine-grained control, use cf permission or see the Permissions Reference.

When .coding-friend/ already exists, cf init shows an interactive menu instead of running the wizard:

? Which setting to configure? (Use arrow keys)
❯ Docs folder [local] (docs)
  .gitignore (configured)
  Docs language [global] (en)
  /cf-learn config [local]
  Shell completion (installed)
  Statusline (configured)
  CF Memory MCP (configured)
  Auto-approve [-]
  Codex cross-engine review [-]
  Permissions (12/14 rules)
  ──────────────
  Exit

Select any item to reconfigure it, then return to the menu. Choose Exit when done.

Non-Git Directories

cf init can work outside git repos. All git-related steps are automatically skipped in that case.