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Engineering Docs installs with a single npx command and is ready to use the moment your agent session starts. This page walks you through installing the plugin for your agent of choice, understanding the interactive installer menu, and triggering the orchestrator skill with your first project idea.

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Install the plugin

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Flag-based install (skip the menu)

If you already know your platform, pass a flag to install directly without the interactive prompt:
All agent config files (AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, GEMINI.md, COPILOT.md, GOOSE.md, PI.md) use safe-write: if a config file already exists at the destination, the installer skips it and logs skipped <file> (already exists - your customization preserved). Your custom instructions are never overwritten.

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Platform-specific install commands

Some agent platforms have their own install mechanisms outside of npx:

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Run your first skill

Once the plugin is loaded, give your agent a project idea in plain language — the orchestrator skill (using-engineering-docs) activates automatically and takes it from there.

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What gets created

All output lands in a .engineering-docs/ folder at your project root. The structure follows the document sequence:
.engineering-docs/
Greenfield vs. brownfield detection is automatic. If a .engineering-docs/ folder with an index.md already exists, or if your prompt mentions “add a feature,” “extend,” or “modify,” the orchestrator enters Mode B (brownfield) — it reads your existing documents first and only runs the skills relevant to the change, never overwriting prior history. New documents are appended to the sequence.

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Use a single skill directly

Every skill is independently callable. If you already have partial documentation and just need one artifact, invoke a skill by name:
Direct skill invocation (example)
Standalone mode skips the full orchestration pipeline and runs only the interview and generation for that one skill.

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Next Steps

How It Works

Explore the six-phase pipeline, greenfield vs. brownfield detection, and how context loading eliminates repeated questions.

Introduction

See the complete skills library, custom agents, and full platform compatibility table.