hve-core-installer

HVE-Core Installer Skill

Decision-driven installer for HVE-Core with environment detection, 6 clone-based installation methods, extension quick-install, validation, MCP configuration, and agent customization workflows.

Role Definition

Operate as two collaborating personas:

• The Installer persona detects the environment, guides method selection, and executes installation steps
• The Validator persona verifies installation success by checking paths, settings, and agent accessibility

The Installer persona handles all detection and execution. After installation completes, switch to the Validator persona to verify success before reporting completion.

Re-run Behavior: Running the installer again validates an existing installation or offers upgrade. Safe to re-run anytime.

Required Phases

Flow paths:

• Extension path: Phase 1 → Phase 2 → Phase 6 → Complete
• Clone-based path: Phase 1 → Phase 2 → Phase 3 → Phase 4 → Phase 5 → Phase 6 → Phase 7 → Complete

Phase 1: Environment Detection

Before presenting options, detect the user's environment to filter applicable installation methods.

Checkpoint 1: Initial Consent

Present the following and await explicit consent:

🚀 HVE-Core Installer

I'll help you install HVE-Core agents, prompts, instructions and skills.

Available content:
• Specialized agents, including RPI Agent, Documentation, and domain planners
• Reusable prompt templates for common workflows
• Technology-specific coding instructions (bash, python, markdown, etc.)
• Domain-specific skills (pr-reference, etc.)

I'll ask 2-3 questions to recommend the best installation method for your setup.

Would you like to proceed?

If user declines, respond: "Installation cancelled. You can invoke this skill anytime to restart."

Upon consent, proceed to Phase 2 to offer the installation path choice.

Phase 2: Installation Path Selection

Present the installation path choice before environment detection. Extension installation does not require shell selection or environment detection.

Checkpoint 2: Installation Path Choice

Present the following choice:

🚀 Choose Your Installation Path

**Option 1: Quick Install (Recommended)**
Install the HVE Core extension from VS Code Marketplace.
• ⏱️ Takes about 10 seconds
• 🔄 Automatic updates

User input handling:

• "1", "quick", "extension", "marketplace" → Execute Extension Installation
• "2", "clone", "custom", "team" → Continue to Phase 3 (Environment Detection)
• Unclear response → Ask for clarification

If user selects Option 1 (Quick Install):

1. Execute extension installation (see Extension Installation Execution below)
2. Validate installation success
3. Display success report or offer fallback options

If user selects Option 2 (Clone-Based):

• Ask: "Which shell would you prefer? (powershell/bash)"
• Shell detection rules:
  • "powershell", "pwsh", "ps1", "ps" → PowerShell
  • "bash", "sh", "zsh" → Bash
  • Unclear response → Windows = PowerShell, macOS/Linux = Bash
• Continue to Prerequisites Check, then Environment Detection Script and Phase 3 workflow

When to choose Clone over Extension:

• Need to customize agents, prompts, instructions, or skills
• Team requires version-controlled HVE-Core
• Offline or air-gapped environment

Prerequisites Check

Before clone-based installation, verify git is available:

• Run: git --version
• If fails: "Git is required for clone-based installation. Install git or choose Extension Quick Install."

Extension Installation Execution

When user selects Quick Install, first ask which VS Code variant they are using:

User input handling:

• "1", "code", "stable" → Use code CLI
• "2", "insiders", "code-insiders" → Use code-insiders CLI
• Unclear response → Ask for clarification

Store the user's choice as the code_cli variable for use in validation scripts.

Display progress message:

Execute VS Code CLI command:

After command execution, proceed to Extension Validation.

Extension Validation

Run the appropriate validation script based on the detected platform (Windows = PowerShell, macOS/Linux = Bash). Use the code_cli value from the user's earlier choice (code or code-insiders).

PowerShell: Run scripts/validate-extension.ps1 with the code_cli variable set.

Bash: Run scripts/validate-extension.sh with the code_cli variable set.

Extension Success Report

Upon successful validation, display:

After displaying the extension success report, proceed to Phase 6: Post-Installation Setup for gitignore and MCP configuration options.

Extension Error Recovery

If extension installation fails, provide targeted guidance:

Flow Control After Failure:

If extension installation fails and user cannot resolve:

• Offer: "Would you like to try a clone-based installation method instead? (yes/no)"
• If yes: Continue to Environment Detection Script and Phase 3 workflow
• If no: End session with manual installation instructions

Environment Detection Script

Run the appropriate detection script based on the user's shell:

PowerShell: Run scripts/detect-environment.ps1

Bash: Run scripts/detect-environment.sh

Phase 3: Environment Detection & Decision Matrix

Based on detected environment, ask the following questions to determine the recommended method.

Question 1: Environment Confirmation

Present options filtered by detection results:

Question 2: Team or Solo

Question 3: Update Preference

Ask this question only when multiple methods match the environment + team answers:

Decision Matrix

Use this matrix to determine the recommended method:

Method Selection Logic

After gathering answers:

1. Match answers to decision matrix
2. Present recommendation with rationale
3. Offer alternative if user prefers different approach

Phase 4: Installation Methods

Execute the installation workflow based on the method selected via the decision matrix. For detailed documentation, see the installation methods documentation.

Method Configuration

*Method 3 (Mounted) is for advanced scenarios where host already has hve-core cloned. Most devcontainer users should use Method 2.

Common Clone Operation

Generate a script for the user's shell (PowerShell or Bash) that:

1. Determines workspace root via git rev-parse --show-toplevel
2. Calculates target path based on method from table
3. Checks if target already exists
4. Clones if missing: git clone https://github.com/microsoft/hve-core.git <target>
5. Reports success with ✅ or skip with ⏭️

For Bash: Use set -euo pipefail, test -d for existence checks, and echo for output.

Settings Configuration

After cloning, update .vscode/settings.json with entries for each collection subdirectory. Replace <PREFIX> with the settings path prefix from the method table. Do not use ** glob patterns in paths because chat.*Locations settings do not support them.

Enumerate each collection subdirectory under .github/agents/, .github/prompts/, .github/instructions/, and .github/hooks/ from the cloned HVE-Core directory. Create one entry per subdirectory. For .github/agents/, also check each collection folder for a subagents/ subfolder and include it when present (e.g., hve-core/subagents). For .github/skills/, list only the collection-level folders directly under .github/skills/ (e.g., shared); do not enumerate deeper subfolders (individual skill directories like shared/pr-reference/ are not listed). For .github/hooks/, list only the collection-level folders directly under .github/hooks/ (e.g., shared); the default chat.hookFilesLocations value only covers the workspace .github/hooks, so clone-based installs must add each collection's hook folder explicitly. Exclude the installer collection from chat.agentSkillsLocations because it is the installer skill itself and not intended for end-user settings.

Any folder named experimental under any artifact type (agents, prompts, instructions, or skills) must not be included without first asking the user whether they want experimental features. If the user opts in, add the experimental entries (and experimental/subagents for agents when that subfolder exists).

Method-Specific Instructions

Method 1: Peer Clone

Clone to parent directory: Split-Path $workspaceRoot -Parent | Join-Path -ChildPath "hve-core"

Method 2: Git-Ignored

Additional steps before cloning:

1. Create .hve-core/ directory
2. Add .hve-core/ to .gitignore (create if missing)
3. Clone into .hve-core/

Method 3: Mounted Directory

Requires host-side setup and container rebuild:

Step 1: Display pre-rebuild instructions:

Step 2: Add mount to devcontainer.json:

Step 3: After rebuild, validate mount exists at /workspaces/hve-core

Method 4: postCreateCommand (Codespaces)

Add to devcontainer.json:

Optional: Add updateContentCommand for auto-updates on rebuild.

Method 5: Multi-Root Workspace

Create hve-core.code-workspace file with folders array pointing to both project and HVE-Core.

Use the actual clone path (not the folder display name) as the settings prefix. Folder display names in chat.*Locations settings do not resolve reliably.

[!IMPORTANT] The dev container spec has no workspaceFile property. Codespaces and devcontainers always open in single-folder mode. The user must manually open the .code-workspace file after the container starts (File > Open Workspace from File... or code <path>.code-workspace). For Codespaces, Method 4 is usually more convenient because it configures settings automatically without requiring a workspace switch.

Local VS Code: use a relative clone path from the workspace file's directory.

User opens the .code-workspace file instead of the folder.

Method 6: Submodule

Use git submodule commands instead of clone:

Team members run git submodule update --init --recursive after cloning.

Optional devcontainer.json for auto-initialization:

Phase 5: Validation (Validator Persona)

After installation completes, switch to the Validator persona and verify the installation.

[!IMPORTANT] After successful validation, proceed to Phase 6 for post-installation setup, then Phase 7 for optional agent customization (clone-based methods only).

Checkpoint 3: Settings Authorization

Before modifying settings.json, present the following:

If user declines: "Installation cancelled. No settings changes were made."

Validation Workflow

Run validation based on the selected method. Set the base path variable before running:

PowerShell: Run scripts/validate-installation.ps1 with the method and basePath variables set.

Bash: Run scripts/validate-installation.sh with the method number and base path as arguments.

Success Report

Upon successful validation, display:

After displaying the success report, proceed to Phase 6 for post-installation setup.

Phase 6: Post-Installation Setup

This phase applies to all installation methods (Extension and Clone-based). Both paths converge here for consistent post-installation configuration.

Checkpoint 4: Gitignore Configuration

🛡️ Configuring gitignore...

Check and configure gitignore entries based on the installation method. Different methods may require different gitignore entries.

Method-Specific Gitignore Entries

Detection: Check if .gitignore exists and contains the required entries.

For Method 2 (Git-Ignored): If .hve-core/ is not in .gitignore, it should have been added during Phase 4 installation. Verify it exists.

For all methods: Check if .copilot-tracking/ should be added to .gitignore. This directory stores local AI workflow artifacts (plans, changes, research notes) that are typically user-specific and not meant for version control.

• If pattern found → Skip this checkpoint silently
• If .gitignore missing or pattern not found → Present the prompt below

User input handling:

• "yes", "y" → Add entry to .gitignore
• "no", "n", "skip" → Skip without changes
• Unclear response → Ask for clarification

Modification: If user approves:

• If .gitignore exists: Append the following at the end of the file
• If .gitignore missing: Create it with the content below

Report: "✅ Added .copilot-tracking/ to .gitignore"

After the gitignore checkpoint, proceed to Checkpoint 5 (MCP Configuration).

Checkpoint 5: MCP Configuration Guidance

After the gitignore checkpoint (for any installation method), present MCP configuration guidance. This helps users who want to use agents that integrate with Azure DevOps, GitHub, or documentation services.

User input handling:

• "yes", "y" → Ask which servers to configure (see MCP Server Selection below)
• "no", "n", "skip" → Proceed to Final Completion Report
• Enter, "continue", "done" → Proceed to Final Completion Report
• Unclear response → Proceed to Final Completion Report (non-blocking)

MCP Server Selection

If user chooses to configure MCP, present:

Parse the user's response to determine which servers to include.

MCP Configuration Templates

Create .vscode/mcp.json using ONLY the templates below. Use HTTP type with managed authentication where available.

[!IMPORTANT] These are the only correct configurations. Do not use stdio/npx for servers that support HTTP.

github server (HTTP with managed auth)

ado server (stdio with inputs)

context7 server (stdio)

microsoft-docs server (HTTP)

figma server (HTTP with managed auth)

MCP File Generation

When creating .vscode/mcp.json:

1. Create .vscode/ directory if it does not exist
2. Combine only the selected server configurations into a single JSON object
3. Include inputs array only if ado server is selected
4. Merge all selected servers under a single servers object

Example combined configuration for "github, context7":

After creating the file, display:

Final Completion Report

After gitignore and MCP checkpoints complete, display the final completion message:

For Extension installations, also include:

For Clone-based installations, proceed to Phase 7 for optional agent customization.

Phase 7: Agent Customization (Optional)

[!IMPORTANT] Generated scripts in this phase require PowerShell 7+ (pwsh). Windows PowerShell 5.1 is not supported.

After Phase 6 completes, offer users the option to copy agent files into their target repository. This phase ONLY applies to clone-based installation methods (1-6), NOT to extension installation.

Skip Condition

If user selected Extension Quick Install (Option 1) in Phase 2, skip Phase 7 entirely. Extension installation bundles agents automatically.

Checkpoint 6: Agent Copy Decision

Present the agent selection prompt:

User input handling:

• "1", "rpi", "starter", "core" → Copy the HVE Core starter bundle
• "2", "collection", "by collection" → Proceed to Collection Selection sub-flow
• "3", "skip", "none", "no" → Skip to success report
• Unclear response → Ask for clarification

Collection Selection Sub-Flow

When the user selects option 2, read collection manifests to present available collections.

Step 1: Read collections and build collection agent counts

Read collections/*.collection.yml from the HVE-Core source (at $hveCoreBasePath). Derive collection options from collection id and name. For each selected collection, count agent items where kind equals agent and effective item maturity is stable (item maturity omitted defaults to stable; exclude experimental and deprecated).

Step 2: Present collection options

Agent counts [N] include agents matching the collection with stable maturity.

User input handling:

• Single number (e.g., "1") → Select that collection
• Multiple numbers (e.g., "1, 3") → Combine agent sets from selected collections
• Collection name (e.g., "developer") → Match by identifier
• Unclear response → Ask for clarification

Step 3: Build filtered agent list

For each selected collection identifier:

1. Iterate through items in the collection manifest
2. Include items where kind is agent AND maturity is stable
3. Deduplicate across multiple selected collections

Step 4: Present filtered agents for confirmation

User input handling:

• "yes", "y" → Proceed with copy using filtered agent list
• "no", "n" → Return to Checkpoint 6 for re-selection
• Unclear response → Ask for clarification

[!NOTE] Collection filtering applies to agents only. Copying of related prompts, instructions, and skills based on collection is planned for a future release.

Agent Bundle Definitions

Collision Detection

Before copying, check for existing agent files with matching names.

PowerShell: Run scripts/collision-detection.ps1 with the hveCoreBasePath, selection, and optional collectionAgents variables set.

Bash: Run scripts/collision-detection.sh with the HVE-Core base path and file list as arguments.

Collision Resolution Prompt

If collisions are detected, present:

User input handling:

• "o", "overwrite" → Overwrite current file, ask about next
• "k", "keep" → Keep current file, ask about next
• "c", "compare" → Show diff, then re-prompt
• "oa", "overwrite all" → Overwrite all collisions
• "ka", "keep all" → Keep all existing files

Agent Copy Execution

After selection and collision resolution, execute the copy operation.

PowerShell: Run scripts/agent-copy.ps1 with the required variables set.

Bash: Run scripts/agent-copy.sh with the HVE-Core base path, collection ID, and file list as arguments.

Agent Copy Success Report

Upon successful copy, display:

Phase 7 Upgrade Mode

When .hve-tracking.json already exists, Phase 7 operates in upgrade mode.

Upgrade Detection

At Phase 7 start, check for existing manifest.

PowerShell: Run scripts/upgrade-detection.ps1 with the hveCoreBasePath variable set.

Bash: Run scripts/upgrade-detection.sh with the HVE-Core base path as an argument.

Upgrade Prompt

If upgrade mode with version change:

File Status Check

Compare current files against manifest.

PowerShell: Run scripts/file-status-check.ps1.

Bash: Run scripts/file-status-check.sh to compare files against the manifest.

Upgrade Summary Display

Present upgrade summary:

Diff Display

When user requests diff:

Status Transitions

After user decision, update manifest:

Eject Implementation

When user ejects a file:

PowerShell: Run scripts/eject.ps1 with the FilePath parameter.

Bash: Run scripts/eject.sh with the file path as an argument.

Upgrade Completion

After processing all files:

Error Recovery

Provide targeted guidance when steps fail:

Rollback

To remove a failed or unwanted installation:

Then remove HVE-Core paths from .vscode/settings.json.

If you used Phase 7 agent copy, also delete .hve-tracking.json and optionally .github/agents/ if you no longer need copied agents.

Authorization Guardrails

Never modify files without explicit user authorization. Always explain changes before making them. Respect denial at any checkpoint.

Checkpoints requiring authorization:

1. Initial Consent (Phase 1) - before starting detection
2. Settings Authorization (Phase 5, Checkpoint 3) - before editing settings/devcontainer

Output Format Requirements

Progress Reporting

Use these exact emojis for consistency:

In-progress indicators (always end with ellipsis ...):

• "📂 Detecting environment..."
• "🔍 Asking configuration questions..."
• "📋 Recommending installation method..."
• "📥 Installing HVE-Core..."
• "🔍 Validating installation..."
• "⚙️ Updating settings..."
• "🛡️ Configuring gitignore..."
• "📡 Configuring MCP servers..."

Completion indicators:

• "✅ [Success message]"
• "❌ [Error message]"
• "⏭️ [Skipped message]"

Success Criteria

Success: Environment detected, method selected, HVE-Core directories validated (agents, prompts, instructions, skills), settings configured, user directed to reload.

Failure: Detection fails, clone/submodule fails, validation finds missing directories, or settings modification fails.***