---

name: foundation-sync description: "Bidirectional sync between a fork project and Foundation_template using git subtree. Pull canonical skills/agents/lessons into the fork, or push contributions back. Use when Caleb says 'run foundation-sync pull/push/status'." argument-hint: "<pull|push|status|init> [local-project-path]" allowed-tools: Read, Write, Glob, Bash(git checkout:), Bash(git branch:), Bash(git remote show origin:), Bash(git add:), Bash(git commit:), Bash(git push:), Bash(git log:), Bash(git diff:), Bash(git stash:), Bash(git pull:), Bash(git fetch:), Bash(git subtree:), Bash(git remote add:), Bash(git remote -v:), Bash(gh api:), Bash(cat:), Bash(ls:), Bash(tree:), Bash(diff:*)

Foundation Sync (git subtree)

Bidirectional sync between a fork project and Foundation_template using git subtree.

Why git subtree (not file-copy)

The previous file-copy approach silently overwrote fork customizations on every pull ("drop, log, continue"). Git subtree uses real 3-way merge — fork edits and upstream changes merge automatically when they don't conflict, and surface as standard git merge conflicts when they do. No more silent data loss.

Usage

EDI, run foundation-sync init [local-project-path]   # first-time setup
EDI, run foundation-sync pull [local-project-path]    # pull upstream changes
EDI, run foundation-sync push [local-project-path]    # push contributions back
EDI, run foundation-sync status [local-project-path]  # show sync state

Concepts

• Foundation_template: The upstream template repo (https://github.com/Echo8Lore/Foundation_template.git)
• Fork (local project): A project that uses Foundation_template's skills/agents
• Subtree prefix: .foundation/ — a directory in the fork containing synced Foundation_template content
• Pull: git subtree pull — merges upstream changes into .foundation/, preserving fork edits
• Push: git subtree push — extracts .foundation/ commits back to Foundation_template

Why two sync channels?

git subtree push only transmits content inside its --prefix. Contributions at the root level (e.g., skills/contributions/) are invisible to a subtree push with --prefix=.foundation.

The solution: two subtree prefixes, two contribution channels.

| What | Where it lives | Pushed via | |------|----------------|------------| | Canonical content | .foundation/ | git subtree push --prefix=.foundation | | Fork contributions | skills/contributions/ (root) | git subtree push --prefix=skills/contributions |

Both run on every push. Each uses a SEPARATE subtree prefix and pushes to a SEPARATE contribution branch. The PR merges both.

Rule: Fork contributions MUST live in skills/contributions/ (root). They will NOT be picked up by .foundation/ subtree operations.

Sync Contract

| Direction | Mechanism | What syncs | Conflict handling | |-----------|-----------|-----------|-------------------| | Foundation → Fork | git subtree pull | Everything under .foundation/ | Git 3-way merge; conflicts surface for manual resolution | | Fork → Foundation | Two subtree pushes | .foundation/ + skills/contributions/ | Both pushed to contrib/<project> branch for review |

Portability Check (BL-013)

Foundation_template content must be project-agnostic. Both directions scan for project-specific language.

On push (blocks): Before pushing, scan .foundation/ for the fork's project name. If found, STOP — fix before pushing.

On pull (warns): After pulling, scan .foundation/ for all known fork project names from projects.json. If found, WARN — this means Foundation_template has leaked project-specific language upstream. Report it but don't block (the fork still needs the update).

# Build list of known fork names from projects.json
fork_names = [entry.name for entry in projects.json]

grep -ri "<fork-name-1>\|<fork-name-2>\|..." .foundation/

---

init — First-Time Setup

Run this once per fork to establish the subtree relationship.

Step 0 — Resolve project path

if [local-project-path not provided]:
  use current directory
else if [path exists]:
  cd to that path
else:
  ERROR: Project path not found
  STOP

Step 1 — Check preconditions

# Must be a git repo
if [not a git repo]:
  ERROR: Not a git repository
  STOP

# Must not already have .foundation/
if [.foundation/ exists]:
  ERROR: .foundation/ already exists — subtree already initialized.
  Hint: Use 'pull' to update, not 'init'.
  STOP

# Must have clean working tree
if [git status shows uncommitted changes]:
  WARN: Dirty working tree. Stash or commit first.
  STOP

Step 2 — Add Foundation remote

# Check if remote already exists
existing = git remote -v | grep Foundation_template

if [not exists]:
  git remote add foundation https://github.com/Echo8Lore/Foundation_template.git
  git fetch foundation
else:
  echo "Remote 'foundation' already configured."
  git fetch foundation

Step 3 — Add subtree

git subtree add --prefix=.foundation foundation main --squash \
  -m "chore: init foundation subtree from Foundation_template"

--squash collapses Foundation_template history into a single merge commit, keeping fork history clean.

Step 4 — Set up local references

After the subtree is added, .foundation/ contains the full Foundation_template content:

.foundation/
├── .agent/          # agent roles, skills, AI config
├── .claude/         # Claude Code wrappers
├── skills/          # canonical skill implementations
├── CATALOG.md
├── README.md
└── ...

The fork can now:

1. Symlink from .foundation/.claude/skills/ into its own .claude/skills/ for skills it wants
2. Copy and customize specific skills (edits persist across pulls via merge)
3. Reference directly — point tool configs at .foundation/ paths

Step 5 — Update projects.json (two registries)

Fork-local registry — update the fork's own projects.json (or create it at the repo root) to track this sync:

{
  "name": "<fork-name>",
  "url": "<fork-repo-url>",
  "prefix": ".foundation",
  "remote": "foundation",
  "lastSync": "<today's date>"
}

Foundation_template registry — after the fork syncs for the first time, the fork should contribute a PR to Foundation_template adding its entry to Foundation_template/projects.json. This enables the portability check (BL-013) to detect if the fork leaks project-specific language upstream.

Why two registries? Foundation_template/projects.json must not contain fork-specific data (BL-016). It exists solely to support the portability scan — so it starts empty and is only populated when forks voluntarily add themselves. The fork's own projects.json is for local tracking and can contain fork-specific details.

Step 6 — Log and commit

Append to SYNC_LOG.md:

## YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM UTC — init
- Direction: init (git subtree add)
- Prefix: .foundation
- Remote: foundation (Foundation_template main)
- Notes: First-time subtree setup

Report: "Foundation subtree initialized at .foundation/. Use pull to get future updates."

---

pull — Pull Upstream Changes

Merge Foundation_template updates into the fork's .foundation/ directory.

Step 0 — Resolve project path

Same as init Step 0.

Step 1 — Check preconditions

# .foundation/ must exist
if [.foundation/ does not exist]:
  ERROR: No .foundation/ directory. Run 'init' first.
  STOP

# 'foundation' remote must exist
if [git remote -v does not show 'foundation']:
  ERROR: No 'foundation' remote. Run 'init' first.
  STOP

# Clean working tree required
if [git status shows uncommitted changes]:
  WARN: Dirty working tree. Stash or commit first.
  STOP

Step 2 — Fetch and show what changed

git fetch foundation

# Show what's new upstream
git log --oneline HEAD..foundation/main -- .foundation/

If no new commits: "Already up to date." STOP.

Show user the summary of incoming changes.

Step 3 — Subtree pull

git subtree pull --prefix=.foundation foundation main --squash \
  -m "chore: sync from Foundation_template $(date -u +%Y-%m-%d)"

If merge succeeds: Report files changed, continue to Step 4.

If merge conflicts:

echo "Merge conflicts detected in .foundation/:"
git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U

echo "Resolve conflicts, then run: git add <files> && git commit"
echo "After resolving, re-run 'foundation-sync pull' to verify."
STOP (do not auto-resolve — user must decide)

This is the key improvement over file-copy: conflicts are visible and user-resolved, not silently dropped.

Step 4 — Post-pull report

# Show what changed
git diff --stat HEAD~1..HEAD -- .foundation/

# Check for new skills added upstream
new_skills = diff between .foundation/skills/ listing before and after
if [new skills found]:
  echo "New skills available from Foundation_template:"
  for skill in new_skills:
    echo "  - skill (see .foundation/skills/skill/SKILL.md)"

Step 5 — Post-pull portability check (BL-013)

# Load known fork project names from projects.json (in .foundation/ or local)
fork_names = [entry.name for entry in projects.json]

# Scan pulled content for project-specific language
for name in fork_names:
  matches = grep -ri "$name" .foundation/
  if [matches found]:
    WARN: "Found references to fork project '$name' in upstream content:"
    show matches
    echo "Foundation_template may contain project-specific language."
    echo "Consider filing an issue or fixing upstream."

This is a warning, not a blocker. The fork needs the update regardless — but leaked project names in the template should be reported and fixed upstream.

Step 6 — Update sync log

Append to SYNC_LOG.md:

## YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM UTC — pull
- Direction: pull (git subtree pull)
- Prefix: .foundation
- Files changed: <count>
- New skills: <list or "none">
- Conflicts: <count or "none">
- Portability warnings: <count or "none">
- Notes: ...

Update lastSync in projects.json.

---

push — Push Contributions Back

Extract commits from .foundation/ and push to Foundation_template for review.

Step 0 — Resolve project path

Same as init Step 0.

Step 1 — Check preconditions

# .foundation/ must exist
if [.foundation/ does not exist]:
  ERROR: No .foundation/ directory. Run 'init' first.
  STOP

# 'foundation' remote must exist and user must have push access
if [git remote -v does not show 'foundation']:
  ERROR: No 'foundation' remote. Run 'init' first.
  STOP

# Clean working tree
if [git status shows uncommitted changes]:
  WARN: Dirty working tree. Stash or commit first.
  STOP

Step 2 — Portability check (BL-013)

# Get project name from git remote or directory name
project_name = basename of fork repo

# Scan for project-specific language
matches = grep -ri "$project_name" .foundation/
matches += grep -ri "hardcoded project references" .foundation/

if [matches found]:
  WARN: "Found project-specific references in .foundation/:"
  show matches
  echo "Foundation_template content must be project-agnostic."
  echo "Fix these before pushing. Aborting."
  STOP

Step 3 — Show what will be pushed

# Channel 1: .foundation/ (canonical skills/agents)
echo "=== Canonical content (.foundation/) ==="
found_commits=$(git log --oneline foundation/main..HEAD -- .foundation/)
if [ -n "$found_commits" ]; then
  echo "$found_commits"
else
  echo "No canonical content changes"
fi

# Channel 2: skills/contributions/ (fork lessons)
echo ""
echo "=== Fork contributions (skills/contributions/) ==="
contrib_commits=$(git log --oneline foundation/main..HEAD -- skills/contributions/ 2>/dev/null)
if [ -n "$contrib_commits" ]; then
  echo "$contrib_commits"
else
  echo "No contributions to push"
fi

If neither channel has commits: "Nothing to push." STOP.

Present the full list to user and wait for confirmation.

Step 4a — Push canonical content (.foundation/)

git subtree push --prefix=.foundation foundation contrib/<project-name>-canonical

If this fails: STOP and report. Do not proceed to Step 4b.

Step 4b — Push contributions (skills/contributions/)

# Only push if skills/contributions/ exists and has changes
git subtree push --prefix=skills/contributions foundation contrib/<project-name>-contrib

Important: Each channel uses a SEPARATE branch because git subtree prefixes create divergent commit histories. Pushing two prefixes to the same branch will fail with "pushed branch tip is behind its remote counterpart."

If Step 4a succeeds but 4b fails: report the failure but do NOT rollback 4a. Log separately.

Step 5 — Create combined PR

echo "Two contribution branches pushed. Creating a combined PR..."
gh pr create \
  --repo Echo8Lore/Foundation_template \
  --base main \
  --head "contrib/<project-name>-canonical" \
  --title "contrib: changes from <project-name>" \
  --body "Two channels merged from <project-name>:\
\
- contrib/<project-name>-canonical: canonical content (.foundation/)\
- contrib/<project-name>-contrib: fork contributions (skills/contributions/)\
\
Merge this PR to bring both channels into Foundation_template."

Note: GitHub only supports one head branch per PR. Create a SECOND PR for the contrib branch if you need both tracked separately, or use the Foundation_template web UI to add the second branch as a merge target.

Step 5 — Create PR (optional)

echo "Contribution branch pushed. Create a PR on Foundation_template?"
echo "(yes/no)"

if yes:
  gh pr create \
    --repo Echo8Lore/Foundation_template \
    --base main \
    --head "contrib/<project-name>" \
    --title "contrib: changes from <project-name>" \
    --body "Contributions pushed via foundation-sync from <project-name>."

Step 6 — Update sync log

Append to SYNC_LOG.md:

## YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM UTC — push
- Direction: push (two-channel subtree push)
- Channel 1 (.foundation/): <count> commits pushed
- Channel 2 (skills/contributions/): <count> commits pushed
- Branch: contrib/<project-name>
- PR: <url or "skipped">
- Notes: ...

---

status — Show Sync State

Step 0 — Resolve project path

Same as init Step 0.

Step 1 — Check subtree setup

if [.foundation/ does not exist]:
  echo "Not initialized. Run 'foundation-sync init' first."
  STOP

if [git remote -v does not show 'foundation']:
  echo "Remote 'foundation' not configured. Run 'foundation-sync init'."
  STOP

Step 2 — Fetch and compare

git fetch foundation

# Channel 1: .foundation/
incoming_canonical = git log --oneline HEAD..foundation/main -- .foundation/ (count)
outgoing_canonical = git log --oneline foundation/main..HEAD -- .foundation/ (count)

# Channel 2: skills/contributions/
if [ -d "skills/contributions/" ]; then
  outgoing_contrib = git log --oneline foundation/main..HEAD -- skills/contributions/ (count)
fi

Step 3 — Report

Foundation Sync Status
──────────────────────
Remote:     foundation (https://github.com/Echo8Lore/Foundation_template.git)
Prefix:     .foundation/  +  skills/contributions/
Last sync:  <from SYNC_LOG.md or git log>

Canonical (.foundation/):
  Incoming:   <N> commits available (run 'pull' to merge)
  Outgoing:   <N> commits to push

Contributions (skills/contributions/):
  Outgoing:   <N> commits to push
  Status:     <present or "not initialized">

Skills in .foundation/:
  - <list skills with counts>

Local customizations (files in .foundation/ modified since last pull):
  - <list or "none">

---

Migration from File-Copy

For forks currently using the old file-copy sync:

1. Commit all pending changes in the fork
2. Run foundation-sync init — this adds .foundation/ via subtree
3. Compare old skill locations (.claude/skills/, .agent/skills/) with .foundation/ equivalents
4. Decide per-skill:
   • Unmodified: Delete local copy, symlink to .foundation/ equivalent
   • Customized: Keep local copy; .foundation/ serves as reference for future upstream changes
5. Update .gitignore if needed (.foundation/ should be tracked)
6. Commit the migration

The old contributions/ directory workflow is replaced by commits to .foundation/ + push.

---

Error Handling

| Scenario | Action | |----------|--------| | Merge conflict on pull | Surface conflict, user resolves manually — never auto-drop | | Push rejected (no access) | Report error, suggest fork + PR workflow | | Push rejected (diverged) | Suggest pull first, then retry push | | Dirty working tree | Warn, suggest stash or commit, stop | | .foundation/ missing | Direct to init | | Remote missing | Direct to init | | Network failure | Report and stop (do not proceed with stale data) |

---

Sync Log

All sync events are appended to SYNC_LOG.md in the local project:

## YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM UTC — [init|pull|push]
- Direction: ...
- Prefix: .foundation
- Files changed: ...
- Conflicts: ...
- Notes: ...