compass single-environment mode for plain clones

Table of Contents

This page is a capture in the inbox bucket of the product backlog — a pre-sprint idea, not yet pulled into a sprint as a story.

What

When a user clones the repo into any directory (e.g. ~/OreStudio) without following the ores_dev_prime_origin genesis convention, compass should auto-detect the "single environment" mode and suppress all multi-worktree concepts. In this mode: compass bearings shows no genesis warning and no fleet section; compass fleet reports just the current checkout with a note that fleet mode is inactive; compass env provision is hidden or warns that it requires a genesis env to operate; and compass bearings guides the user through the simple clone → configure → build path without mentioning worktrees. The mode is detected heuristically — the checkout name does not match ores_dev_* and no sibling ores_dev_* directories exist in the parent — and requires no user configuration.

Why

The genesis/worktree model is designed for power users managing multiple parallel environments. Regular contributors (open-source users, occasional contributors, CI agents) just want to clone, build, and work. Surfacing genesis warnings, fleet sections, and worktree provisioning commands to them creates noise and confusion. A single-environment mode makes compass approachable for the common case while keeping the full fleet model available for those who opt into it by following the naming convention.

References

  • Current genesis detection added in projects/ores.compass/src/compass.py cmd_bearings() (sprint 21, task 27985F41): the fresh-clone branch could be extended to set a mode flag.
  • compass fleet in compass.py — currently shows all worktrees unconditionally.
  • Detection heuristic: check PROJECT_ROOT.name.startswith("ores_dev_") and any(p.name.startswith("ores_dev_") for p in PROJECT_ROOT.parent.iterdir()).

See also

Emacs 29.1 (Org mode 9.6.6)