Start on a project

Understand the part of the project your assignment touches.

Updated 5 Nov 2026View as markdown

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Connect your agent to Jira (MCP or acli) and the project’s Git host first, and check it can read your ticket. Every prompt in this handbook assumes it can.

1. Understand the business flow

Skill project-discovery

Codex

$neutron:project-discovery Read [Jira key or URL] through the connected Jira MCP or authenticated acli, including description, acceptance criteria and comments.
If access is unavailable, ask for pasted ticket details. Explore this project for that assignment.
Explain who uses this feature and walk through the business flow.
Show a simple flow diagram and link the relevant code and tests.
Flag unanswered business questions. Do not change code yet.

Claude Code

/project-discovery Read [Jira key or URL] through the connected Jira MCP or authenticated acli, including description, acceptance criteria and comments.
If access is unavailable, ask for pasted ticket details. Explore this project for that assignment.
Explain who uses this feature and walk through the business flow.
Show a simple flow diagram and link the relevant code and tests.
Flag unanswered business questions. Do not change code yet.

Understand who uses the feature and what they need to achieve.
Trace the business flow and identify the code your assignment touches.
Confirm unclear business rules with the person responsible for the requirement.
Post the agent’s summary and open questions as a comment on the ticket, not in the repository; the next step starts from them.

2. Run the project locally

Prompt

Set up this project locally by following its AGENTS.md, docs index and setup instructions. Use test credentials and services only.
Start the app and run the tests for [area of the change]. Report the commands you ran, tests that already fail and setup problems you could not resolve.
Do not disable checks or change application code.

Read the repository’s AGENTS.md and its docs index yourself too; they tell you and your agent how this project works.
Check that local runs cannot send real messages, issue rewards or write to production.
Note the tests that failed before your change, so they aren’t blamed on it later.

3. Choose your branch and PR target

Follow the branching strategy to choose your starting branch and target release.
Ask the agent to confirm that plan before switching branches. Keep the change and its tests on the same ticket branch.

4. Confirm access and reviewers

Confirm who clarifies the requirement, who reviews your PR, and where the project’s release runbook lives.
Give the agent development access only. Production and destructive actions need a person’s explicit go-ahead.