Quick Start

import { Aside } from ‘@astrojs/starlight/components’;

1. Initialize Lore in Your Repository

cd your-project
lore init
# Created .lore/config.toml with protocol version 1.0

This creates a .lore/config.toml file with sensible defaults. Commit it to your repo so your team shares the same configuration.

2. Make a Lore-Enriched Commit

Stage your changes normally, then use lore commit:

Interactive mode (guided prompts)

git add src/auth/interceptor.ts
lore commit -i

Flag mode (quick)

git add src/auth/interceptor.ts
lore commit \
  --intent "Add token refresh to auth interceptor" \
  --constraint "Auth service does not support introspection" \
  --rejected "Extend token TTL to 24h | security policy violation" \
  --confidence high \
  --scope-risk narrow \
  --reversibility clean

JSON mode (agent path)

git add src/auth/interceptor.ts
echo '{
  "intent": "Add token refresh to auth interceptor",
  "trailers": {
    "Constraint": ["Auth service does not support introspection"],
    "Rejected": ["Extend token TTL to 24h | security policy violation"],
    "Confidence": "high",
    "Scope-risk": "narrow",
    "Reversibility": "clean"
  }
}' | lore commit

All three modes produce the same result: a standard git commit with Lore trailers.

3. Query Decision Context

# Full context for a file
lore context src/auth/interceptor.ts

# Just the constraints
lore constraints src/auth/interceptor.ts

# What was rejected and why
lore rejected src/auth/interceptor.ts

# Forward-looking warnings
lore directives src/auth/interceptor.ts

# Why does line 47 exist?
lore why src/auth/interceptor.ts:47

4. Check for Stale Knowledge

lore stale src/auth/

This checks multiple signals: age, code drift, low confidence, expired directive hints, and orphaned dependencies.

5. Validate in CI

# Validate all commits since branching from main
lore validate --since main

Add this to your CI pipeline to enforce protocol compliance.

Next Steps

Protocol Fundamentals — Understand Lore-ids, atoms, and versioning
Trailer Vocabulary — All 12 trailer types and their semantics
CLI Commands — Complete command reference
Agent Consumption Model — How AI agents use Lore