didactyl/docs/GENESIS.md

Didactyl — Genesis Bootstrapping

See also: CONTEXT.md · SKILLS.md · README.md

Purpose

genesis.jsonc is the first-run bootstrap document for a Didactyl agent.

It defines initial identity, admin policy, startup events, default skill context, and baseline runtime settings so the agent can publish itself onto Nostr.

After bootstrap, the long-term direction is nsec-only startup with state recovered from Nostr events.

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File Format

genesis.jsonc is JSONC (JSON + comments).

Minimum practical sections:

• key.nsec (or runtime --nsec / DIDACTYL_NSEC)
• admin.pubkey
• llm
• startup_events (must include kind 10002 relay tags)

Typical optional sections:

• dm_protocol
• tools
• security
• admin_context
• api
• default_skill (reserved for default-skill publishing workflows)

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First-Run Flow

On first run, the agent:

1. Loads genesis.jsonc.
2. Derives keys (from key.nsec or runtime nsec override).
3. Connects to relay set from startup kind 10002 tags.
4. Publishes/reconciles startup events.
5. Initializes runtime services (DM subscriptions, triggers, API if enabled).

First-run detection is based on querying own kind 10002 relay-list availability.

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Subsequent-Run Flow

On subsequent runs, the agent can start with nsec supplied via:

• CLI: --nsec <nsec_or_hex>
• Environment: DIDACTYL_NSEC

Optional runtime API overrides:

• --api-port <port>
• --api-bind <address>

Subsequent-run bootstrap-event republishing is skipped when prior kind 10002 state is found.

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Interactive Setup (Zero-Argument Startup)

When Didactyl is run with no arguments:

./didactyl

it enters an interactive setup wizard instead of immediately trying to load ./genesis.jsonc.

Wizard entry choices:

• New agent — generate/provide identity, configure admin + LLM + relays
• Existing agent — provide nsec and recover relay/admin/LLM config from Nostr
• Load genesis — load a specified genesis file path

Menu UX conventions:

• Single-letter hotkeys (case-insensitive)
• First-letter menu mnemonics (e.g., N for New, E for Existing)
• q / x exits or backs out of menus

Security behavior:

• nsec entry is masked in terminal
• writing genesis with nsec is explicit and warned
• recommended export mode is genesis without nsec plus runtime --nsec/DIDACTYL_NSEC

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Encrypted Config Events

Didactyl exposes config persistence tools for encrypted self-config on Nostr:

• config_store — publish encrypted kind 30078 config by d_tag
• config_recall — query+decrypt kind 30078 config by d_tag

Recommended tags:

• d=llm_config
• d=agent_config

These are encrypted to self with NIP-44.

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Relay Bootstrap Strategy

startup_events must include kind 10002 relay tags (["r", "wss://..."]).

That relay list is used as the initial network attachment for querying existing state and publishing startup events.

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Migration Notes (Legacy -> Genesis)

Legacy deployments using config.jsonc can migrate by:

1. Copying equivalent sections to genesis.jsonc.
2. Ensuring startup kind 10002 relay tags are present.
3. Providing nsec at runtime (--nsec or DIDACTYL_NSEC) where desired.
4. Treating context_template.md / config.jsonc.example as legacy references.

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Security Notes

• Keep nsec secret.
• Prefer environment or secure credential injection for production nsec handling.
• Avoid publishing plaintext sensitive config; use encrypted config_store for long-term state.