@newdara/preset-cto

CTO-level engineering discipline for AI agents. Enforce best practices, prevent technical debt, and ship with confidence.

Arela packages 22 CTO-level rules, 9 workflows, auto-activation hooks, multi-agent orchestration, and a global learning system that shares knowledge across all your projects.

What's New in v1.3.0 🚀

Multi-Agent Orchestration! Organize tickets by agent (Codex, Claude, DeepSeek, local models), track status automatically, and save 72-99% on AI costs.

# First project
cd project-1
npx arela setup
git commit  # ❌ Missing API tests
# Saved to ~/.arela/

# Second project (learns!)
cd project-2
npx arela setup
# 🤖 Apply pattern: Require API tests? [Y/n]

Quick Start

One command to rule them all:

npx @newdara/preset-cto@latest setup

This interactive wizard handles: git init → install preset → arela init → husky hooks → CI → baseline → RAG → learning system.

Fast flags:

npx @newdara/preset-cto@latest setup --yes                    # accept all defaults
npx @newdara/preset-cto@latest setup --non-interactive --yes  # CI mode
npx @newdara/preset-cto@latest setup --skip-rag --skip-ci     # skip optional steps

Documentation

• 📖 GETTING-STARTED.md - For non-technical users
• 🔄 FLOW.md - Visual setup flow and decision tree
• 📚 SETUP.md - Complete technical documentation
• ⚡ QUICKSTART.md - Command reference
• 🧠 AUTO-ACTIVATION.md - Auto-activation system
• 🌐 BROWSER-AUTOMATION.md - QA testing with Stagehand
• 🔍 RAG.md - Local semantic search

Learning System

Arela learns from your violations and shares knowledge across projects:

Commands

npx arela patterns           # View learned patterns
npx arela check-updates      # Check for new version
npx arela sync               # Sync updates + patterns
npx arela export-patterns    # Share with team
npx arela import-patterns    # Import team patterns
npx arela projects           # List all projects

How It Works

1. Tracks violations - Every arela doctor failure is recorded in ~/.arela/config.json
2. Detects patterns - Recurring violations become learned patterns
3. Applies to new projects - Patterns auto-suggest in new repos
4. Safe updates - Your data in ~/.arela/ never touched by package updates
5. Team sharing - Export/import patterns across team

Data Architecture

~/.arela/                    ← Global (your learning data)
├── config.json              ← Patterns, violations, projects
└── custom-rules/            ← Your custom rules

node_modules/@newdara/       ← Package (updated by npm)
└── preset-cto/templates/    ← Base rules

.arela/                      ← Project (merged)
├── rules/                   ← Base rules
└── custom/                  ← Your overrides (safe!)

Manual Setup

pnpm add -D @newdara/preset-cto
npx arela init
npx arela harden
npx arela doctor

Non-Negotiables

Arela enforces three guardrails on every run and fails CI if they drift:

• Context integrity (arela.context_integrity) to ensure every prompt ships with valid front-matter.
• Ticket schema (arela.ticket_format) so every change request links back to real work.
• Review gates (arela.code_review_gates) that block merges without dual sign-off.

Postinstall Opt-Out

The preset auto-initializes .arela/ during pnpm i. When bootstrapping tooling or vendoring the preset, skip that behavior by exporting ARELA_SKIP_POSTINSTALL=1 pnpm add -D @arela/preset-cto.

Local Overrides

Drop *.local.md files next to preset rules or workflows to document overrides. The CLI never overwrites those files during sync or upgrade operations.

CI Example

# .github/workflows/arela-doctor.yml
name: Arela Doctor
on: [pull_request]
jobs:
  doctor:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: pnpm/action-setup@v4
      - run: pnpm i
      - run: npx arela doctor