created: 2026-04-06 updated: 2026-04-06

Lab OS

Lab OS is the canonical GitHub seed for AI-native engineering environments.

It extends normal CI/CD and Agile delivery with:

• explicit architecture and function-contract governance
• durable knowledge graph conventions
• reproducible lab scaffolding for teams using different AI systems

This repository is released as a GitHub source seed and as an npm package (lab-os). The initialized lab tarball remains the primary artifact for teams that want a copy-paste bundle without installing from a registry.

Concept: lab, meta-lab, plant, plan, sprout

A lab is your workspace: the governed environment that wraps experiments, delivery, and how you work with AI—not only a folder of files, but intent, evidence, and rules bound to a root. Plant the seed at that root (tarball, init, or toolkit); plan with your AI (structure, diagrams, unknowns) before you build; then sprout so the lab pattern binds to the folder and becomes how you operate. Sprouting is practically irreversible (no automated un-sprout—restructure manually if needed). Sprouting wraps the project with that layer the way a decorator wraps behavior: additive governance and clarity without dictating one app stack.

This repository (lab-os-lab) is both the tooling that ships seeds and a meta-lab: an exemplar of the same ideas while authoring releases. Canonical terms: docs/60-reference/FOUNDATIONS_VOCABULARY.md. Adoption path: docs/30-runbooks/ADOPTION_GUIDE.md.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• npm 10+

Project structure

lab-os-lab/
  docs/
  schema/
  template/
    docs/          # optional companion stubs copied into initialized labs (see LAB_CONTRACT)
    root/          # README.md + AGENTS.md merged to target root on init (optional companions)
    .ai/           # harness namespace (skills, rules, .cursor/) copied into initialized labs
  scripts/
  examples/
  tests/

When you initialize a lab at another root, init copies README.md and AGENTS.md (from template/agnostic/root/ by default), docs/README.md and docs/project-structure.md, and .ai/ (harness namespace), as recommended companions to .lab/* (default; use --knowledge-dir lab for lab/*); they are optional for validate (see docs/10-architecture/LAB_CONTRACT.md). Other archetypes use template/product-starter/ or template/meta/ via --template or lab-os create. Consumer playbook: docs/30-runbooks/SEED_STARTUP_RUNBOOK.md.

npm package

The registry ships one package, lab-os, with the full CLI (including create for archetype selection). There is no separate initializer package—use npx lab-os@latest … or install globally as below.

Install the toolkit from the public registry and use the lab-os CLI (same behavior as the npm scripts):

npm install -g lab-os
lab-os lab-init ./.tmp/quickstart-lab
lab-os lab-verify

Or run without a global install:

npx lab-os@latest init ./my-lab
npx lab-os@latest create --yes --template agnostic --target ./my-lab
npx lab-os@latest validate --target ./my-lab

Run npx lab-os@latest create with no flags for an interactive archetype picker (agnostic, product-starter, or meta). In CI or scripts, pass --yes together with --template and --target, or set LAB_OS_CREATE_NONINTERACTIVE=1.

Relative targets (for example ./my-lab) are resolved from your shell’s current directory, not from the installed package path under node_modules.

Publishing, semver policy, and registry governance are documented under docs/40-release/ (see NPM_REGISTRY_GOVERNANCE.md, SEMVER_POLICY.md) and ADR docs/50-adr/ADR-0001-package-boundaries-and-npm-distribution.md.

Start here: initialized lab tarball (primary release path)

Create the release artifact:

npm run lab:tar -- v0.2.0

This creates:

• .tmp/release-artifacts/lab-starter-v0.2.0.tar.gz
• .tmp/release-artifacts/lab-starter-v0.2.0.tar.gz.sha256

End-user setup from tarball:

tar -xzf lab-starter-v0.2.0.tar.gz
cd lab-starter-v0.2.0
npm run validate -- --target .
npm run promote -- --target . --to poc

Source seed path (advanced/custom seed authoring)

npm install
npm run lab:init
npm run lab:verify

By default, npm run lab:init targets ./.tmp/quickstart-lab. You can pass a custom target:

npm run lab:init -- ./my-lab

Quick start (explicit CLI equivalent)

npm install
npm run init -- --target ./.tmp/quickstart-lab
npm run validate -- --target ./.tmp/quickstart-lab
npm run promote -- --target ./.tmp/quickstart-lab --to poc
npm run lab:verify

Cursor shortcut (optional)

Use /lab-init in Cursor to run the conversation-first workflow: design and tailor a project (ASCII tree, Mermaid, sprout handoff) before any scaffolding; optional sprout includes Lab OS seed commands when you choose that mode. See .cursor/skills/lab-init/SKILL.md. All npm paths above work without Cursor.

Expected command output

• npm run init prints Lab initialized at: ...
• npm run validate prints Validation passed for: ...
• npm run promote prints Stage promoted to: ...
• npm run lab:init prints [lab:init] complete: ...
• npm run lab:verify prints [lab:verify] complete

Validation matrix

Run this before opening or merging release PRs:

npm test
npm run validate -- --target ./examples/minimal-lab
npm run validate -- --target ./examples/hybrid-governance-lab

Promotion checks should run against a temporary target to avoid mutating checked-in examples.

Release model

• GitHub: source release, GitHub Releases, initialized lab tarball (optional primary for air-gapped or non-registry workflows).
• npm: public package lab-os from tag v*.*.* (see docs/40-release/NPM_REGISTRY_GOVERNANCE.md, CI workflows npm-dry-run / npm-publish).

See docs/40-release/MIGRATION_CHECKLIST.md for release sequencing and docs/90-backlog/PHASE2_PACKAGE_MANAGER_BACKLOG.md for package-manager history and status.

Troubleshooting

• Validation failed: Missing required artifact: run npm run init -- --target <your-lab-path> again.
• Schema mismatch: open <target>/lab.yaml and align fields with schema/lab.schema.json.
• Promotion failed: Target stage must be higher...: choose the next maturity stage (experiment -> poc -> pilot -> production).