preflight

<p align="center">
  <img src="docs/logo.svg" alt="Preflight" width="100">
</p>

<h1 align="center">Preflight</h1>

<p align="center">
  <strong>Think before you build.</strong> A universal protocol that makes AI coding agents design before they code.
  <br><br>
  <a href="https://agentguardhq.github.io/preflight">Website</a> &middot;
  <a href="PROTOCOL.md">Protocol Spec</a> &middot;
  <a href="https://github.com/chitinhq/preflight/releases/tag/v1.0.0">v1.0.0</a>
</p>

Preflight defines 5 mandatory phases every agent completes before writing code: **Orient, Clarify, Approach, Confirm, Execute.** It works with any AI coding agent — no runtime, no API key, one file.

## Why

AI coding agents jump straight to implementation. They write code before reading the codebase, skip exploring alternatives, and don't confirm intent. This wastes tokens, produces wrong solutions, and creates rework.

Preflight fixes this with a lightweight prompt-based protocol that works across every major agent driver.

## Quick Start

### Auto-detect and install

```bash
bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chitinhq/preflight/main/install.sh)
```

The installer detects which AI agent drivers you use and copies the appropriate config file.

### Install for a specific driver

```bash
bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chitinhq/preflight/main/install.sh) --driver claude-code
```

### Manual install

Copy the driver file for your agent into your project:

| Driver | Copy this file | To this location |
|--------|----------------|------------------|
| Claude Code | `drivers/claude-code/preflight.md` | `.cursor/commands/preflight.md` |
| Codex (OpenAI) | `drivers/codex/AGENTS.md` | Append to `AGENTS.md` |
| Cursor CLI | `drivers/cursor/CLAUDE.md` | Append to `CLAUDE.md` |
| Goose | `drivers/goose/.goosehints` | Append to `.goosehints` |
| GitHub Copilot | `drivers/cursor/.github/cursor-instructions.md` | Append to `.github/cursor-instructions.md` |
| Cursor | `drive