#FAQ

#Is CodingScaffold a coding agent?

No. It is a scaffold that prepares a project for coding agents, model guidance, team knowledge, policy, and onboarding. It is not a replacement for Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Cursor, Copilot, Hermes, or Pi.

#Do I need an LLM for the first start?

No. Setup, hardware probe, credential templates, adapter generation, and tools select-model recommendations work without calling a model. You need an LLM only when a coding tool such as OpenCode or OpenClaude starts an actual agent session.

#What should I run first?

Run coding-scaffold doctor --target .. It surveys the repo and recommends the next 1-3 commands. If you want the smallest useful demo, run coding-scaffold pilot --target . --tool opencode next and follow the printed recipe.

#Does setup install tools?

Yes, when it is running interactively and the selected coding environment is missing. It asks before installing. You can also run coding-scaffold setup tool --tool opencode to validate the tool, or add --install to setup tool to install a missing tool intentionally. If pilot prints a setup run recipe for a missing tool, it uses --install-tools.

#Does the scaffold install optional add-ons too?

Yes. Use coding-scaffold setup addon --addon llmfit, routellm, open-multi-agent, obsidian, or caveman-compression. Setup can also offer add-ons interactively. RouteLLM installs into the active Python environment, Open Multi-Agent installs into the target Node.js project, Caveman Compression is cloned under .coding-scaffold/tools/ as an optional external engine, and Obsidian remains manual on WSL because it is a desktop app.

#Can setup configure the shared knowledge remote?

Yes. Use coding-scaffold setup knowledge --target . --backend obsidian --shared-remote <repo>. Setup can also ask for this during setup. The remote URL is metadata only; credentials and tokens stay local.

#Can I refresh generated files later?

Yes. Use coding-scaffold setup update --target .. The command re-detects hardware and providers, recreates generated scaffold files, updates files that still match their last generated checksum, and writes .new files next to anything you edited locally.

#Does it require cloud APIs?

No. It can work local-only. Cloud providers are used only when credentials are configured and the project privacy mode allows it.

#Does it store secrets?

No. It writes ignored templates such as .coding-scaffold/.env.local, but it does not commit, print, or collect secret values.

#Why not just use GitHub Copilot?

Copilot is useful for completion and chat. CodingScaffold focuses on agentic workflows: inspect, plan, edit, verify, review, and preserve reusable team habits.

#Why not just install a coding agent directly?

You should install and use the coding agent your team likes. CodingScaffold is the repo layer around that agent: it generates language-aware and tool-specific guidance, points the agent at the right local context, names verification habits, and gives the team a shared knowledge structure. The agent does the coding work; CodingScaffold helps the project remember how that work should happen.

#Does it automatically turn chats into wiki pages?

No. Today it provides session traces, raw note folders, curated wiki pages, and knowledge distill --review proposals. Durable team knowledge should be compressed, abstracted, reviewed Markdown, not raw chat logs. If automatic ingestion is added later, it should summarize, redact, deduplicate, and propose updates for review before they become team wiki pages.

#Why Markdown for knowledge?

Markdown works in Git, GitHub, GitLab, editors, Obsidian, and memory tools. It is easy to review and easy to migrate.

#Can CodingScaffold avoid context poisoning?

It can catch the easy cases early. Run coding-scaffold context budget --target . --source team to estimate whether shared knowledge, skills, policy, and agents are getting too large for a healthy session. Run coding-scaffold context compress --target . --source knowledge to create optional compressed sidecars with the built-in compressor. Use context budget --prefer compressed to estimate a sidecar-first session. Still use human judgment: narrow retrieval, keep policy uncompressed, and open a fresh session when history has become stale.

#Should every team use RouteLLM or Open Multi-Agent?

No. Start with setup, OpenCode, skills, and knowledge. Add RouteLLM or Open Multi-Agent only after the team has a proven need.

#Is CodingScaffold a security boundary?

No. Policy packs and adapter settings are guardrails. Use company identity policy, provider controls, network rules, secret scanning, CI, and code review for enforcement.