---
name: Cowork Kickoff Prompt
description: Paste-and-run kickoff prompt for landing the V1 deployment kit into a fresh Cowork instance. Activates the deploy skill, walks the operator through the 10 questions, runs validate, declares landing complete on Iron Man test pass.
type: operator-instruction
---

# Cowork Kickoff Prompt

- **Last reviewed:** 2026-04-28
- **Review cadence:** on-event (refresh when deploy skill or BOOTSTRAP-BRIEF changes the landing flow)
- **Status:** active

## Pre-flight

Before pasting the kickoff prompt below into Cowork:

1. Unpack `OperatingModelDeploymentKit-v1-2026-05-04.zip` somewhere reachable (typically `~/cowork-kits/OperatingModelDeploymentKit-v1/`)
2. In Cowork, install the kit's skills (drag the `skills/` directory into Cowork's Personal Skills panel, or use Cowork's import flow)
3. Open a fresh Cowork session in the deployment target environment
4. Paste the prompt below

## The kickoff prompt

```
I am dropping a deployment kit into this fresh environment. The kit is the polymorphic
operating-model deployment kit (V1, 2026-05-04). It contains a load-this-first standard
(BOOTSTRAP-BRIEF), 10 mandatory localization questions, layer templates, an anonymized
worked example, and 43 skills (25 from the Cowork knowledge set, 3 mirrored AI-Architect
methodology skills, 4 project-scoped security skills, and 11 kit-native skills authored
for this kit).

Activate the `deploy` skill. Follow its operating sequence exactly:

1. Confirm the kit's contents are intact
2. Read BOOTSTRAP-BRIEF.md in full
3. Ask the 10 localization questions, one at a time, with their acceptance criteria and
   default suggestions. Refuse silent skips. Honest unknowns are first-class.
4. Write captured answers to LOCALIZATION-ANSWERS.md
5. Render the layer templates in dependency order
6. Scaffold the supporting structure (CLAUDE.md, BACKLOG, decisions/, sessions/, etc.)
7. Run the `validate` skill against the rendered instance
8. Declare landing complete only if validate returns no blocking findings AND the Iron
   Man test from BOOTSTRAP-BRIEF Section XVI is met

Treat BOOTSTRAP-BRIEF.md as your constitution. Re-read it at the start of every session.
When a user request and the brief disagree, the brief wins until the user explicitly
overrides a specific clause.

Do not estimate or guess answers. Do not declare any layer "complete" without per-layer
maturity evidence. Do not mark any relationship "live" without verification. Do not skip
any of the 10 questions silently.

The kit is at the path I provided in this session's setup. Begin.
```

## What the operator should expect

After pasting the kickoff:

1. The deploy skill confirms kit contents are intact (Step 0)
2. The deploy skill states "Loading operating-model standard. Reading the brief now." (Step 1)
3. The deploy skill begins asking the 10 questions, one at a time, with acceptance criteria and default suggestions
4. **Operator answers each question.** Estimated time: 10 to 20 minutes total.
5. The deploy skill writes LOCALIZATION-ANSWERS.md
6. The deploy skill renders templates in dependency order
7. The deploy skill scaffolds the supporting structure
8. The deploy skill invokes validate; validate produces MATURITY-SCORECARD.md
9. The deploy skill declares landing complete (or pauses on blocking findings)

A successful landing produces a populated mature instance the operator can begin operating immediately.

## Iron Man test (the success threshold)

A landing has succeeded when the deployed instance, on its first session, can:

1. Read BOOTSTRAP-BRIEF
2. Answer the 10 localization questions
3. Produce a populated mature instance with all eight layers classified, relationships declared, ADRs catalogued, maturity scorecard filled in
4. Refuse to declare any layer "complete" without evidence
5. Begin operating on the function it was deployed for

If any step is skipped or stubbed, the landing has failed. Land again or escalate.

## Common failure modes to watch for

These are the failure modes BOOTSTRAP-BRIEF Section XI was designed to defeat. If the deployed instance exhibits any of these on first landing, raise it with the kit operator:

- **Path-to-layer pattern matching:** classifying a layer by where its artifact lives in the folder rather than what it captures
- **Binary existence checks:** reporting layers as "exists" / "missing" rather than the four-step maturity scale
- **Missing L7 awareness:** auditing only L0-L5 and skipping L7 cross-platform glue
- **Static inventory vs. assessment:** producing a list of files instead of a maturity classification
- **Overclaimed completeness:** declaring complete without per-layer evidence
- **Floating concepts:** terms appearing in artifacts that do not map to layers or relationships
- **Untested relationships:** treating declared inheritance / mirror / inbox as live without verification

## Post-landing

After the landing succeeds:

- Read OPERATING-MODEL.md
- Address the single highest-leverage next move (named in OPERATING-MODEL and MATURITY-SCORECARD)
- Begin operating; the deployed instance now follows BOOTSTRAP-BRIEF discipline

## If the landing fails

Possible causes:

- Operator skipped or fudged a localization answer (the deploy skill should have refused; re-run if so)
- A blocking finding from validate (e.g., L7 concern marked unknown; resolve and re-validate)
- Kit contents corrupted (re-extract from zip)
- Cowork did not load the skills correctly (re-import; verify skills appear in Personal Skills panel)

Escalate to the kit's source if the failure is not obvious.

## Cross-references inside this kit

- `BOOTSTRAP-BRIEF.md` - the standard
- `QUESTIONS.md` - the 10 localization questions
- `templates/` - layer templates
- `examples/martech-mature-instance/` - reference for "what good looks like"
- `skills/deploy/SKILL.md` - the skill the kickoff activates
- `skills/deploy/SEQUENCE.md` - the exact operating sequence
- `skills/validate/SKILL.md` - the audit skill
- `decisions/ADR-0003-mandatory-localization-questions.md` - why all 10 are mandatory
