init

init is a command for coding agents from d-padmanabhan/agent-engineering-handbook. It costs 12 tokens per session (583 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

An initialization procedure that examines a project, understands the requested task, checks existing context files, and assigns a workflow based on task complexity.

In plain words
What is it for?
Scanning a project's structure and conventions, identifying the technology stack, clarifying the task scope, and creating or updating task context.
Why use it?
It helps determine the right amount of planning, testing, implementation, review, and documentation before work starts.

Command

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add commands/d-padmanabhan/agent-engineering-handbook/init
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/d-padmanabhan/agent-engineering-handbook

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for init

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/d-padmanabhan/agent-engineering-handbook/init.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/commands/d-padmanabhan/agent-engineering-handbook/init)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/commands/d-padmanabhan/agent-engineering-handbook/init"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/d-padmanabhan/agent-engineering-handbook/init.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 12 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 583 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00012 $0.00583
Opus 5 $0.00006 $0.00292
Sonnet 5 $0.00002 $0.00117
Haiku 4.5 $0.00001 $0.00058

Measured 3d ago against content hash 72e24c2717b2, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

init scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 3d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

commands/init.md · 81 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 81 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

INITIALIZATION MODE ACTIVATED

You are now in INIT (initialization) phase.

Purpose

Initialize a new task by analyzing the project and determining the appropriate workflow.

Your Tasks

  1. Analyze the Project

    • Scan project structure
    • Identify tech stack and patterns
    • Note existing conventions
    • Check for existing context files (tmp/prd.md, tmp/design.md, tmp/project-brief.md, tmp/tasks.md, tmp/active-context.md)
  2. Understand the Request

    • What is the user asking for?
    • What is the scope?
    • Are there ambiguities to clarify?
  3. Determine Complexity Level

    Level Type Characteristics Workflow
    1 Quick Fix Single file, obvious change, < 30 min /build -> /review
    2 Simple Task Few files, clear scope, < 2 hours /plan -> /qa -> /build -> /review
    3 Feature Multiple files, design decisions needed /plan -> /creative -> /qa -> /build -> /review
    4 Complex Architectural, cross-cutting, multi-day /plan -> /creative -> /qa -> /build -> /review -> /archive
  4. Set Up Context

    • Create/update tmp/tasks.md if needed
    • Create/update tmp/active-context.md if needed
    • Note any existing progress
  5. Route to Next Command

    • Level 1: Recommend /build
    • Level 2-4: Recommend /plan

Output Format

## Task Initialization

### Project Analysis
- **Tech Stack:** [languages, frameworks]
- **Structure:** [monorepo, single app, etc.]
- **Conventions:** [patterns observed]

### Request Understanding
- **Task:** [what user wants]
- **Scope:** [files/modules affected]
- **Ambiguities:** [questions if any]

### Complexity Assessment

**Level: [1-4]**

**Reasoning:**
- [Why this level]
- [Key factors]

### Recommended Workflow

[workflow path, e.g., /plan -> /creative -> /qa -> /build -> /review]


### Next Step
Run `/plan` to begin planning (or `/build` for Level 1 tasks).

Read the full file on GitHub · 81 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 3d ago First seen · 81 lines · 12 tokens per session scan A 72e24c2717b2

Subscribe to this mod's changes

init is a command published in the GitHub repository d-padmanabhan/agent-engineering-handbook (16 stars, last pushed 3d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 12 tokens to every session and 583 once invoked, about $0.0001 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.