# Altitude — the control layer for agent-written codebases

Altitude keeps a live, shared whiteboard of a codebase: typed scopes (real
source units, each a folder plus an `altitude.yaml` info card) joined by
connections, drawn on a board the developer watches. Agents build through the
board; the human keeps understanding and control. This file is the bootstrap
for a coding agent setting Altitude up in a repository. Everything deeper is
delivered inside the tool itself.

## Install

macOS and Linux, one command (detects the platform, verifies SHA-256,
installs to ~/.local/bin):

    curl -fsSL https://getaltitude.dev/install.sh | sh

Per-platform downloads, checksums, and the Windows binary:
https://getaltitude.dev/install

## Set up (run in the project root)

1. `altitude init`
   Adopts Altitude into the existing app: `.altitude/` config, starter
   Templates, and a guarded `## Altitude` section in the host CLAUDE.md.
2. Register the MCP server with the host agent (stdio transport):
   `altitude mcp --cwd /abs/path/to/worktree --allow-ui-control`
   Omit `--allow-ui-control` for a read-only connection.
3. Call the `get_map` tool FIRST. Its reply carries the whole current map
   (scopes, connections, statuses, unfinished work) plus a `guide` field —
   the full working guide chosen for this project's state (mapping a fresh
   repo, or running the propose → under-construction → built loop). Follow
   the guide; re-read `get_map` before any structural edit.
4. The human watches the board: `altitude ui` (run it as a background
   command; it prints the URL to open).

## Where the real documentation lives

- `get_map` → the `guide` field: the manual, picked for the project's state.
- The MCP tool schemas: the reference for every operation.
- The `## Altitude` CLAUDE.md section that `altitude init` writes: the same
  guide, readable without a connection.
- Shell-only agents: `altitude map --json` prints the byte-identical
  `get_map` payload, and every build verb has a CLI twin.
- For humans: https://getaltitude.dev/docs/getting-started

There is nothing else to fetch. This site serves the human-facing pitch
(https://getaltitude.dev) and this file; the documentation is in the tool.