<clone_root>/<host>/<owner>/<repo>

The clone_root in the config block above is authoritative.

Order of operations

Read config from the REPLICANT_CONFIG block above.
Extract repo clues: explicit URL, owner/repo, package name, keywords.
Normalize inputs — strip URL suffixes to host/owner/repo.
Search locally before any web search: check inventory file, then clone directories. Exact owner/repo beats substring.
If one confident local match, use it. If multiple, disambiguate locally; ask the user only if still ambiguous.
If no local match, resolve via web/code search, then map to clone_root/<host>/<owner>/<repo>.
Clone if missing (configured transport/depth). Ask before full-cloning obviously large repos.
If clone exists, update per configured policy. See setup for policy definitions.
Record git rev-parse HEAD and git status --porcelain before use.
Search and read source directly.
Answer with evidence: commit SHA, file paths, line ranges.

Research rules

Treat external clones as read-only by default.
Do not commit, push, branch, reset, git clean, or delete clone contents unless explicitly asked.
Preserve local modifications; do not auto-update dirty clones.
Do not install dependencies or run builds/tests unless necessary for the answer.
Prefer implementation evidence over README claims.
Cite commit SHA and file paths with line ranges when practical.

First-run setup

If configured: false in the config block above, run setup before first use.

First-run setup must be intentional, not silent. Walk the user through every configurable choice in the setup reference before writing config. You may recommend defaults and the user may accept all of them, but do not assume defaults without an explicit user choice or confirmation.

References

Workflow recipes — clone, update, search, resolution, and answer commands.
Setup reference — first-run prompts, policy definitions, config format, fallback paths.

replicant

Replicant

Clone layout