The SHIPIT Workspace

New in v1.0.14, the SHIPIT Workspace lets you point an agent at a repository and have it just work — no glue code. Drop a few conventional files in the repo and every agent rooted there picks them up automatically:

• Project memory — a SHIPIT.md (or AGENTS.md) at the repo root is auto-loaded into the system prompt.
• Slash commands — markdown files under .shipit/commands/ become /commands you can invoke with arguments.
• Settings — a checked-in .shipit/settings.json declares permissions, env vars, and a default model, and wires straight into the control plane.

Agent.for_project(llm=..., project_root="/repo") loads all three in one call. None of this is Anthropic-specific — it works with any LLM provider.

TL;DR —

python

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from shipit_agent import Agent

# Loads .shipit/settings.json + SHIPIT.md + builtin tools + /commands.
agent = Agent.for_project(llm=llm, project_root="/my/repo")
agent.run("/review src/app.py")

Project memory — SHIPIT.md / AGENTS.md

The SHIPIT answer to a project-instructions file: drop a SHIPIT.md at your repo root and every agent pointed at that project picks it up — no code.

my-repo/
├── SHIPIT.md          ← project instructions, auto-loaded
└── src/...

from shipit_agent import Agent

# auto_project_memory is True by default.
agent = Agent(llm=llm, project_root=".")
# SHIPIT.md is now part of the system prompt.

The loader searches these locations and includes every file that exists (project context first, then your user-global file), each appended as its own labeled block under a # Project instructions heading:

@path imports

An instruction file can pull in others with a line starting @ followed by a relative (or ~-expanded) path. Imports resolve relative to the importing file, are depth-limited, and are cycle-safe — so you can split conventions across files:

# Project instructions

Always run `make lint` before finishing.

@docs/style-guide.md
@~/.shipit/personal-prefs.md

Opting out

Set auto_project_memory=False to skip project-memory injection entirely:

agent = Agent(llm=llm, project_root=".", auto_project_memory=False)

Note — this flag governs only the project-memory injection. /slash commands (below) are always expanded on run() regardless of this setting.

Direct API

Need the assembled block yourself? Call load_project_memory directly:

from shipit_agent.workspace import load_project_memory

block = load_project_memory(".", include_user=True, max_depth=5)
# Returns "" when no instruction files exist.

Slash commands — .shipit/commands/

Drop a markdown file at .shipit/commands/<name>.md and invoke it with agent.run("/<name> ...args"). The file body becomes the prompt — no catalog edit, no registration.

my-repo/
└── .shipit/
    └── commands/
        └── review.md

---
description: Code-review a file
---
Review $ARGUMENTS for bugs, security issues, and style. Be concise.
Focus especially on $1.

agent.run("/review src/app.py")

• $ARGUMENTS → everything after the command name ("src/app.py").
• $1, $2, … → individual whitespace-separated args.
• A leading YAML frontmatter block (between --- fences) is stripped before substitution, so you can annotate commands without leaking metadata into the prompt.
• Unknown /cmd text passes through unchanged — a prompt that happens to start with / but isn't a known command is sent to the model verbatim.

Discovery & expansion API

from shipit_agent.workspace import discover_commands, expand_command

discover_commands(".")            # {"review": Path(".shipit/commands/review.md"), ...}
expand_command(".", "/review src/app.py")  # the expanded prompt, or None if unknown

Settings — .shipit/settings.json

Check a policy into the repo: permissions, env vars, and a default model. A user-global ~/.shipit/settings.json is merged underneath the project file (project wins).

{
  "model": "bedrock/us.anthropic.claude-3-5-sonnet-20240620-v1:0",
  "permissions": {
    "mode": "default",
    "allow": ["read*", "grep*"],
    "deny": ["bash", "*_delete"],
    "ask": ["sql"]
  },
  "env": { "SHIPIT_LLM_PROVIDER": "bedrock" }
}

Loading and wiring

from shipit_agent.workspace import load_settings

settings = load_settings(".")          # merges ~/.shipit then .shipit
engine = settings.to_permission_engine()

to_permission_engine() returns a PermissionEngine built from the rules — or None when nothing constrains tools (default mode with no allow/deny/ask), so the agent stays unrestricted unless the file asks otherwise. Env vars from settings.env are applied only when you call settings.apply_env() (which uses setdefault, so it never overrides vars already in the environment).

Agent.for_project(...) — everything in one call

Agent.for_project is the front door. Point it at a repo and it:

1. Loads .shipit/settings.json (+ user-global), and turns its permissions into a PermissionEngine (unless you pass your own permissions=).
2. Attaches the full builtin tool catalogue (it calls with_builtins under the hood).
3. Picks up SHIPIT.md / AGENTS.md project memory.
4. Enables /slash commands from .shipit/commands/.

from shipit_agent import Agent

agent = Agent.for_project(llm=llm, project_root="/my/repo")
agent.run("/review src/app.py")

To also apply settings.env, pass apply_env=True (it's False by default, so checked-in env vars never silently mutate your process):

agent = Agent.for_project(llm=llm, project_root="/my/repo", apply_env=True)

Provider-agnostic — for_project is just configuration loading on top of with_builtins; it works with any LLM provider you pass as llm=.

See also

• Permissions, plan mode & hooks — the control plane the settings file feeds into.
• With Tools — the builtin tool catalogue for_project attaches.
• TodoTool — live task tracking — the builtin that keeps long workspace runs observable.