ChatGPT desktop with Codex
The smoothest path for this guide: local folder access, Git tools, terminal, review, and browser in one Windows app.
Install the Windows appStart from zero
From a new laptop to your first L&D contribution.
This guide assumes you have never used Git or GitHub. Take it one step at a time. You can stop, ask for help, and continue later.
Four different doors
GitHub access lets you see the repository. A registration PR proposes who your agent is. Steward acceptance gives it observer standing. A workspace delegation separately says what it may do.
01
Prepare your laptop
Install Git
Git keeps a careful history of your work. On Windows, install it using either option below, then close and reopen your apps.
Download Git for WindowsUse the standard installer and its recommended defaults.
Or use Windows Terminal
winget install --id Git.GitPress Enter and follow the prompts.Ready when: opening a new terminal and typing
git --version shows a version number.02
Create your identity on GitHub
Create and secure a GitHub account
Use your own account. Sign up, verify the email address, and write down your exact GitHub username. The username—not a guessed legal name—is what the house uses to connect your contribution to you.
Keep credentials private. Never paste a password, verification code, recovery code, or access token into an AI chat or repository file. Two-factor authentication is strongly recommended.
03
Ask the steward
Request access to the private repository
Send the facilitator your exact GitHub username and ask for access to zenbanez/zenos-deped. When the invitation arrives by email or on GitHub, accept it.
Ready when: while signed in, you can open the private repository and see its files.
Pause here if you see “404” or “not found.” That usually means the invitation is missing, expired, or was accepted using a different account. The facilitator—not the AI—must resolve access.
04
Choose how AI will assist
Pick an AI harness
A harness is simply the app through which the AI reads and works with the local repository. ZenOS does not depend on one vendor, but the harness must be able to open a local folder, use Git, and follow AGENTS.md.
Another local coding agent
Claude, Antigravity, or another capable harness may be used. The same house rules, identity separation, and review gates still apply.
Ask the facilitator if you are unsure.
In Codex, keep Ask for approval enabled and open only the project folder. Installing a harness creates technical capability; it does not grant ZenOS authority.
05
Enter the house
Clone the repository and read before writing
Open your AI harness and give it this first prompt. Replace [YOUR GITHUB USERNAME]. Sign in to GitHub yourself if a trusted browser or credential window appears.
Prompt 1 · Clone and orient
My GitHub username is [YOUR GITHUB USERNAME], and the steward has granted me access to https://github.com/zenbanez/zenos-deped. Please clone the repository into a new local folder on this computer, open that folder as the project, and read AGENTS.md and ONBOARDING.md. Check whether Git has a commit name and email configured; if either is missing, explain how I can use my chosen commit name and a GitHub-provided no-reply email without exposing a private address. Then explain in plain language what I must do before making any changes. Do not write to the repository yet, do not invent identity details, and never ask me to paste a password, verification code, or access token into chat.
Ready when: the harness can name the Constitution, the active arrival intent, and why delegation is required before work.
06
Propose who is arriving
Prepare your participant registration
The first contribution registers the agent participant working at your direction. You choose its participant ID and confirm the relationship. The agent may propose only its own records under WS-0003/D-002.
Prompt 2 · Draft my registration
Read the Constitution, RFC-0004, RFC-0006, ONBOARDING.md, INT-0003, WS-0003, and WS-0003/D-002 completely. I knowingly choose to participate through an agent. My exact GitHub username is [YOUR GITHUB USERNAME], and I would like the agent participant ID [CHOOSE A SHORT AGENT ID]. Help me propose only this agent's registration, minimum necessary identity relationship, Git author mapping if appropriate, and required root commission warrant. Do not infer my legal name, email, workplace, or any personal detail. Show me the proposed records and explain them before writing.
Review before saying yes. Check the spelling of both IDs and remove unnecessary personal information. If an ID or author mapping already exists, stop and ask the steward.
07
Your first reviewable contribution
Create a branch and open the registration PR
A pull request, or PR, asks the steward to review your proposed registration. It does not change the main house until the steward accepts and merges it.
Confirm submission authority first. WS-0003/D-002 permits a local branch and commit but does not, by itself, permit a push. Ask the facilitator to explicitly authorize pushing this registration branch and opening its PR.
Prompt 3 · Validate and submit
I have reviewed and confirmed the proposed registration records. Under WS-0003/D-002, please write only my agent's permitted self-registration files, create a clearly named new branch, commit the proposal, run python .github/scripts/run_checks.py from the committed tree, and show me the result. Before any push, confirm that the facilitator has separately authorized this agent to push its registration branch and open its PR; if that authority is not recorded or directly confirmed, stop and ask. If it is confirmed and the checks pass, push the branch and open a pull request to main for steward review. Do not merge it, do not edit another participant, and do not claim that registration has been accepted.
Ready when: you have a GitHub PR link, the checks pass, and the PR clearly says it is a registration proposal awaiting steward review.
What is a pull request? Read GitHub's guide 08
Human review gate
Wait for acceptance and a separate delegation
Your agent is still only a proposed arrival. The steward reviews the PR, accepts or declines the registration, and records any human–agent relationship. If accepted, the agent begins as an observer.
Do not continue into L&D work yet. Ask the facilitator to confirm both that registration was accepted and that your exact agent ID has an active WS-0002 delegation.
09
Begin governed L&D work
Enter the L&D workspace
Use this only after the steward confirms your agent's WS-0002 delegation. The first L&D prompt asks the agent to restate its boundary before proposing work.
Prompt 4 · Read my L&D authority
The steward has confirmed that agent participant [YOUR AGENT ID] is accepted and has an active delegation in WS-0002. Read INT-0002, the WS-0002 workspace, the exact delegation for [YOUR AGENT ID], and the admitted L&D references. Summarize in plain language what I may do, what I may not do, what requires steward review, and the privacy boundary. Do not write yet. Then propose one small next L&D task that fits the delegation.
No raw or identifying case data enters the repository or prompt. Work only with admitted sources and steward-confirmed de-identified aggregates. AI drafts are proposals—not official DepEd decisions—until reviewed and accepted.
Something went wrong?
Stop at the step you are on.
Take a screenshot of the exact message, note the step number, and ask the facilitator. Do not repeatedly retry credentials, create a second account, or bypass a house boundary.