# Getting Started with Intake

Intake is how AI agents learn about your project. It generates structured documents that guide all future operations - from architecture decisions to test strategies to deployment plans.

These same documents serve your human team too: stakeholder alignment, onboarding new developers, planning sessions, and project documentation. One intake process, dual purpose.

Just describe what you're building and let the system handle the rest.

If AIWG is new to you, start with [Start Here](getting-started/start-here.md) before choosing an intake command.

If you are not sure whether intake is the right first step, use the [Beginner Language Map](getting-started/language-map.md) to translate your goal into a few AIWG discovery searches before choosing a path.

---

## New Project

**Natural language:**

```text
"Start a new project for a payment processing API"
```

**Slash command:**

```text
/intake-wizard "payment processing API"
```

The system:
1. Asks clarifying questions (--interactive by default)
2. Generates intake documents
3. Validates completeness
4. Kicks off inception phase
5. Assigns agents and begins work

---

## Existing Codebase

**Natural language:**

```text
"Analyze this codebase and start a project from it"
```

**Slash command:**

```text
/intake-from-codebase ./src
```

The system:
1. Scans your code for patterns, dependencies, architecture
2. Generates intake reflecting what exists
3. Identifies gaps and technical debt
4. Kicks off with full context of current state

---

## Add Context with --guidance

Shape the entire project with upfront context.

**Natural language:**

```text
"Start a new inventory management system" --guidance "must integrate with SAP, team is new to microservices"
```

**Slash command:**

```text
/intake-wizard "inventory management system" --guidance "must integrate with SAP, team is new to microservices"
```

The guidance flows through everything:
- Intake questions focus on SAP integration points
- Architecture considers team experience level
- Risk assessment flags microservices learning curve
- All generated artifacts reflect these constraints

### More Examples

```text
"Analyze this codebase" --guidance "preparing for SOC2 audit"
/intake-from-codebase . --guidance "preparing for SOC2 audit"
→ Focuses on security posture, access controls, logging

"Start a mobile app project" --guidance "offline-first, rural users with poor connectivity"
/intake-wizard "mobile app" --guidance "offline-first, rural users with poor connectivity"
→ Prioritizes sync strategies, local storage, graceful degradation
```

---

## Interactive Mode

Ask for maximum collaboration with `--interactive`.

**Natural language:**

```text
"Start intake for a healthcare app" --interactive
```

**Slash command:**

```text
/intake-wizard "healthcare app" --interactive
```

**Example conversation:**

```text
Agent: Healthcare apps often have compliance requirements. Which apply?
  1. HIPAA (US patient data)
  2. GDPR (EU users)
  3. Both
  4. Not sure yet - help me figure it out
> 4

Agent: Let's work through this. Will the app store any of these?
  - Patient names or contact info
  - Medical diagnoses or conditions
  - Prescription information
> Yes, patient names and prescriptions

Agent: That's Protected Health Information under HIPAA. I'll include:
  - HIPAA compliance requirements in intake
  - Security controls for PHI
  - Audit logging requirements
  - BAA considerations for third-party services
```

---

## Combine --guidance and --interactive

The most powerful pattern:

**Natural language:**

```text
"Start a fintech project" --interactive --guidance "Series A startup, need to move fast but can't compromise on security"
```

**Slash command:**

```text
/intake-wizard "fintech project" --interactive --guidance "Series A startup, move fast, security non-negotiable"
```

Agent understands the context and asks smart questions:
- "PCI compliance needed, or just general financial data?"
- "In-house security team, or need automated tooling?"
- "MVP scope - what's the minimum for launch?"

---

## Resume or Complete Intake

**Natural language:**

```text
"Continue with the intake we started"
```

**Slash command:**

```text
/intake-wizard --complete
```

---

## Start from Existing Intake Files

If you already have intake documents in `.aiwg/intake/`:

**Natural language:**

```text
"Start the project from the intake files"
```

**Slash command:**

```text
/intake-start .aiwg/intake
```

With guidance:

```text
/intake-start .aiwg/intake --guidance "prioritize security requirements"
```

---

## Marketing Projects

For marketing campaigns instead of software:

**Natural language:**

```text
"Start a marketing campaign for our product launch"
```

**Slash command:**

```text
/marketing-intake-wizard "Product launch campaign for Q1"
```

From existing materials:

```text
/intake-from-campaign ./marketing-assets --interactive
```

---

## What Happens Behind the Scenes

```
Your description
      ↓
┌─────────────────────────────┐
│  Intake Wizard              │
│                             │
│  - Parses your description  │
│  - Identifies project type  │
│  - Asks clarifying questions│
│  - Generates intake docs    │
└──────────────┬──────────────┘
               ↓
┌─────────────────────────────┐
│  Validation                 │
│                             │
│  - Checks completeness      │
│  - Identifies gaps          │
│  - Suggests clarifications  │
└──────────────┬──────────────┘
               ↓
┌─────────────────────────────┐
│  Inception Kickoff          │
│                             │
│  - Assigns specialist agents│
│  - Creates phase plan       │
│  - Begins orchestrated work │
└─────────────────────────────┘
```

---

## Quick Reference

| Action | Natural Language | Slash Command |
|--------|------------------|---------------|
| New project | "Start a new project for X" | `/intake-wizard "X"` |
| From codebase | "Analyze this codebase" | `/intake-from-codebase .` |
| With guidance | + `--guidance "context"` | + `--guidance "context"` |
| Interactive | + `--interactive` | + `--interactive` |
| Resume | "Continue intake" | `/intake-wizard --complete` |
| From files | "Start from intake files" | `/intake-start .aiwg/intake` |
| Marketing | "Start marketing campaign" | `/marketing-intake-wizard "X"` |

---

## Tips for Best Results

1. **Be specific about the domain** - "payment API" vs "payment API for recurring SaaS subscriptions"

2. **Include key constraints upfront** - Compliance, timeline, team size, integrations

3. **Use --guidance for context that affects everything** - Not just features, but business context

4. **Let --interactive ask questions** - The AI often identifies things you haven't thought about

5. **Don't worry about format** - Natural language works. The system figures out what you need.