torsorlab an AI lab for mathematical work
torsorlab / research-room / starting-a-room
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starting a room

the five steps between copying the template and working in it.

copy the template, then five steps.

  1. replace the placeholders. <PROJECT TITLE> and the rest, in AGENTS.md, conventions.md, and goals/question-template.md.
  2. name the first question. rename goals/question-template.md for it.
  3. set the path. in .codex/config.toml, replace <ABSOLUTE-PATH-TO-RESEARCH-ROOM>.
  4. check the model instructions. review .codex/README.md — the model-instruction snapshot may need refreshing for the Codex model you are using.
  5. before posting it anywhere, run the checks in PUBLICATION_CHECKLIST.md.

getting the copy

git clone https://github.com/torsor/research-room.git my-project
cd my-project
rm -rf .git && git init

dropping the template’s history is deliberate: the room’s own history should start with your project, not with the template’s development.

the first thing the agent reads

conventions.md, then the relevant file in goals/, then only the artifacts the current question needs. it does not reread the whole archive every turn, which is the habit the folder structure exists to make unnecessary.

so conventions.md is worth filling in properly before the first session. it carries the definitions, the notation, and the standing assumptions — the things that would otherwise be re-established, slightly differently, every time.