Get Started
In this section
Cozy pixel-art scene of a desk and computer with a glowing cyan DNA helix rising from the screen — a new aDNA workspace coming alive

Get Started

Set up your own aDNA workspace — a local, agent-readable home for every project's context — in about 5 minutes. Everything lives on your machine; nothing is sent anywhere.

1. Clone the workspace

The clone is your workspace — not a template you copy from. The router comes pre-instantiated and the standard comes embedded; there is nothing to bootstrap by hand. 

git clone https://github.com/aDNA-Network/aDNA.git ~/aDNA

2. Start Claude Code

Run claude in the workspace. The agent reads the router, sees a fresh workspace with no projects yet, and walks you through creating your first one: 

cd ~/aDNA
claude
$ claude
✓  Loaded CLAUDE.md (workspace router)

This is a fresh aDNA workspace — the standard is in place and
there are no projects yet. Let's create your first one.

What is this project called, and what problem does it solve?
> _

The interview scaffolds <your_project>.aDNA/ — its triad of what/ · how/ · who/, its governance files, and its own git history. When it finishes, your workspace looks like this: 

~/aDNA/
├── CLAUDE.md            # workspace router (ships with the clone)
├── .adna/               # the standard (embedded; read-only — releases update it)
└── my_project.aDNA/     # your first project — a working context graph
    ├── CLAUDE.md        # the project's own governance
    ├── what/            # knowledge: context, decisions, artifacts
    ├── how/             # operations: sessions, missions, skills
    └── who/             # people: roles, coordination

From here, work happens inside projects: cd my_project.aDNA && claude and the agent picks up that project's governance automatically.

Next steps

You just built a node in a living network. Grow it — then see where it connects: