One repository. Half an hour. Rules in every agent.
The core of Groundrule works end to end today: the catalog, your rulebook, the CLI and MCP server, scans, the inbox, document imports, evidence and promotions. A few connections are still being switched on. This page says exactly which.
The dashboard's own checklist, step for step.
Five steps from sign-up to rules in every agent.
After sign-up and four onboarding questions, the dashboard walks you through these. Most teams finish them in half an hour.
- 01Create your workspaceFour questions; packs preselected for your stack.
- 02Choose packsKeep the recommendations, or change them any time.
- 03Write your first standardIn one sentence, or in the form.
- 04Connect the CLIlogin, init, sync: rules in every agent file.
- 05Scan a repositoryWhat it already says arrives in your inbox.
Early access suits some teams well and others not yet. Better to find out here.
An honest answer before you sign up.
- Your team uses coding agents and keeps correcting them on the same things.
- You have rules worth writing down, in a handbook, in agent files, or in reviewers' heads.
- You can add a step to CI and run a command in a repository.
- You want a say in what gets built. Early teams talk to the engineers directly.
- You need single sign-on, SCIM or two-factor authentication before anyone can sign in.
- Procurement needs a SOC 2 report or an SLA. Neither exists yet.
- Your data must stay outside the United States, or you need to self-host.
- You want pull requests blocked by a GitHub App rather than a CI step. That isn't built yet.
The dashboard's Connect CLI page shows the same commands with your workspace filled in.
Four commands from nothing to checked.
This is the whole setup for a repository.
npx @groundrule/cli login
Opens your browser to approve the CLI. The token it creates can read the rulebook, upload scans and propose rules, for 90 days, and nothing else.
npx @groundrule/cli init --org acme-payments npx @groundrule/cli sync
Writes .groundrule/config.yaml, then writes your rules into AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md and .cursor/rules, keeping what you already wrote. Commit both.
npx @groundrule/cli check --all
Runs every check on the whole repository. In CI, use --base origin/main to check only what a pull request changed.
npx @groundrule/cli scan --upload
Runs the whole catalog without enforcing anything, and sends results (not files) to your workspace. Add --no-snippets to send no code at all.
Last reviewed 10 October 2026. Kept current by hand; if something here is wrong, that's a bug.
What works, what's in progress, what's not there.
Works today12
- The catalog: 13 packs and 171 standards, with examples, checks, references, compliance mappings and noise ratings
- Adopting packs rule by rule: on or off with a reason, severity, scope, wording, and a stage, for the organization, a team or a repository; yours against upstream
- Your own standards: a form, YAML, versions with change notes, drafts tested against your repositories before you publish
- Describe a rule: one sentence becomes a standard, with examples and a check tested against them
- The CLI: login, init, sync to AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, Cursor and Copilot, check (terminal, JSON, SARIF, Markdown), scan, explain, standards, doctor, propose
- The MCP server for coding agents: list_standards and propose_rule
- Repository scans that import agent-file instructions, tool settings and CODEOWNERS owners
- The review inbox: routing to category owners, bulk decisions, AI drafts, refining agent-file imports
- Document import: PDF, Word, Markdown and pasted text, with citations and an estimate before reading
- Evidence per rule across repositories, impact previews by stage, and promotions from scan history
- Members, seven roles, invitations, API tokens and browser-approved CLI sign-in
- AI settings: on or off, a monthly budget, data retention, and a usage ledger
In progress3
- Publishing the CLI to npm, so `npx @groundrule/cli` works for everyone. Until then, build it from the open-source repository, as its README describes
- Notion, Google Docs and Confluence connections: built and tested, being registered with each provider for app.groundrule.dev
- The GitHub App for rules from pull-request reviews and /groundrule rule comments: built and tested, being registered for app.groundrule.dev
Not yet6
- Checking pull requests directly as a GitHub App (checks run in your CI today)
- Two-factor authentication, single sign-on and SCIM
- Deleting an account or workspace from the dashboard (we do it by email)
- Hosting outside the United States (Oregon), and self-hosting
- A SOC 2 or ISO 27001 report, and a service level agreement
- Pricing (free during early access)
Anything else, write to hello@groundrule.dev.
Before you start.
Who is early access for?
Engineering teams that use coding agents and have rules worth writing down: a platform or developer-experience lead, a staff engineer, or a security team that owns standards. One repository is enough to start.
What does it cost?
Nothing during early access. Pricing isn't set; early-access teams will hear about it first, with notice. The open-source CLI and rule format stay free.
Is it safe to connect a real repository?
Checks run on your machine or CI runner, and a scan uploads results plus at most three short, redacted snippets per rule, or none with --no-snippets. The security page lists every control, and what isn't in place yet.
Can we leave?
Yes. Your standards are YAML in the open rule format, and the agent files sync wrote are plain text in your repositories. Remove the platform line from .groundrule/config.yaml and the open-source CLI keeps working on its own.
How do we give feedback?
Write to hello@groundrule.dev. Early-access teams talk to the people building Groundrule, and it changes what gets built next.
Give every agent your team's rules.
Create a workspace, adopt the packs that fit your stack, and connect one repository. In half an hour your coding agents follow your standards, and you can see what a check would catch before it blocks anyone.