Autobuild
Documentation for Autobuild — setup, concepts, guides, reference, and troubleshooting.
Getting Started
Install, connect, and run your first Autobuild initiative.
How Autobuild Works
You've submitted a request and Autobuild is running. But what is actually happening? This article explains the mental model: how Autobuild organizes work, who does what, and what keeps your codebase safe while agents operate.
3 min read
Your First Initiative
7 min read
Give Autobuild Repository Context
3 min read
Install the GitHub App
Connect the Obvious GitHub App to your organization, import repositories, and provision a repo sandbox so agents can open pull requests.
5 min read
What is Autobuild?
Autobuild is Obvious's system for running software development work with AI agents. Learn how it's organized — initiatives, features, and executables — and what to expect before you set it up.
4 min read
Guides
Step-by-step walkthroughs for common Autobuild workflows.
Writing a Technical Spec
Learn how to write a technical spec grounded in actual code, with named files, interfaces, and explicit data flow for agent execution.
3 min read
Spec Anti-Patterns and Constraint Language
Learn the five most common spec mistakes and the language conventions that help agents interpret your intent accurately.
3 min read
Writing a UX Spec
The UX spec bridges product intent and technical implementation by making the user experience concrete and reviewable before code begins.
3 min read
Writing a Product Spec
The product spec is the first phase of the three-phase spec pipeline, and the most consequential. It decides the direction — everything downstream, including UX design and technical implementation, follows from what you write here.
2 min read
The Three-Phase Spec Framework
Autobuild agents write exactly what you describe. That makes the spec the product — a vague spec produces a vague feature.
3 min read
Writing Custom Skills
Custom skills teach agents about your codebase. Learn how to create SKILL.md files, structure skill directories, and enable agents to discover and load skills on demand.
4 min read
Customizing Code Review
Customize the Obvious code review agent using .obvious/review/ files. Configure overlay rules, scoring thresholds, domain-specific standards, and review quality.
4 min read
Reference
Status codes, configuration options, and API details.
Workspace-Level Settings
Organization-wide agent policies that apply across every repository in your workspace. Learn about requireHumanMerge and requireHumanCreatePR settings.
4 min read
config.yml Reference
`config.yml` is the per-repository policy contract for Obvious agents. It tells agents how your repository works — branching strategy, merge method, CI behavior, preview environments, and QA processes.
8 min read