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Your first project

A hands-on walkthrough of Mind's core features - steering, specs, hooks, and MCP - using a real project

You'll learn how to set up steering files, build features with specs, automate workflows with hooks, and extend capabilities with MCP servers.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

  • Installed Mind
  • Signed in with your Mind account
  • A project to work with (either an existing project or a new one)
  • Basic familiarity with your project's structure and technology stack

Open your project

  1. Launch Mind and open your project:
    • Use File > Open Folder to select your project directory
    • Or drag and drop your project folder into Mind
    • Or run mind . from your project directory in the command line
  2. Access the Mind Panel:
    • Click the Mind icon in the activity bar (left sidebar)
    • This panel provides access to all of Mind's AI-powered features
  3. Start a Chat Session:
    • The chat pane should be open by default
    • This opens Mind's conversational interface where you interact with the AI

Set up steering files

Steering files provide context about your project, helping Mind understand your codebase, conventions, and requirements. They are stored in .mind/steering/ and shared across all Mind surfaces.

Choose Generate Steering Docs from the Mind panel. Mind analyses your repository and generates steering documents that guide its behaviour, including:

  • Your product and its purpose
  • Technical stack and frameworks
  • Project structure and conventions

You can also create custom steering files by clicking the + button in the steering section to add coding standards, workflows, and team best practices.

Learn more about steering in the Steering documentation.

Build features with specs

Specs transform high-level feature ideas into detailed implementation plans through three phases:

  1. Requirements - User stories with acceptance criteria
  2. Design - Technical architecture and implementation approach
  3. Tasks - Discrete, trackable implementation steps

Create your first spec

  1. Start a new spec:
    • Click the Spec button in your chat session
    • Or choose the + button in the Mind panel's Specs section
  2. Enter a feature description:
    • Describe your feature in natural language
    • Example: "Add a user authentication system with login, logout, and password reset functionality"
  3. Follow the guided workflow:
    • Requirements phase: Mind structures your requirements using EARS notation
    • Design phase: Technical architecture and component design are documented
    • Implementation phase: Discrete tasks are generated for execution

Execute spec tasks

Once your spec is complete:

  1. Review generated tasks in the tasks.md file
  2. Execute tasks by clicking on individual task items
  3. Track progress as tasks automatically update to "In Progress" and "Done"

Learn more about specs in the Specs documentation.

Automate workflows with hooks

Agent hooks eliminate manual work by automatically executing predefined actions when specific agent events occur, such as file changes, tool use, or task execution.

  1. Access hook creation:
    • Navigate to the Agent Hooks section in the Mind panel
    • Click the + button to create a new hook
  2. Define hook behaviour:
    • Describe what you want automated in natural language
    • Example: "When the agent saves a React component file, automatically create or update its corresponding test file"
  3. Configure hook settings:
    • Event type: Choose when the hook triggers - agent file events (created, saved, deleted), prompt and agent lifecycle events, or spec task events
    • File pattern: Specify which files should trigger the hook (e.g., src/**/*.tsx)
    • Instructions: Define the specific actions to perform

Learn more in the Hooks documentation.

Extend capabilities with MCP

Model Context Protocol (MCP) allows Mind to access specialised tools, APIs, knowledge bases, and external services.

Set up MCP

  1. Open the Mind panel by clicking the Mind icon in the activity bar. Enable MCPs, then click the edit button (pencil icon) next to MCP in the panel.
  2. By default, Mind ships with the fetch MCP server. Set disabled to false to connect to it.
  3. Add any MCP server by editing the JSON file:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fetch": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-server-fetch"],
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": ["search"]
    }
  }
}

Use MCP tools

Once configured, reference MCP tools in several ways:

  • Direct questions: Ask questions that use the server's capabilities
  • Explicit tool usage: Reference specific tools with the #MCP context provider
  • Integration: Combine MCP with hooks and specs for automated workflows

Learn more in the MCP documentation.

Next steps

Now that you've experienced Mind's core features: