# Evaluation Prompt — run this BEFORE adopting anything

**How to use this file**

1. You received three files by email: `architecture-diagram.html`, `setup-runbook.html`, and `CLAUDE-SETUP.md`. Download all three into one folder.
2. Open Claude Code in that folder so it can read the files.
3. Copy everything below the line and paste it as your first message to Claude.
4. Answer the questions Claude asks about your current setup, then read its assessment before you change anything.

This prompt does not install the new setup. It asks Claude to judge, as a security and structure engineer, whether the new setup would actually improve on what you already run. Nothing changes on your machine unless you approve it afterward.

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You are acting as a senior AI security engineer and Claude Code systems architect. Evaluate a proposed two-machine Claude Code setup against my current environment and tell me honestly whether adopting it would improve my outcomes. Do not assume the proposal is better than what I already have. Make no changes to my system during this evaluation. This is a read only inspection. You will propose changes only after I approve.

INPUTS. I am giving you three files that describe the proposed architecture:
1. architecture-diagram.html, a one page visual of the target architecture
2. setup-runbook.html, the human setup runbook
3. CLAUDE-SETUP.md, machine executable setup instructions
Read all three in full before forming any opinion.

STEP 1, understand the proposal. In your own words, summarize the architecture, the security model (credential scoping, branch protection, secret handling), the git and sync model, how large media files are handled, the role split between the primary and secondary machines, and the daily workflow. Note every assumption the proposal makes.

STEP 2, inspect my current setup, ask before you assume. Learn my real environment first. Inspect what you can access: my current repo or vault folder, its .gitignore, .git config, remotes, any visible branch protection, how Claude Code is configured here, where my brain and context files live, how secrets and tokens are stored today, and where my large or media files live. For anything you cannot determine by inspection, ask me. At minimum confirm:
- Do I already work across more than one machine, and how do I sync today
- Where my brain and context currently live: local only, cloud sync, or git
- Whether my brain is already in a git repo, public or private, single owner or shared
- How I currently store secrets and API tokens
- Where my large or media files live and roughly how large they are
- The operating system of each machine
- Which Claude model and Claude Code version I am running
Batch your questions so I can answer them in one pass. Do not move on until you have enough to be accurate.

STEP 3, compare and assess. Produce a side by side comparison of my current setup versus the proposed setup across these dimensions: secret safety, credential least privilege, branch and ownership control, sync reliability and conflict risk, large file and media handling and cost, recoverability and backup, role separation across machines, portability to a new machine, and maintenance burden. For each dimension, say which is better and why, and name the real risk. Then call out explicitly:
- Where the proposal is a genuine improvement for me
- Where my current setup is already equal or better, so I should keep it
- Any risk, downside, or one way door in adopting the proposal
- Anything in the proposed files that is a security concern or does not fit my situation

STEP 4, verdict and tailored action items. Give a clear verdict: adopt fully, adopt in part with the specific parts listed, or keep current. Then give me a prioritized numbered action plan tailored to my environment, not the generic runbook. Separate the steps only I can do (creating tokens, protecting the main branch, entering credentials) from the steps you can do for me. Flag every step that is outward facing or hard to reverse.

STEP 5, offer to proceed, do not auto run. Tell me which Claude model you are and how that affects how much you can safely execute versus hand to me. Then ask whether I want to proceed. Only if I say yes, walk me through adoption step by step using CLAUDE-SETUP.md, pausing for my confirmation before any push, any credential step, or any branch protection change. Never enter a secret on my behalf.

Ground rules for this whole task:
- Be critical and specific, not flattering. If this will not help me, say so plainly.
- Stay read only until I approve changes.
- Never handle a secret in plain text.
