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 Existing Projects

   Prepare the repository
----------------------

 Start on a dedicated branch with a known-good local `.env`. Confirm the application boots before migration, verify plaintext env files are ignored, and keep a secure copy outside the repository until the new baseline has been tested.

 Preflight     Copy

 ```
$ git switch -c adopt-ghostable-v3
$ git check-ignore .env

```

  Choose one authoritative source

 If developers have divergent `.env` files, decide which file represents the first shared baseline. Importing an arbitrary developer machine can preserve accidental or stale values.

 Import the first baseline
-------------------------

 Initialize from an existing .env     Copy

 ```
$ ghostable setup --seed-dotenv --create-example --agent-instructions
$ ghostable env diff --env default --file .env
$ ghostable validate --env default

```

 Setup encrypts the imported values locally and records the reason as a setup seed. The generated `.env.example` defaults to retaining non-sensitive example values while blanking values that look sensitive.

 Generate an adoption plan
-------------------------

 The `adopt` command produces a plain-text prompt that a developer or coding agent can use to assess schema rules, annotations, example-file drift, hygiene, and optional CI work:

 Adoption prompt     Copy

 ```
$ ghostable adopt --all --ci

```

 Treat the prompt as a review aid. It is designed to separate evidence-backed changes from open questions such as secret ownership, deployment scope, and rotation expectations.

 Reconcile the project
---------------------

1. Compare encrypted state to the working file with `env diff`.
2. Add validation rules for values whose format or presence is understood.
3. Generate `.env.example` and review every retained example value.
4. Run `ghostable review` to find changed-code ENV drift and hard-coded secrets.
5. Run the application using `ghostable env run` or a freshly pulled file.

 Reconciliation checks     Copy

 ```
$ ghostable example generate --dry-run
$ ghostable review
$ ghostable env run --env default -- php artisan test

```

 Roll out to the team
--------------------

 Commit the reviewed `.ghostable/` state, example file, and any agent instructions. Merge the baseline before teammates join so every device request is made against the same project ID and policy.

 Continue with [Team Onboarding](https://ghostable.dev/docs/3.x/getting-started/team-onboarding) for the join, request, approval, and role-grant workflow.

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   CLI 3.x     [   CLI 3.x ](https://ghostable.dev/docs/3.x) [   Desktop ](https://ghostable.dev/docs/desktop)

  CLI 3.x introduction Documentation local first no login encrypted repository plaintext hosted service

  Installation Documentation brew homebrew npm npx linux windows PATH version update

  Start a new project Getting Started setup seed dotenv owner initialize

  Adopt an existing project Getting Started existing env import authoritative source adopt

  Onboard a team member Getting Started join request approve roles offboarding pull request

  Repository and storage Core Concepts .ghostable git conflict merge worktree private identity metadata

  Environments Core Concepts protected production preview staging push sync pull replace run mask-output

  Variables and promotions Core Concepts var promote copy context annotation key

  Access and devices Core Concepts identity reader writer grantor owner revoke rotate leave delete

  Daily development workflow Workflows pull diff validate review clean daily

  Review and secret scanning Workflows scan sarif github suppress secrets drift

  Hygiene and rotation Workflows rotation stale unused suppression environment key

  Automation credentials Automation & CI GHOSTABLE\_CI\_TOKEN ci deploy credential powershell revoke replace

  Continuous integration Automation & CI GitHub Actions fork pull request JSON stdout stderr exit codes mask-output

  Deployments Automation & CI Forge Vapor Cloud provider CLI dry-run preserve remote keys temporary files

  Validation Reference schema required nullable regex min max different\_from

  Command reference Reference --help --json NO\_COLOR flags aliases exit code automation

  Configuration Reference ghostable.yaml activity mode auditEnvironments scan ignores deployTarget dotenv syntax

  Security Reference cryptography XChaCha20 Poly1305 HKDF user presence threat model

  Backups & Offline Reference recovery offline restore clone key identity

  Agent integration Reference AGENTS.md capabilities allowlist coding agent

  Troubleshooting Reference no project found revoked identity stale policy user presence invalid CI token provider CLI git conflict diagnostics

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