MultiModel Dev OS Protocol Specification (v1.1.0)

This document defines the official, stable architectural protocol and design contracts for MultiModel Dev OS, establishing portable AI project context conventions.

Use when: Implementing a custom CLI client, creating private adapters, or auditing Layer 1-3 protocol compliance.

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1. Protocol Architecture Layers

The protocol is divided into three distinct decoupled layers to guarantee portability:

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ LAYER 1: Root Contracts (Single Source of Truth)       │
│ AGENTS.md • MEMORY.md • TASKS.md • RUNBOOK.md          │
└──────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘
                           │ Centralizes project context
┌──────────────────────────▼─────────────────────────────┐
│ LAYER 2: Configuration & Modules (.ai/)                │
│ context/ • agents/ • skills/ • prompts/ • checks/      │
└──────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘
                           │ routes files dynamically
┌──────────────────────────▼─────────────────────────────┐
│ LAYER 3: Tool & IDE Adapters                           │
│ .cursorrules • CLAUDE.md • .vscode/ • .gemini/        │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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2. Stability Matrix (v1.1.0 Freeze)

To prevent breaking changes, protocol definitions are designated as Stable or Experimental:

A. Stable Protocol Components

These features are fully frozen. No breaking changes or renaming will occur in v1.x:

• Core Workspace Contracts: The names and root directories of AGENTS.md, MEMORY.md, TASKS.md, and RUNBOOK.md are completely frozen.
• Scaffolding Subfolders: Target folders .ai/context/, .ai/skills/, and .ai/session-logs/ are strictly required by the sync CLI.
• Adapters Interface: Mappings to Cursor (.cursorrules), Claude (CLAUDE.md), VS Code (.vscode/settings.json), and Gemini (GEMINI.md) are guaranteed.
• Core Commands: Subcommands init, verify, validate, doctor, and templates will retain their signatures.

B. Experimental Components

These components represent early specs and may undergo minor tweaks in future minor releases:

• Caveman Mode Custom Overrides: Custom manual template modifications under .ai/templates/.
• Dynamic Context Routing: Pre-implementation check validations inside .ai/checks/context-budget.md.

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3. CLI Command Contracts

All compliant MultiModel Dev OS CLIs must strictly support the following execution contracts:

• init Scaffolding: Recursively writes root documents and links requested adapters.
• validate Quality Gate: Asserts that required folders and enabled adapter rules exist on disk.
• doctor Diagnostic: Advisory audit of .gitignore setups and folder compatibility.
• templates Inspector: Displays available stack configurations.

Explore our Stable Protocol Specification or Upgrade & Migration Guide for details.