Apothem vs. raw CodeBuddy rules
Why route CodeBuddy's project rules through Apothem instead of hand-authoring .codebuddy/rules files per project.
CodeBuddy reads project rules from .codebuddy/rules/*.md. You can author those
files by hand, per project, forever. Apothem's codebuddy adapter renders one of
them from the shared profile and keeps it consistent across every harness and
every project. This page contrasts hand-maintaining that config against managing
it with Apothem.
Effort comparison
| Task | Raw hand-config | Apothem-managed |
|---|---|---|
| Author rules | Copy-paste the same disciplines into .codebuddy/rules/ per project | Rendered from one shared corpus |
| Source of truth | Each project's own files | One canonical cohort |
| Keep rules aligned across harnesses | Re-derive per tool | Projected automatically |
| Update the rules | Hand-edit every project | apothem update --harness codebuddy --project <path> |
| Remove the config | Manual delete | apothem uninstall with timestamped backup |
| Share reusable skills and commands | Hand-copy each skill folder into ~/.codebuddy/skills/ and keep the copies current | Written to ~/.codebuddy/skills/ by the adapter, one copy for every project, and refreshed on apothem update |
What Apothem manages
The codebuddy adapter renders the shared rules into a dedicated
<project>/.codebuddy/rules/apothem-rules.md file. It also writes two folders
in your home directory that every project shares: the skills, and the commands
wrapped as skills, go to ~/.codebuddy/skills/, and the rules and templates
those skills cite go to ~/.config/apothem/rules/ and
~/.config/apothem/templates/. Your CODEBUDDY.md memory file, your
.codebuddy/settings.json permissions and MCP servers, and any other rules files
you author stay entirely operator-owned — the adapter recognises those surfaces
but never edits them. Every change to the shared rules re-renders the rules file
on the next apothem update.
Migration path
- Run
apothem profile initto create the shared profile if you have not yet. - Move the disciplines from your existing
.codebuddy/rules/files into the shared corpus. - Run
apothem install --harness codebuddy --project <path>to render theapothem-rules.mdfile alongside your own untouched rules. - Run
apothem verify --harness codebuddy --project <path>to confirm the config landed. - Use
apothem update --harness codebuddy --project <path>for every later change.