---
title: "Docs · yokoten"
description: "An index of the yokoten guide: one line for each section and each command, with a link to it on GitHub."
canonical: https://yokoten.app/docs
last-updated: 2026-10-22
lang: en
---

> For AI agents: the documentation index is at https://yokoten.app/llms.txt. To set up yokoten in a project, follow https://yokoten.app/agents.md.

# Docs · yokoten

> An index of the yokoten guide: one line for each section and each command, with a link to it on GitHub.

The documentation is [the guide](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md), one long page on GitHub. Here is what is in it, one line each. Every line links to its section.

## The guide, section by section

- [A race track](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#a-race-track): yokoten in one picture: the agent is a fast car, yokoten is the track.
- [Words used here](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#words-used-here): session, hook, CI, pull request and the other words the guide uses, in plain terms.
- [The name](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#the-name): where yokoten (横展) comes from: one line’s fix goes to every line.
- [The problem](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#the-problem): the lessons a project with AI agents learns the hard way, and why they stay in one project.
- [What changes on day one](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#what-changes-on-day-one): what your agent tries, what happens without yokoten, and what happens with it.
- [Three checks and a lock](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#three-checks-and-a-lock): the tool-call hook, the commit check and CI, then the lock on the server: when each runs and what it stops.
- [What a session sees](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#what-a-session-sees): the message at the start of each session, and the work that lives only on this machine.
- [Four layers](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#four-layers): machine, project, server and rules; and how an old project decides each practice.
- [Works with](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#works-with): the AI coding agents the guard runs in, each tested for real.
- [Install and commands](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#install-and-commands): what you need (Node 22.18 or later) and the ways to install.
  - [The Claude Code plugin](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#the-claude-code-plugin): install from inside a Claude Code session.
  - [Install with npx](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#install-with-npx): the four commands, for any agent or none.
  - [Install from a clone](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#install-from-a-clone): the same steps from a copy of the repo.
  - [Use it as a GitHub Action](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#use-it-as-a-github-action): run the checks in CI with one workflow file and install nothing.
  - [A private repo without CI](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#a-private-repo-without-ci): keep GitHub Actions off while a private repo pays for its minutes.
  - [Commands](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#commands): what init writes, the table of every command, JSON output, and how CI shows a finding.
  - [Exit codes](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#exit-codes): what each exit code means.
  - [Troubleshooting](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#troubleshooting): when an agent won’t start or a check fails, and what to do.
  - [The stop check](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#the-stop-check): the check at the end of an agent’s turn, for files a script changed.
  - [Blocked commands](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#blocked-commands): make a stack rule like “no Python” something the guard holds.
  - [yokoten.json](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#yokotenjson): the project’s settings file; every key is optional.
  - [Issue titles](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#issue-titles): how an issue title names the area, then the work.
  - [The changelog](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#the-changelog): one small change file per pull request, gathered into CHANGELOG.md at release.
  - [Translations](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#translations): how a translation names its source, so one that falls behind shows up.
  - [Updating the rules](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#updating-the-rules): bring the core rules in your AGENTS.md up to date.
  - [Learning from an incident](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#learning-from-an-incident): turn a mistake into a check every project runs.
- [The core rules](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#the-core-rules): the twelve rules every project gets, each with its check.
- [Naming](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#naming): five rules for names in code, and why.
- [Managing agents like a team](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#managing-agents-like-a-team): the owner, the bot, workers and reviewers, each with limited rights.
  - [Who reviews what](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#who-reviews-what): review by risk: the tier on a pull request says how hard a mistake is to undo.
- [Privacy](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#privacy): the check for personal data and secrets, and your private marks kept outside the repo.
  - [What an agent reads](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#what-an-agent-reads): keeping your details out of command output, which goes to the model.
- [What it doesn’t do](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#what-it-doesnt-do): the honest limits.
- [What was left out on purpose](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#what-was-left-out-on-purpose): practices that cost more than they saved.
- [Status](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#status): the version, where the decisions are, and where this is going.

## Commands

Run each one as `npx yokoten <command>`. Every command prints its own help with `--help`.

- [`install`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#commands): puts the skills, agents and two user-level hooks on this computer. Once per computer.
- [`init [dir]`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#commands): puts the practices into a project: rules, the commit check, the tool-call hook, CI and templates. Keeps files you already have.
- [`init --github --yes`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#commands): adds the standard labels and a first milestone on GitHub.
- [`init --no-ci`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#a-private-repo-without-ci): keeps CI off, for a private repo that pays for its Actions minutes.
- [`update [--write]`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#updating-the-rules): shows what changes in the core rules of your AGENTS.md; --write replaces them.
- [`doctor [--session] [--json]`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#commands): the road: which stage the project is at, and the one next step.
- [`adopt [--json]`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#four-layers): drafts the adoption table for an old project. Writes nothing.
- [`check [--staged] [--json]`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#commands): layout, privacy and lead-only files, for the tree or the next commit.
- [`check --pr`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#the-changelog): in CI: the pull request’s title, sections, linked issue, change file and labels.
- [`check --issue`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#issue-titles): in CI: the issue’s title.
- [`check --history`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#privacy): the privacy check over every past commit. Run it before a private repo goes public.
- [`redact`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#privacy): reads text and writes it back with your details hidden.
- [`marks allow <mark> --here`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#privacy): lets one of your private marks through in this repo only.
- [`changelog [--write]`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#the-changelog): shows what the change files add to the changelog; --write puts them in.
- [`learn <issue> [--write]`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#learning-from-an-incident): drafts a check from an incident issue, for a person to review.
- [`learn --upstream "<what happened>"`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#commands): keeps a note about a gap in yokoten itself, with the project and you hidden.
- [`hook [--agent <name>]`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#commands): the tool-call guard that agents run before each action.
- [`hook --stop`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#the-stop-check): the stop check that runs when an agent ends its turn.
- [`explain [<id>]`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#commands): what a rule or a step is, why, and how yokoten checks it.
- [`uninstall`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#commands): takes back what install wrote. Your own files and settings stay.
- [`bot -- <command>`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#commands): runs one gh or git push command as the bot, with a short-lived token.
- [`help <command>, version`](https://github.com/yokoten-labs/yokoten/blob/main/docs/guide.md#commands): help for one command, and the version.

---

- [yokoten: guardrails and good team habits for AI coding agents](https://yokoten.app/index.md)
- [How it works · yokoten](https://yokoten.app/how-it-works.md)
- [Roadmap · yokoten](https://yokoten.app/roadmap.md)
- [Quick start · yokoten](https://yokoten.app/start.md)
- [About · yokoten](https://yokoten.app/about.md)
- [Contact · yokoten](https://yokoten.app/contact.md)
- [Privacy · yokoten](https://yokoten.app/privacy.md)
- [agents.md](https://yokoten.app/agents.md)
- [llms.txt](https://yokoten.app/llms.txt)

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