> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://tinyhumans.gitbook.io/opencompany/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://tinyhumans.gitbook.io/opencompany/for-developers/companies.md).

# Authoring companies

A company is a manifest plus docs — data, not code.

Every folder under `companies/` is a **business type — data, not code.** The single configurable host instantiates any of them; a business is a manifest plus its docs, never its own program. Adding a business is a new folder, not a new crate.

## Anatomy of a company

Each folder follows the same shape:

| Part     | File           | Content                                                                                                                                            |
| -------- | -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Manifest | `company.toml` | The roster of agents, their responsibilities, the output, and the moments reserved for the human — the machine-readable definition the host loads. |
| Story    | `README.md`    | What the company does and produces, in plain language, including **what the human keeps.**                                                         |

The behavior lives entirely in the host and the vendored runtimes; each definition just configures it. The operator console is a separate, company-agnostic app under `frontend/` — one UI for every company.

## What goes in the manifest

A `company.toml` seeds the whole company:

* **Roster** — the agents and their distinct mandates.
* **Charter defaults** — mission, tone, and never-do seeds.
* **`[policy]`** — the checkpoints: which effects always require the operator (spend, send, sign, publish). A definition with no checkpoints is rejected.

## Author, validate, launch

```sh
opencompany check companies/marketing_agency        # validate
opencompany serve --company companies/marketing_agency   # launch
```

`opencompany check` reports any problems in plain language. Lint rules enforce: unique agent ids; every sellable skill priced and described; `[policy]` present; the README states the human role; and prosumer-language rules on the README and descriptions (no runtime internals like "agent graph" or "dispatch" leaking into operator-facing text).

## Customization without forking

An operator's changes — interview answers, charter edits, standing rules — layer **over** a template with provenance. The template underneath stays pristine, so a template update can be offered as a diff ("the Marketing Agency template improved its SEO teammate — apply?") instead of a merge conflict. Applying a template update is always an explicit action, never automatic.

## Run several together

Bring up the host + console with the hot-reloading demo launcher:

```sh
./scripts/launch-demo.sh marketing up
./scripts/launch-demo.sh marketing down       # stop; keep data
./scripts/launch-demo.sh marketing down -v    # also delete persistent data
```

`./scripts/list-demos.sh` lists every accepted company directory name and the short aliases for the common demos.