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Quickstart

This guide gets you from zero to a running goal in the Control Tower.

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Prerequisites

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1. Restore NodalMerge dependencies

From the nodalmerge-studio repo root, pack local NodalMerge NuGet artifacts from the sibling repo: 
pwsh -File .\scripts\restore-local-nodalmerge.ps1

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2. Restore and build

dotnet restore NodalMerge.Studio.slnx --configfile NuGet.config
dotnet build NodalMerge.Studio.slnx

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3. Build the VS Code extension

cd clients\vscode-extension
npm install
npm run compile

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4. Start the Studio host

pwsh -File .\scripts\dev.ps1
Verify it’s up: 
curl http://127.0.0.1:5080/health
curl http://127.0.0.1:5080/studio/health

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5. Launch the extension

Press F5 from the clients/vscode-extension directory to launch the extension in a VS Code Extension Development Host.

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6. Run “NodalMerge: Open Studio”

Open the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) and run NodalMerge: Open Studio. This opens the Control Tower — a tabbed shell with Goal Workspace, Activity Center, Model & Agent Studio, Decision Convergence, and Pathways.

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7. Configure an agent profile

Before you can run a goal, define at least one agent profile in VS Code settings — this maps agent roles to an LLM provider and model: 
// settings.json
{
  "nodalmerge.agentProfiles": [
    {
      "id": "orchestrator",
      "label": "Orchestrator (Claude)",
      "domain": "orchestration",
      "provider": "anthropic",
      "model": "claude-sonnet-4-6",
      "apiKeyRef": "anthropic-key",
      "systemPromptHint": "You are an orchestrator agent. Plan work, assign tasks, review results."
    }
  ]
}
provider can be anthropic, openai, or vscode-lm (VS Code’s built-in Language Model API — no API key required). Store API keys via VS Code’s SecretStorage (Ctrl+Shift+P → “Preferences: Configure Runtime Arguments”, or through the Model & Agent Studio panel’s Profiles tab).

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8. Run your first goal

In the Goal Workspace topbar:
  1. Type a goal, e.g. “Add input validation to the signup form”
  2. Leave Exploration Strategy at its default (single-agent) and Review: Human Required (the default review policy)
  3. Click ▶ Run
Watch the Decision Tree populate as the orchestrator plans and workers execute. Click any node to load its timeline into the Decision Lens.

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9. Review and approve the proposal

When a worker finishes, it submits a merge proposal, which routes to Decision Convergence for review (or shows up under Activity Center’s “Pending Decisions”). Inspect the diff, evidence, and rationale, then Accept Decision and Apply Decision.

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Next steps