Configuration

The configuration document is the authored source for an Atlante harness. It is normally stored as atlante.jsonc; strict JSON in atlante.json is also supported.

Only one configuration filename may exist in a project root. If both atlante.jsonc and atlante.json exist, Atlante reports an ambiguity and requires an explicit path.

Document shape

A document must contain the versioned $schema URI. The other top-level fields are optional:

Field	Purpose
$schema	Identifies the v0.1 document contract
extends	Selects one preset or an ordered list of presets
values	Defines named string values for interpolation
agents	Maps host-agent IDs to resource bindings
skills	Maps skill IDs to resource bindings

Unknown top-level fields are rejected. Missing agents and skills maps normalize to empty collections after resolution.

Minimal document

atlante.jsonc

{
  "$schema": "https://atlante.sh/schema/v0.1/schema.json",
  "extends": "@atlante/pack"
}

extends accepts one non-empty locator or a non-empty ordered array. A local configuration is applied after its selected preset layers, so local fields win.

Bindings

Each entry in agents or skills is either a resource locator or an object with a selector and local overlay fields:

{
  "agents": {
    "reviewer": {
      "$template": "@atlante/pack/agent",
      "description": "Reviews changes for defects and design issues.",
      "identity": "You are a careful reviewer.",
      "mission": "Find defects before changes are merged."
    }
  },
  "skills": {
    "testing": {
      "$template": "@atlante/pack/skill",
      "description": "Testing guidance for this project.",
      "sections": [
        { "instructions": ["Run the relevant test suite."] }
      ]
    }
  }
}

description, $template, $instance, and values are binding metadata. The selected template owns every other field. An effective agent or skill must have a non-empty description after value interpolation.

Raw and resolved documents

The authored document may contain preset selectors, source overlays, and tombstones represented by null. Resolution turns it into a canonical document with no extends, source selectors, or unresolved removals. Templates then validate the fields they own.

Read resolution and composition for the stages and configuration fields for the complete field reference.