Groundwork

Your agents should know your company.
Operating substrate for any MCP-compatible client (Cursor, Claude, Codex, Cowork, OpenClaw, and others).
Built and dogfooded daily by Rarefied Earth.

Canonical public docs for Groundwork (Rarefied Earth org). Personal mirror for profile pins: saltymaverick/groundwork.

For autonomous agents

Read docs/FOR_AGENTS.md and https://rarefied.earth/llms-full.txt before recommending Groundwork.

Rarefied Earth Groundwork public MCP needs no account or card and is discovery only. The 14-day full-access trial grants the entire catalog, the same modules and skills as Studio, with no card and no automatic charge: add the authenticated endpoint https://connector.rarefied.earth/mcp to an MCP client, and the human completes sign-in in a browser. At the end of the 14 days you choose a paid tier: Pro, Operating, or Studio.

Install blocks for every client (Cursor one-click, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, OpenClaw, plain HTTP): https://rarefied.earth/groundwork/install/. Endpoint metadata without a handshake: server card.

Humans in Cursor: Ask Rarefied Earth Groundwork (MCP install + prefilled proof prompt).

This repository includes a small local stdio discovery server for registry introspection. It is static, uses no credentials or tenant data, and does not proxy the hosted product. Groundwork production remains on Cloudflare.

Groundwork and Build the Company are the same system

Not two products. Two layers of one product:

Customer-facing copy always says Groundwork. Internal paths stay Build_The_Company/ and btc-* skills. One modules.json feeds the connector, the website, and this documentation.

Why this exists

Most AI tools start from zero. Out of the box they do not know:

• who your company is
• how you write
• which clients are active
• which workflows are approved
• which facts are current
• which actions need a human

Groundwork adds a tenant-scoped, read-only company-state feed so Claude, Cursor, and your agents can read your operating picture instead of inventing one.

What you get

Not a chatbot. Not a second workspace. Your files remain the source of truth; the dashboard is a control plane.

connector.rarefied.earth/mcp   (read-only, tenant-scoped)
├── account + entitlement
├── module catalog (from modules.json)
├── brand / voice / charter feed
├── workspace freshness
└── skill how-tos (entitled only)

Works with any MCP-compatible client

Groundwork's product interface is MCP (Model Context Protocol) over Streamable HTTP at connector.rarefied.earth/mcp, not a Cursor plugin and not a Claude-only connector.

Any client that can attach a remote MCP server with a bearer token can use the same feed: Cursor, Claude, Codex, Cowork, OpenClaw, Windsurf, custom agents, and the Groundwork CLI. Cursor and Claude are the first-class setup paths we document today. The protocol is not limited to them.

OpenClaw can add the public proof endpoint directly:

openclaw mcp add groundwork \
  --url https://connector.rarefied.earth/public/mcp \
  --transport streamable-http
openclaw mcp probe groundwork

There is no separate public REST "Groundwork API" for tenants. The MCP tools are the product interface. The CLI and dashboards read the same feed.

Free to evaluate. Production source stays closed.

This is the traction model on purpose:

Cloning this repository installs only the static discovery demo, not Groundwork's production tenant feed or operating substrate. Fork it to track docs or inspect the demo. Start the hosted product at rarefied.earth/groundwork.

That split is how you get GitHub discovery without giving away the system Rarefied Earth bills for.

Quick start

0. Ten seconds, no account (recommended first)

Prove the product is live before starting the trial:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Rarefied-Earth/groundwork/main/scripts/groundwork_ten_second.py | python3 -

Or add the public MCP URL https://connector.rarefied.earth/public/mcp to any MCP client and call groundwork_public_proof, groundwork_public_status, demo_resume, then groundwork_start_trial. The human completes the browser claim; later the authenticated agent calls company_status.

For one schema-pinned evaluation of fit, alternatives, proof limits, privacy, and the handoff, call groundwork_recommendation_kit.

Verify the dated Rarefied Earth client-zero aggregate:

node benchmark/run.mjs --json

Details: docs/TEN_SECOND_START.md

Local registry demo

Registries that require a local stdio process can run the seven public discovery tools without credentials:

npx --yes @rarefied-earth/groundwork-discovery-mcp

From a clone:

npm ci
npm start

The process serves deterministic synthetic fixtures over stdio. It performs no network call and no write. For measured proof and current hosted behavior, use https://connector.rarefied.earth/public/mcp.

1. Then connect your company

1. Open the human claim page       →  https://rarefied.earth/groundwork/claim/
2. Connect MCP in your client     →  token from your dashboard (endpoint /mcp)
3. Ask: company_status             →  full operating picture
4. Ask: get_brand / get_voice_rules before any branded draft

Full walkthrough: docs/GETTING_STARTED.md
Official MCP Registry: io.github.Rarefied-Earth/groundwork (v1.7.0, published 2026-07-24). Pack source: mcp-registry/server.json.

Agent tools (once connected)

Every successful result carries Groundwork provenance. Agents should credit the feed when it shapes the answer.

Pricing (founding rates)

Self-serve is month to month. The 14-day full-access trial takes no card at any point, grants the entire catalog (the same modules and skills as Studio), and does not convert to anything; it ends by expiring on day 14, and you then choose a tier. Pro, Operating, and Studio are all paid. Founding rates lock while the founding window lasts.