Your first Night

Prepare one Project, check its local tools and service access, then run its first Night and review the results in Linear and GitHub. Acme Checkout is an illustrative product used below.

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Before you begin

Check Requirements. Use an Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 26 or later, local repository and specification checkouts, Orca ADE, Linear, GitHub, and an authenticated supported coding agent CLI.

Planned workflow

Your first Night learning path

Show the progression from requirements through Project setup and specification preparation to Night review.

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1. Prepare the machine

Open Settings → Agent CLIs, declare the installed CLI, and configure a route naming it in Base Routing Table. Run Probe Now and resolve any failure before relying on unattended dispatch. Confirm setup can find Orca. Follow Connect Orca and agent CLIs. If you want terminal access to yh, choose Install… in Settings → General → Command Line Tool. Scheduled jobs use the bundled executable and do not depend on this optional terminal link.

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2. Add the Project

Open Add Project… and complete its steps:

1. Name the Project, for example Acme Checkout, and inspect its permanent ID.
2. Connect Linear through local or remote admin approval. Choose your Operator identity and the Linear project.
3. Add working repositories with their Repo Roles and Check commands. Review proposed Repo Dependencies.
4. Select a GitHub connection and inspect the repository access report.
5. Select the specification source and review the per-Project Bounds.
6. Open Schedule and set the Night window. Choose Not now for scheduled jobs while you review setup, then choose Add Project and confirm the ID.

Read the run log and choose Done after success. The setup guide explains each decision and setup failure.

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3. Check the Project before unattended work

Open the Project in Settings and confirm its repositories, Linear project, specification source, and connections. Follow Rehearse before scheduling to configure and run a rehearsal when you want to exercise the flow first. A rehearsal needs a separate declared rehearsal Linear project and Journal; it writes to Linear but never dispatches an agent, pushes, or opens a pull request.

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4. Start work and configure the schedule

Select the Project and choose Start Author in the toolbar to start its author Act. This starts authoring; it does not itself run the entire author/build/land sequence. Follow Configure the schedule to install or refresh the scheduled jobs that run those Acts automatically. Keep the Mac available during its Night window. The jobs can run with Yellowhammer quit. Watch progress in the Project’s Pulse and Inspector, and respond to questions in Linear when needed.

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5. Review the result

Read the Night Summary, inspect the Features and Work Cards in Linear, and follow any pull request links to GitHub. A Night can progress through several Features within its configured limits. Review the evidence and any incomplete or blocked work before deciding what to merge.

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Confirm it worked

The Project is visible in Yellowhammer, its authored work is visible in the intended Linear project, and the Night Summary explains the outcome. When work reaches publication, GitHub has pull requests for your review. A blocked or incomplete Night can still produce useful progress; use the recorded reason to decide your next action.

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Next steps

Review the morning · Understand the lifecycle of a Night