# Ao Rules

Shared rules and the connection helper for every ao-* skill (run Orchestrator from chat).

- Repository: https://github.com/OrchestratorInc/agent-orchestrator (13995 stars)
- Category: Engineering
- License: Apache-2.0
- Last updated: 2026-11-01
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add OrchestratorInc/agent-orchestrator --skill ao-rules -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add OrchestratorInc/agent-orchestrator --skill ao-rules -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add OrchestratorInc/agent-orchestrator --skill ao-rules -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add OrchestratorInc/agent-orchestrator --skill ao-rules -g -a gemini-cli -y`

## Description

Shared rules and the connection helper for every ao-* skill (run Orchestrator from chat). Read before running any ao-* skill.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# AO rules

Every ao-* skill follows these rules. Other skills link here instead of repeating them.

## AO hosts
An **AO host** is one computer that runs the AO daemon. Each host has its own projects, sessions and orchestrators, and AO never links them: a repo cloned on two hosts is two separate projects. AO names a project after its folder, so both can still get the same id, and then the same session id (for example `agent-orchestrator-1-12`) can exist on both. Always name a session as `<host>/<session id>`, and act only on the host that owns it.

Memory keeps one note named **AO hosts**, with one line per host:

| Field | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `name` | `Pro` | A short name: the user's pick, else the model word of the ListMachines label (`Pro`, `Air`, `mini`). Never the network hostname such as `MacBookAir.lan` |
| `reach` | `local` or `remote` | How you get to its AO |
| `via` | `laptop` | The ListMachines label of the computer whose shell you use |
| `base` | `http://192.168.1.20:7444` | Remote only. The host's LAN address from AO's remote access settings |
| `header` | `~/.ao-grok/studio.header` | Remote only. File on `via` that holds the host's password |

- **local**: the Grok Bot desktop app runs on the AO host. `via` is the host itself.
- **remote**: the Grok Bot desktop app runs on another computer. You call the host's AO API over the network from `via`. The `ao` CLI on `via` talks only to `via`'s own AO, so never use it for a remote host.

One computer can be `via` for itself (local) and for other hosts (remote) at the same time.

Every run: call ListMachines, then use every host whose `via` computer is connected, in parallel, labelled by host name. Say once which hosts you could not reach. Never hard-code machine ids or home paths.

## Calling AO
Start every shell command that calls AO with this helper. It works in zsh and bash:

The rest: https://github.com/OrchestratorInc/agent-orchestrator/blob/HEAD/integrations/grok-bot/skills/ao-rules/SKILL.md