Getting Started: Pathway for Engineers

Pathway is your interface to the agent-aligned engineering standard. Browse job definitions, explore career progression, and generate AI agent teams matched to your role.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22+
• npm
• Data for the agent-aligned engineering standard at data/pathway/. If your organization did not distribute a bundle, generate starter data with npx fit-map init (see Initialize standard data below). Without this, every fit-pathway command exits with a data-directory-not-found error.

Install

npm install @forwardimpact/pathway

Initialize standard data

Run this unless your organization distributed a standard data bundle:

npx fit-map init

The command creates ./data/pathway/ with a complete starter agent-aligned engineering standard. If your organization distributes a bundle for the agent-aligned engineering standard, follow their installation instructions instead. That is typically a one-line curl | bash install script that places data at ~/.fit/data/pathway/.

Data directory resolution

The CLI resolves the data directory. It walks upward from the current working directory and looks for a data/pathway/ folder. To override, use the --data flag:

npx fit-pathway discipline --list --data=./my-data/pathway

Browse your job definition

Use the Pathway CLI to explore the agent-aligned engineering standard your organization defined.

npx fit-pathway discipline --list    # See available disciplines
npx fit-pathway level --list         # See available levels
npx fit-pathway track --list         # See available tracks

Combine a discipline, a level, and an optional track to generate a complete job definition:

npx fit-pathway job software-engineering J040 --track=platform

The command produces a full view of the skills, behaviours, and expectations for that role.

Generate agent teams

Create AI agent definitions matched to your role's skill profile:

npx fit-pathway agent software-engineering --track=platform --output=./agents

The command generates a .claude/ directory under ./agents/ and a .vscode/ directory to match. The generated tree holds one <persona>.md per agent profile under .claude/agents/ and a SKILL.md per skill under .claude/skills/<skill>/. It also holds shared team instructions at .claude/CLAUDE.md and the editor settings to match. The skill files are the same skill definitions humans reference. Pathway formats them for AI consumption.

To install into a project, copy the generated .claude/ and .vscode/ directories from ./agents/ into your project root. You can also re-run with --output=<your-project-root> so they land there directly.

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