---
id: "14.5"
title: "Onboarding a teammate"
dept: people-and-ways-of-working
status: needs-you
owner: Param
branded: false
last_verified: 2026-10-26
sources:
  - "handbook/AGENTS.md, handbook/WRITING.md"
  - "brew origin/main a559de6: README.md 'Run it locally', CLAUDE.md, SCOPE.md, DUMMY.md, tools/prod-env.sh:9"
  - "memory brew-handbook, brew-access-rules (index line), brew-prototype-repo, brew-live-stores, never-disconnect-arata-meta"
---

# Onboarding a teammate

## Answer

No onboarding plan exists yet, so this page proposes a day one to week two path built from what already exists, the handbook, the repo and the live sites, and lists the access a new person needs, for Param to accept.

## Today

- No onboarding checklist, buddy or first-week task appears in any source. [src: memory brew-handbook]
- The handbook is the planning home; `AGENTS.md` and `WRITING.md` are the first two reads. [src: handbook/AGENTS.md] [src: handbook/WRITING.md]
- The code is the private GitHub repo wulfor24/brew; it runs locally with `AI_MOCK=1` and keys from `../ugc-factory/.env`. [src: memory brew-prototype-repo] [src: brew/README.md]
- Product staff access comes from the email domain: joinsquareup.com or shopos.ai. [src: brew/tools/prod-env.sh:9] [src: memory brew-access-rules]
- Rules a newcomer must not break on day one: never wipe the five partners; never disconnect Arata's Meta or Shopify. [src: memory brew-live-stores] [src: memory never-disconnect-arata-meta]

## Tomorrow

| Item | Version | Tag |
|---|---|---|
| A two-week onboarding path | v1 | New, see How we do it |
| An access checklist kept in [Tools we use](/people-and-ways-of-working/tools-we-use) | v1 | New |
| A first-week task that ships to staging | v1 | New |

## How we do it

Proposed path.

### Day one
1. Accounts: a joinsquareup.com email, GitHub access to wulfor24/brew, the handbook through Cloudflare Access, the Slack workspace.
2. Read `AGENTS.md`, `WRITING.md`, the one-page company story and the decisions log.
3. Walk the demo at demo.joinsquareup.com as a visitor, then staging signed in on Cozy Snugglet.

### Days two to five
1. Run brew locally:

```bash
cd brew && npm ci
AI_MOCK=1 BUILD_RESUME_OFF=1 RESEARCH_OFF=1 LIVE_OFF=1 TREG_OFF=1 FEED_SIGNIN=0 node server.js
```

2. Read `brew/CLAUDE.md`, `SCOPE.md`, `DUMMY.md`, then [Architecture](/engineering/architecture) and [Parallel sessions](/engineering/parallel-sessions).
3. Read [How we work with Claude](/people-and-ways-of-working/how-we-work-with-claude) and run a first session on a small fix for every brand, with a test.
4. Ship it to staging with Param watching.

### Week two
1. Sit in on a QV round or a QA sweep.
2. Own one Open question in a handbook page and bring a proposal to the weekly review.
3. No production access until a restore test has been done together.

## Numbers

| Metric | Definition | Where measured |
|---|---|---|
| Days to first staging deploy | From start date to first change on staging | Proposed |
| Access granted on day one | Items on the checklist done on day one | Proposed |

## Open

1. **Accept the proposed path?** Proposal: accept as written, and try it on Sai or Arvind if either has not yet run brew locally.
2. **Who is the buddy for a new person?** Proposal: Param for engineers, Sai for anyone working with partners.
3. **When does a new person get production access?** Proposal: after 30 days and one restore test with Param.