Manifests

The manifest (wave.yaml) is the single source of truth for all Wave orchestration behavior. Every pipeline, persona, adapter, and runtime setting traces back to this file.

Why a Single File?

Wave deliberately consolidates configuration into one file rather than scattering it across directories:

• Auditable — one file to review for security and correctness.
• Versionable — the manifest is committed alongside your source code.
• Portable — move the file and the project's orchestration moves with it.
• Validatable — wave validate checks the entire configuration in one pass.

Manifest Structure

Section Responsibilities

Section	Purpose	Required
metadata	Project identification — name, description, repo URL	yes
adapters	LLM CLI configurations — binary paths, modes, default permissions	yes
personas	Agent role definitions — prompts, temperatures, permissions, hooks	yes
runtime	Execution settings — workspace root, concurrency, timeouts, relay	yes
skills	Named skill configurations with install, check, and provisioning settings	no

Manifest Lifecycle

wave init          → Creates scaffold manifest
     ↓
Edit wave.yaml     → Configure for your project
     ↓
wave validate      → Check syntax and references
     ↓
wave run           → Execute pipelines using manifest config

Reference Resolution

The manifest uses string references to connect entities:

personas:
  navigator:
    adapter: claude     # ← References adapters.claude
    system_prompt_file: .wave/personas/navigator.md  # ← File on disk

steps:
  - persona: navigator  # ← References personas.navigator
    dependencies: [analyze]  # ← References another step ID

wave validate checks all these references at validation time, before any pipeline runs.

Manifest vs Pipeline Files

Concern	Where
Adapters, personas, runtime	wave.yaml (project-wide)
Step DAGs, execution logic	.wave/pipelines/*.yaml (per-workflow)

Pipelines are separate files because a project may have many workflows (feature development, hotfix, CI/CD, etc.) sharing the same adapters and personas.

Further Reading

• Manifest Schema Reference — complete field-by-field reference
• Quickstart - practical configuration walkthrough
• Adapters — how adapters work
• Personas — the persona system