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Short answer: yes, modify anything. Your clone is yours — it diverges freely and nothing syncs back automatically. The useful question isn’t “can I change it” but “how do I change it without making future foundation updates painful.” A simple three-layer model answers that.

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The three layers

Everything in a Synclair clone is one of three things:

Brain

The portable governance model — token vocabulary, the tiers, the docs contract, search, the invention gate, the knowledge layer. Stable across projects.

Adapter

The platform-specific seams — how a preview is depicted, how tokens are exported, how components are distributed. Swapped per target (web, React Native, SwiftUI).

Seed

Your project’s own content — brand ramps, theme, product name, knowledge, the component catalog, the domain skill. Reseeded per project; never syncs.

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What that means for modifying

The reseed is a file/directory operation, not untangling code. The seed lives in known places (lib/system/seed/, your theme, your knowledge, your catalog). Swap those; keep the rest.

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Fit it to your setup

Common “can I make it fit my setup” questions, answered:
  • “Can I run it on a different port / mount path?” The hub mount point is a single swappable constant, and it runs on port 4100 by default — both are yours to change.
  • “Can I target mobile, not web?” Yes — that’s what the adapter layer is for. The hub UI stays web/shadcn; only the adapter changes.
  • “Can I add my own skills and agents?” Yes — that’s expected. Just clear the capability gate (prove nothing existing covers it) so the set stays coherent.
  • “Can I restructure the hub?” You can, but that’s Brain — see the caution above.

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Keeping the option to pull updates

Because your clone keeps the foundation as a git upstream remote, you can choose to pull foundation improvements later — as an ordinary git merge, on your terms. Modifying seed freely costs you nothing here (seed conflicts resolve “keep ours”). Heavily forking brain is what makes that merge harder — so if you find yourself changing brain, ask whether it’s actually a foundation improvement worth contributing upstream rather than a private fork. The synclair-sync skill handles both directions.
Nothing syncs automatically — not foundation updates into your clone, and never your seed in either direction. Your brand, domain, and knowledge stay yours. Pulling updates is always a deliberate act.

Still have questions?

The fast-answer FAQ covers the rest.