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Synclair is always a foundation for a product. The one structural question is where the clone sits relative to that product — inside its repo, or beside it. That single fact drives how updates flow, whether agents get Synclair’s skills ambiently, and how the hub frames what it documents. There are exactly two modes, named for topology.

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The two modes

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Why named by topology, not by “sync”

It’s tempting to name the modes after which way they sync — but two different syncs pull in opposite directions, so “the sync mode” is ambiguous:
  • Code ↔ knowledge tightness favors embedded — one repo means skills, digests, and the catalog live with the code and version with it.
  • Foundation-update ease favors watcher — a separate clone pulls upstream Synclair updates as an ordinary merge, with no risk of entangling the product repo’s history or tooling.
Because the two tugs point at different modes, topology is the one unambiguous axis: a clone is either inside the product repo or beside it. The sync trade-offs are a consequence of that choice, not the label.

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Which should I pick?

Pick embedded when…

You’re starting a new project, or you want agents building in your repo to get Synclair’s skills and knowledge ambiently, and one-repo ergonomics matter more than frictionless foundation updates.

Pick watcher when…

You’re adopting Synclair onto an existing app you’d rather not touch, and you want foundation updates to stay a clean, isolated merge. This is the recommended default for existing code.

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”Standalone” is not a third mode

A brand-new project that clones Synclair and builds the product in the clone is already embedded — the product and Synclair share one repo from commit one. “Standalone” is just embedded before the product files have been added. That pre-product state is a blank / unresolved marker, not a mode of its own.

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How the clone remembers its mode

The mode is recorded once, explicitly, so every agent and every page reads the same answer instead of re-guessing. It lives in a small file (data/setup.json), resolved determine → confirm → record: install paths write it authoritatively; otherwise Synclair infers it from repo topology, confirms with you, then records it. The hub chrome shows a small “Embedded mode” / “Watcher mode” badge so you always know which you’re in. (The upstream foundation repo itself ships blank — it’s never “set up”.)

Next: tour the hub

What each section of the Synclair hub is for.