Project Context

Project Context

Purpose

Keep durable repo context in ordinary files so later sessions can resume without rebuilding state.

Use / Do Not Use

Use this skill when repo work needs durable context across threads or agents: resume or handoff, long-running work, subagent follow-through, reusable reference notes, a current task brief, or append-only logs.

Do not bootstrap for read-only questions, one-shot inspections, or implicit migration of scattered legacy docs. If the layout is missing, choose explicit adoption or migration.

Core Bias

• Ordinary repo files over external systems or hidden memory.
• Current trusted topic context: docs/reference/**.
• Current task resume state: BRIEF.md.
• Append-only trail: logs/*.md.
• Small contract, portable paths, no secrets.
• When reuse is unclear, create a new dated task.

Contract

docs/
  reference/**/*.md
  tasks/yyyy/mm-dd//
    BRIEF.md
    logs/{DECISIONS,WORKLOG}.md
    [optional] .md
    [optional] working/
    [optional] archive/
  [optional] BACKLOG.md

• docs/reference/**: current trusted reference context only. Keep reusable rules and reliable facts here, not investigation history, progress, timeline narrative, code indexes, implementation tours, or source-file tables of contents. Include paths only for the minimum owner surfaces needed to verify the rule or fact. When user corrections or deletion requests affect a reference claim, rewrite or remove the stale claim; keep only the corrected reliable fact or a pointer to the authoritative owner.
• docs/tasks/yyyy/mm-dd//: default task workspace for real work.
• BRIEF.md: rewrite-only compact resume card, not a report or log. Keep stable goal, scope boundary, current facts or conclusions, current resumable state, and nearest next step.
• In long-running work, rewrite BRIEF.md at each phase boundary so it contains only current resumable state; move phase history and evidence to logs/, working/, or archive/.
• logs/DECISIONS.md and logs/WORKLOG.md: append-only decision and execution trail. Keep evidence here, not in the brief.
• [optional] .md: unresolved carry-over only, such as RESEARCH-BACKLOG.md or QA-BACKLOG.md. Add it only when one next step is not enough.
• [optional] working/: in-progress drafts, probes, staging evidence, and undecided plans.
• [optional] archive/: completed, rejected, replaced, or stale remnants that no longer own current state.
• [optional] docs/BACKLOG.md: not-yet-active repo-level future work only. Once active, move state into a dated task and remove the repo backlog item.

BRIEF.md Ownership

Use only these top-level headings unless the user explicitly asks otherwise:

• Goal or Intent
• Scope
• Current Understanding or Current Facts
• Current State
• Next Step or Next Actions
• optional Working Boundary

Semantic rules:

• Apply user corrections and deletion requests by rewriting current state; BRIEF.md keeps only the resulting fact, boundary, or next step.
• Goal states the stable task target only. Keep background and rationale elsewhere.
• Scope is a boundary summary, not a touched-file list.
• Current Understanding is for compact conclusions only. Move design policy or durable conclusions to a current-canonical task doc or docs/reference/** when reusable; move investigation notes, benchmark tables, and staging evidence to working/ or logs.
• Current State says what is true if the task resumes now. Move "what was done" narration to logs/WORKLOG.md.
• Next Step owns only the nearest restartable move, not a backlog. For finished work, use a compact Reopen if ... condition when useful.
• Do not add sections such as Validation, Files Changed, Touched Files, History, Worklog, Investigation, Evidence, Completed, or Checklist.
• Do not include command output, validation transcripts, investigation history, benchmark matrices, PR/release/deploy chronology, completed-work history, or touched-file inventories.
• If validation status matters, summarize it in one Current State sentence and keep details in logs/WORKLOG.md.
• If exact paths materially lower reopen cost, put the smallest useful repo-relative path set in Working Boundary, usually at most 5 paths.

• Budgets are soft review triggers: usually keep BRIEF.md around 300-500 words, each section around 1-5 bullets, and Scope around 1-3 bullets. Repeated pressure means the material needs another owning surface.

Task Root Ownership

• Task root owns current-canonical docs and routers only. Every root markdown file should answer either "this is the current source for this topic" or "this routes readers to the current owners."
• Small tasks default to BRIEF.md, logs/DECISIONS.md, and logs/WORKLOG.md; larger tasks may add current-canonical docs or routers when they make the task easier to scan.
• Put active drafts, probes, staging evidence, and undecided plans in working/; chronology and validation detail in logs; completed, replaced, or stale docs in archive/.

Log Limits

Logs are append-only, but not command transcripts.

For logs/WORKLOG.md:

• Append one block per meaningful work batch, not per command or file.
• Merge repetitive edits, retries, validation attempts, and feedback micro-iterations into one short outcome block after the cluster settles.
• Do not paste raw shell output unless the exact text is essential evidence.
• Keep evidence concise: command names, repo-relative paths, summarized results, or small nested evidence bullets when that is easier to scan.
• Record failed attempts only when they affect the next restartable step.
• Separate task validation from pre-existing repo debt or unrelated warnings.
• Prefer fewer, denser blocks over many micro-blocks.
• Use the existing task language and voice. Write natural bullets that include outcome, compact evidence, and remaining restart conditions only when they matter.

For logs/DECISIONS.md:

• Record only decisions affecting future interpretation, scope, architecture, rollback, or rule application.
• Do not log routine edits, validation passes, file creation, or obvious implementation steps.
• Keep each block as 4 bullets: Background, Decision, Why, Impact.
• When work is paused, rejected, or converted into reference-only status, record the final decision and reopen condition in DECISIONS.md or the compact current state in BRIEF.md.

For both logs:

• Add entries under dated sections using **YYYY-MM-DD**.
• Keep language consistent with the existing task; otherwise use the current user language.
• For log writes, resolve the skill-relative scripts/task_logs.py path and use its append entrypoints by default. If unavailable, append manually with the same block shape.

Path and Ownership Rules

• Use repo-relative paths or placeholders like `, , and $CODEX_HOME`; never user-specific absolute paths.
• Never store secrets.
• Parent agent owns BRIEF.md and canonical logs.
• Subagents write only temporary notes or artifacts unless explicitly assigned canonical writeback.
• Subagents start without inherited context; pass a small brief: goal, latest user constraints, boundary notes, unverified assumptions or unknowns, validation command, artifact path.

Operating Model

1. Read reusable context.

• Use rg in docs/reference/**/*.md for the active topic.
• Start with up to 3 narrow reference files closest to the task.
• Before creating a new reference, or a new task for likely continuation work, check the closest project-context surfaces for the same unresolved work or reusable current context.
• If code, API, config, tests, or an explicitly named external owner is authoritative, link to that owner instead of restating it; keep project-context content to task-specific resume or routing context.

1. Check one related task.

• Read BRIEF.md first.
• Open logs only if the brief still matches the same unfinished work.

1. Decide reuse or new task.

• Reuse only when unresolved work and expected output still match.
• Use boundary notes as hints, not task identity.
• Otherwise start a new dated task.

1. Ensure the task shell.

• If durable context is warranted and the repo is effectively empty, create docs/reference/ and one dated task with BRIEF.md and logs.
• For most write-bearing tasks, create or update one dated task.
• Skip task creation only for very small, low-judgment, immediately finished changes.

1. Write canonical surfaces.

• Rewrite BRIEF.md in place.
• Append decisions and worklog entries.
• Move only reusable current rules or reliable facts into docs/reference/**; keep investigation, progress, and one-off task state in task-local surfaces.
• After creating or materially editing any task doc, re-check task root ownership.

1. Add optional surfaces only when needed.

• Add a task-local backlog only when one next step is not enough.
• Keep repo backlog only for inactive future work.
• Do not mirror open work across brief, backlog, working notes, and logs.

1. If context is missing, proceed with explicit assumptions and record corrections after execution.

Anti-Patterns

• Bootstrapping project-context files for read-only or one-shot work.
• Reusing a task because the topic is similar rather than the same unresolved work.
• Turning BRIEF.md into append history, reusable docs, validation notes, file inventory, or rationale.
• Letting Scope become a touched-file list.
• Letting Current State narrate work sequence instead of resumable state.
• Letting Next Step become a backlog.
• Letting task root become a mixed warehouse instead of current-canonical docs and routers.
• Turning docs/reference/** into investigation notes, progress, or timeline narrative.
• Turning docs/reference/** into a code inventory, implementation tour, or table of contents for current source files.
• Creating generic overflow files instead of purpose-named task-local docs.
• Keeping completed items in docs/BACKLOG.md.
• Mixing canonical docs, temporary notes, and finished remnants at one task root.
• Dumping raw command transcripts, repetitive micro-steps, or noisy shell output into WORKLOG.md.
• Duplicating the same benchmark numbers or validation matrix in both BRIEF.md and WORKLOG.md unless the second surface adds a new interpretation.
• Logging routine edits or validation passes as decisions.
• Saving absolute user-specific paths or secrets.

Guardrail Check

Run the bundled checker by resolving scripts/check_runtime_shape.py from the installed project-context skill directory and executing it from the active repo root. If running from a subdirectory, pass --repo-root when nested docs trees could confuse root detection.

The checker covers runtime shape only: required files, latest log-block shape, task/reference path markers, and secret-like markers. It does not judge ownership, semantic quality, full history, merge correctness, or broader scope discipline.

Before finalizing:

• Rewrite BRIEF.md if it contains forbidden sections, path inventory, progress narration, a backlog-like next step, or more detail than needed to resume.
• Reclassify root task docs if they mix current canonical docs with drafts, reports, evidence, or stale plans that belong in working/, logs, or archive/.

Final Gates

• Can a later session reopen the work from BRIEF.md without reconstructing state?
• Is reusable current context in docs/reference/** instead of task logs?
• Is the execution and decision trail confined to logs/*.md?
• Does task root contain only current-canonical docs and routers?
• Did task reuse follow unresolved work and expected output rather than topic similarity?
• If git status --short shows untracked project-context files, are they intentionally kept, ignored, or moved into the right task/reference/archive surface?
• If a skill file changed, did the final note either verify the installed/runtime copy or state that install sync was out of scope?
• Are paths portable and secrets absent?

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: perhapsspy
• Source: perhapsspy/project-context
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.