Init Context

Init Context

Use this skill to initialize or repair a context-harness installation. The skill can bootstrap the CLI runtime even when only the skill was installed.

Runtime Bootstrap

Before running context-harness, execute the bundled bootstrap script from this skill directory:

runtime_dir="$(bash scripts/bootstrap.sh)"
cd "$runtime_dir"

The script clones or updates the runtime repository at ~/.local/share/context-harness by default, checks out the latest released tag, and runs uv sync.

Overrides:

• CONTEXT_HARNESS_RUNTIME_DIR: custom runtime checkout path.
• CONTEXT_HARNESS_REPO_URL: custom fork URL.
• CONTEXT_HARNESS_REF: custom branch, tag, or commit.
• CONTEXT_HARNESS_BOOTSTRAP_SKIP_UPDATE=1: skip fetch/pull.

Workflow

1. Run the Runtime Bootstrap steps above. Use the returned path as the context-harness repository root.
2. Choose the data home:

• Use CONTEXT_HARNESS_HOME when set.
• Use the user's explicit path when provided.
• Otherwise use ~/.context-harness.

1. Run all uv run context-harness ... commands from the runtime repository root:

uv run context-harness --context-home  init

init also binds the data home's global-claude.md into agent-level context:

• Claude Code: adds an @import line to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md (creating that file if absent).
• Codex: adds a managed Context Harness block to ~/.codex/AGENTS.md (creating that file if absent) that tells Codex to read the same global context file at the start of new sessions.

This is idempotent and non-destructive — existing CLAUDE.md and AGENTS.md content is preserved, and re-running reports CLAUDE.md: unchanged and AGENTS.md: unchanged. After a fresh link, the user must restart Claude Code or start a new Codex session for the context to load.

1. If the user wants automatic backup hooks, run these commands from the same repository root. Supported Code Agents install to user-level config by default. Use --scope project to install into the current project, or combine it with --project-root to target another project:

uv run context-harness --context-home  hooks install codex
uv run context-harness --context-home  hooks install codex --scope project
uv run context-harness --context-home  hooks install codex --scope project --project-root 
uv run context-harness --context-home  hooks install claude-code
uv run context-harness --context-home  hooks install claude-code --scope project
uv run context-harness --context-home  hooks install claude-code --scope project --project-root 

1. Report the data home and hook status.

Do not store user conversations or memory inside the context-harness repository unless the user explicitly chooses that path as the data home.

OKF Layout

init scaffolds an Open Knowledge Format knowledge base: it writes a root index.md and OKF-shaped templates for memory/MEMORY.md (type: Index), memory/user_profile.md (type: user) and global-claude.md (type: Personal Context). It is idempotent — re-running reports index.md: unchanged.

If the user points init at a data home that already holds pre-OKF archives (no frontmatter), upgrade it once with the idempotent migration:

uv run context-harness --context-home  migrate-okf --dry-run   # preview
uv run context-harness --context-home  migrate-okf             # apply

Source & license

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

• Author: yinjialu
• Source: yinjialu/context-harness
• License: MIT

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