Context Pack
Use this skill to turn a repository into a small, prioritized briefing before deeper exploration.
If the context-pack MCP server is installed through this plugin, prefer the MCP tools over shelling out manually:
get_contextget_changed_contextget_file_excerptinit_memoryrefresh_memory
Workflow
- Start with
context-pack --cwd <repo>or theget_contextMCP tool before a manual tree walk unless the task is already extremely narrow. - Read the generated briefing first. Prioritize guidance docs, manifests, entrypoints, active work, and caveats before opening large source files.
- Pick flags based on the task:
- Active work:
context-pack --cwd <repo> --changed-only --no-tree - Machine-readable output:
context-pack --cwd <repo> --format json - Tight prompt budget:
context-pack --cwd <repo> --changed-only --no-tree --max-bytes 2000 - Noisy repo tuning: add
--include,--exclude,--max-files, or--max-depth
- Active work:
- If the user wants persistent learned notes, use:
context-pack --cwd <repo> --init-memorycontext-pack --cwd <repo> --refresh-memory- or the matching
init_memory/refresh_memoryMCP tools
- Only after the briefing is in hand should you move to manual file reads, targeted search, or code changes.
Output Focus
- Name the repo shape and likely entrypoints.
- Call out the most useful files to read next.
- Summarize active work separately from static repo structure.
- Mention caveats such as missing
AGENTS.md, missingREADME, disabled git, or truncated output. - Quote the exact
context-packcommand you used when it affects the result.
Patterns
- Orientation: use the default markdown output and summarize what to read first.
- Reviewing ongoing work: use
--changed-onlyto keep the bundle focused on active files and diffs. - Automation: prefer
--format jsonwhen another tool or script needs the result. - Legacy repos: initialize or refresh
.context-pack/memory.mdwhen repo-authored docs are weak.
Guardrails
- Do not substitute a raw
tree, blindrg, or random large-file reads for the first pass whencontext-packis available. - If the generated bundle is too broad or too thin, rerun with tighter budgets or explicit include/exclude globs instead of guessing.
- Treat repo-type summaries and rankings as heuristics; if the code disagrees, say so explicitly.