context

What it is

URI

majordomus://feature/context

Kind

feature

Identity

context

Path

.ai/repo/features/context.md

Provenance

declared

Media type

text/markdown

As a capability

feature.context

Front matter

{
  "schema": "feature/v1",
  "id": "context",
  "kind": "feature",
  "title": "Every directory of the layer carries its contract, and a worker reads what applies",
  "short_title": "Context",
  "headline": "Context is a tree, not one file: the documents that apply to a path are resolved from the root down, the nearest one adds and never silently replaces, and a worker loads what its task needs and nothing more.",
  "summary": "Every README under .ai/ is a context document with an identity, a scope, the providers and audience it addresses and how it composes with its ancestors; the repository scope declares what a worker reads and what it never reads; and the briefing a worker gets is assembled from durable state within a line budget with every exclusion named.",
  "status": "stable",
  "weight": 140,
  "domain": "context",
  "featured": false,
  "areas": [
    "context"
  ],
  "modules": [
    "directories",
    "repository",
    "devcontext",
    "pack"
  ],
  "commands": [
    "context"
  ],
  "kinds": [
    "context",
    "scope",
    "workspace"
  ],
  "rules": [
    "majordomus.context-integrity",
    "majordomus.minimum-sufficient-context",
    "project.context-locality",
    "project.scope-is-declared",
    "majordomus.layout-integrity",
    "majordomus.ai-layout-integrity"
  ],
  "docs": [
    "docs/CONTEXT.md",
    "docs/SCOPE.md"
  ],
  "adrs": [
    "adr-0011"
  ],
  "claims": [
    "context-documents",
    "context-coverage",
    "context-impact",
    "context-selection-budget",
    "minimum-context",
    "scope-declared",
    "ai-layer-manifest",
    "local-state-ignored",
    "no-counts-in-context"
  ],
  "use_cases": [
    "read-only-the-context-that-fits",
    "document-every-directory-of-the-layer",
    "trace-a-change-to-the-context-it-affects",
    "classify-what-belongs-in-the-context"
  ],
  "cockpit": [
    "directories"
  ],
  "related": [
    "continuity",
    "policy"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "context",
    "scope"
  ]
}

Content

---
schema: feature/v1
id: context
kind: feature
title: Every directory of the layer carries its contract, and a worker reads what applies
short_title: Context
headline: Context is a tree, not one file: the documents that apply to a path are resolved from the root down, the nearest one adds and never silently replaces, and a worker loads what its task needs and nothing more.
summary: Every README under .ai/ is a context document with an identity, a scope, the providers and audience it addresses and how it composes with its ancestors; the repository scope declares what a worker reads and what it never reads; and the briefing a worker gets is assembled from durable state within a line budget with every exclusion named.
status: stable
weight: 140
domain: context
featured: false
areas: [context]
modules: [directories, repository, devcontext, pack]
commands: [context]
kinds: [context, scope, workspace]
rules: [majordomus.context-integrity, majordomus.minimum-sufficient-context, project.context-locality, project.scope-is-declared, majordomus.layout-integrity, majordomus.ai-layout-integrity]
docs: [docs/CONTEXT.md, docs/SCOPE.md]
adrs: [adr-0011]
claims: [context-documents, context-coverage, context-impact, context-selection-budget, minimum-context, scope-declared, ai-layer-manifest, local-state-ignored, no-counts-in-context]
use_cases: [read-only-the-context-that-fits, document-every-directory-of-the-layer, trace-a-change-to-the-context-it-affects, classify-what-belongs-in-the-context]
cockpit: [directories]
related: [continuity, policy]
tags: [context, scope]
---

## What it does

`majordomus context resolve <path>` prints the documents that apply to a path, least
specific first; `context explain` says why each is in or out; `context validate` refuses a
tree with a missing contract, a duplicate identity, a broken or cyclic override, or an
override of a document marked final; `context affected` names the documents a change set
touches. The repository scope is declared once, out over in, and the executable discovers,
indexes and serves nothing outside it.

## What it does not do

A provider's own nested-file loading is an optimisation the tool does not replace; the
resolution is what applies. The checkout-local half of the layer is never context and never
published.