Start a session from a rendered framing, not a pasted transcript

setup: installed
given:
  - 'Majordomus installed; the skeleton ships its prompt assets'
steps:
  - id: which
    run: ['prompt', 'list']
    note: 'the small set of versioned framings; nothing ranks them'
    expect:
      exit: 0
      stdout_contains: ['continue', 'handover', 'review']
  - id: refuse-unknown
    run: ['prompt', 'show', 'nosuch']
    note: 'an asset that does not exist is named with the command that lists them'
    expect:
      exit: 12
      stdout_contains: ['no prompt asset', 'prompt list']
  - id: the-context
    run: ['context']
    note: 'what a prompt embeds: durable state in authority order, within the budget'
    expect:
      exit: 0
      stdout_contains: ['^## GIT', '^## BUDGET']
then:
  - 'a prompt is rendered against a closed set of state tokens'
  - 'the context inside it is the same one `context` prints'

The scenario

Executed against the real tool, in a repository prepared by installed, every time this site is generated. What follows is not a description of what should happen; it is what happened.

What the tool did

Evidence of the run this page was generated from: pass, 3 step(s). Output is normalised: the repository's path, timestamps, ids and durations are placeholders; nothing else is edited.

Tested by test/cases/94_use_cases.sh, which runs every scenario and refuses a step whose recorded output is not what it produced.

1. 1$ majordomus prompt list exit 0

   the small set of versioned framings; nothing ranks them

   continue               resume a task from durable state instead of from someone's memory
   debug                  frame a defect so that the fix is proven, not asserted
   handover               produce a continuation record body for the current task
   review                 review the working diff against the claimed scope and the finish contract

   • exit 0
   • stdout_contains /continue/
   • stdout_contains /handover/
   • stdout_contains /review/
2. 2$ majordomus prompt show nosuch exit 12

   an asset that does not exist is named with the command that lists them

   majordomus: no prompt asset 'nosuch' (.ai/repo/prompts/nosuch.md); try: majordomus prompt list

   • exit 12
   • stdout_contains /no prompt asset/
   • stdout_contains /prompt list/
3. 3$ majordomus context exit 0

   what a prompt embeds: durable state in authority order, within the budget

   # Majordomus context — <time>
   # a projection of durable state, not a source of truth: validate every line against git
   
   ## GIT
   repository   <repo>
   branch       main
   head         <sha>
   working_tree clean
   
   ## TASK
   none active — run: majordomus start "<task>" --scope <paths>
   
   ## KNOWLEDGE (candidates awaiting review on this branch; majordomus knowledge candidates)
   No knowledge candidates await review on this branch. That is an answer, not a gap: `majordomus knowledge candidates` lists every branch.
   
   ## EXCLUDED
   - context documents — no active task names a scope; run: majordomus context resolve <path>
   - handover — no record for this worktree and branch — absence, not a stale match
   
   ## BUDGET
   21 of 300 lines

   • exit 0
   • stdout_contains /^## GIT/
   • stdout_contains /^## BUDGET/

Why the tool knows this

The chain from this page to the code: the use case names commands, rules and claims; each rule is dispatched from the registry and each claim names the test that proves it; the scenario above executed the commands. Nothing in this chain is prose about intent.

• majordomus promptList, show and render the repository's own prompt assets, substituting known tokens only.
• majordomus contextWhat the next worker needs to know now, in authority order and within a budget.

The rules that make it hold

• ✕blocking Prompt integrityEvery repository-local prompt asset renders, and every token in it is one the renderer knows.
• ✕blocking Context budgetThe always-loaded projection stays within its line budget, every reference in it resolves, it states no count that will go stale, and the assembled context fits the builder's own budget.

Guarantees exercised

• ○guaranteed Every repository-local prompt asset renders, and an unknown token is a failure
• !advisory A profile declares which context a worker should load and no more
• ○guaranteed The context a worker is given is assembled from durable state in authority order, and what a profile excludes is excluded
• ○guaranteed A repository-local prompt renders against a closed set of state tokens, and an unknown token is an error

Related use cases

Computed from what they share: claims, rules, commands, category, applications. Nobody maintains this list.

• Hand unfinished work to the next sessionStop mid-task and leave the next worker something to act on that is not a transcript.
• Read only the context that fits the budget, and know what was droppedAssemble the context a worker needs now in authority order, cut it to a line budget, and see every dropped section named with its reason.
• Find an object of the layer without reading everythingSearch durable records literally across kinds from the shell, and ask the shared server the same question over MCP with majordomus_search and majordomus_get.
• Checkpoint long work so a stop costs minutes, not the dayRecord compact progress inside the active task at the profile interval, so a session that ends without warning leaves the next one a place to start.
• Resume in the right worktree, never against somebody else’s taskFind the handover that belongs to this worktree and branch, and see a task record from another checkout reported as foreign rather than enforced here.