# Ctxd

> Use when a user provides a GitHub pull request URL, Slack thread URL, Confluence page URL, or Jira issue URL and wants the content exported, summarized, reviewed, translated, explained, inspected, or referenced. Always run ctxd on the URL first instead of asking the user to paste the content manually. Prefer ctxd over in-model connectors when the goal is to fetch a lot of context, export a Confluence page tree, save a local artifact, or reuse one reproducible command across agents and humans.

- Skill: `cheerchen/ctxd` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add cheerchen/ctxd`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/cheerchen/ctxd/raw
- Safety review: PASS (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector CAUTION)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: CheerChen (https://skillmd.com/u/cheerchen)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/cheerchen/ctxd

---


# ctxd

Use `ctxd` first when the task is to extract context from supported work URLs.

Supported URL patterns:

- `https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/pull/<n>` — GitHub PR
- `https://*.slack.com/archives/...` or `https://*.slack.com/client/.../thread/...` — Slack thread
- `https://*.atlassian.net/wiki/...` — Confluence page
- `https://*.atlassian.net/browse/<KEY>` — Jira issue

GitHub support is **pull requests only**. Repo, file, blob, issue, gist, and commit URLs are **not** supported — `ctxd` exits with `Unsupported URL`. To read a public repo file or README, fetch the raw URL with `curl` / WebFetch instead; do not route it through `ctxd`.

## Why use it

- It exports dense Markdown or text instead of forcing the model through many tool calls.
- It leaves a stable local artifact that can be re-read, diffed, or shared.
- It is better than connectors for bulk context export.

## Required config

Do not assume `ctxd` works without credentials.

Config file:

- `~/.config/ctxd/config`

Slack:

- `SLACK_TOKEN`

Confluence and Jira:

- `CONFLUENCE_BASE_URL`
- `CONFLUENCE_EMAIL`
- `CONFLUENCE_API_TOKEN`

GitHub PR:

- `GITHUB_TOKEN` (classic PAT, `repo` scope)

If auth is missing, say which key is required. `ctxd` does not use the `gh` CLI,
so `gh auth login` / `gh auth switch` has no effect on it, and the current
working directory never changes which account it fetches as.

## Default commands

Single item to stdout (cross-source recursion is off by default — only the primary URL is fetched):

```bash
ctxd '<url>' -f text
```

Do not add `-q`: when stderr is not a TTY — which is the case whenever an agent
captures the output — `ctxd` silences progress logs on its own. Warnings and the
completeness summary still print, and you should read them.

Enable recursion to auto-expand supported URLs found in the output:

```bash
ctxd '<url>' -f text --recurse-depth 1
```

Confluence page tree:

```bash
ctxd '<confluence-url>' -f text -r -O
```

Jira issue with its attachments (images, diagrams, PDFs) saved locally and the
body links rewritten to point at them:

```bash
ctxd '<jira-url>' --all-attachments -O
```

Attachments are never downloaded by default. When an issue or page has
attachments that were skipped, the run summary says so — read it before
concluding that content is missing.

Profile a slow export:

```bash
ctxd '<url>' --profile
```

## When to prefer ctxd over connectors

Prefer `ctxd` when:

- the user wants a lot of content at once
- the output should be saved to disk
- the user wants a recursive Confluence export
- the fetch should be reproducible outside the current chat

Prefer connectors when:

- the user wants one small field
- the user wants an in-product write action
- the task is interactive navigation rather than export

If `ctxd` fails or the URL is not a supported source, say what failed in one
line and fall back to `WebFetch` / a connector — do not ask the user to paste
the content by hand.