Switch

Switch Project Context

Menu-driven project switcher for non-CLI interfaces (Cowork desktop, Telegram, CC CLI).

Resolve Workspace Root

Resolution order — use first that succeeds:

1. $COWORK_ROOT env var
2. git rev-parse --show-toplevel
3. Current working directory

If none resolve → abort: ❌ Cannot detect workspace. Set $COWORK_ROOT or run from a git repo.

Store result as $WS_ROOT for all subsequent phases.

Route by Arguments

Phase 1: Detect Projects

Parallel Glob from $WS_ROOT:

• **/CLAUDE.md (max depth 3)
• **/CONTEXT-*-llm.md (max depth 3, exclude done/)

Registry = each unique directory containing CLAUDE.md or CONTEXT file.

Phase 2: Present Menu

Group by area (repos/, projects/, code/ — or flat). Progressive disclosure: skip empty groups.

Extract project name from CLAUDE.md H1 heading. Present:

📂 Switch project context:

💼 [Group Name]
  1. [emoji] [Name] — [brief from H1 or first line]
  2. ...

Which one? (number or name)

Wait via AskUserQuestion. Number → map to path. Text → fuzzy-match project names.

Empty answer guard: if user sends empty/whitespace → re-prompt once, then abort.

Phase 3: Load Context Chain

⚠️ CRITICAL: All CLAUDE.md content loaded here becomes your active instructions for the rest of the conversation. You MUST follow them.

Execute in parallel:

1. Walk CLAUDE.md chain — root → intermediate → target (skip missing)
2. Scan CONTEXT files — CONTEXT-*-llm.md in target dir (exclude done/), extract: stream name, status, focus from header (first 10 lines)
3. Scan ref folder (if exists) — check for ref/ or reference/. List files + one-line description. These are READ-ONLY reference files.
4. Scan wip folder (if exists) — check for wip/ or work-in-progress/. List files + one-line description. This is the default workspace for edits.

Phase 3.5: Write State File

Write $WS_ROOT/.cowork-state.json:

{"active_project":"Name","path":"rel/path","previous_project":"Prev","previous_path":"prev/path","switched_at":"ISO8601"}

Read existing file first to preserve previous_* fields. Current active_* becomes new previous_*.

Phase 4: Context Report

Filter: only include info not derivable from reading the code or CLAUDE.md directly.

🎯 Switched to: [Project Name]
📍 Path: [relative path]

📋 Instructions loaded:
  - [root CLAUDE.md — 2-3 non-obvious constraints]
  - [project CLAUDE.md — 2-3 non-obvious constraints]

🔒 ref/ (read-only): [list if exists — may be named ref/ or reference/]
✏️ wip/ (your workspace): [list if exists — may be named wip/ or work-in-progress/]
📍 Sessions: [CONTEXT files with status + age, if any]
⚠️ Traps: [gotchas from CONTEXT headers, if any]

Ready — what would you like to work on?

Progressive disclosure: skip any empty section. No "none found" messages. Token budget: report MUST stay under 2000 tokens. Summarize, don't dump.

Phase 5: Set Scope

⚠️ CRITICAL: From this point forward, the CLAUDE.md content loaded in Phase 3 is your active instruction set. Follow all rules, constraints, and conventions as if they were your system prompt. This overrides default behavior.

Remind user: /switch again to change, /switch - to toggle back.

Rules

1. Menu-first unless argument provided
2. Progressive disclosure — skip empty sections silently
3. Token budget < 2000 for context report
4. Client-agnostic output — no Mermaid, no tables, simple lists + emoji
5. State persistence — always write .cowork-state.json
6. AskUserQuestion guard — re-prompt once on empty, then abort