# Load Context

> Use at the start of /research and other workflow recipes to establish vault grounding. Loads vault bootstrap (profile.md), checks inbox, and pre-warms project context if a topic anchor is implied. Repo/git detection lands with /plan and /implement.

- Skill: `ethanaubuchon/load-context` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add ethanaubuchon/load-context`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/ethanaubuchon/load-context/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Research & Search
- Author: ethanaubuchon (https://skillmd.com/u/ethanaubuchon)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/ethanaubuchon/load-context

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# Load Context

Call this once at the start of a workflow recipe to establish working context. In `/research`, this is the vault grounding pre-step — it loads the context that informs downstream web queries.

## Steps

1. Call `mcp__dossier-mcp__get_vault_context`. This loads `profile.md` silently — do not summarize or recite it.

2. Call `mcp__dossier-mcp__list_notes(path: "inbox")`. If the inbox is non-empty, surface a one-line nudge to the user: `Inbox has N notes — worth processing before we start?`

3. If the user has supplied a research topic with a clear project anchor (e.g. "relocation healthcare costs" → `projects/relocation`), call `mcp__dossier-mcp__list_notes(path: "projects/<slug>")` to pre-warm topic context. Skip if no anchor is obvious — `vault-researcher` will find what it needs.

## Output

No structured return value. Context loads into the conversation. The recipe continues to its next step.

## Future scope (not in Phase 1)

- Repo / vault / mixed environment detection
- `git status` snapshot for the working dir