# Context

> Load a context primer for the current repo before starting work. Use when the user says "what was I doing here", "catch me up on this repo", "context primer", "what's the open thread", "where did I/we leave off" — and PROACTIVELY when a session opens on work that clearly continues something ("keep going on the refactor", "finish the migration") or when resuming a codebase after a break. Past sessions carry the open thread, prior decisions, and abandoned approaches that code and git history don't show.

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

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Synthesize a prose context primer from past sessions on this repo.

## Steps

1. **Fetch the primer.** Call the `get_context_primer` MCP tool (pass `cwd` if a path was given).
2. **Synthesize, don't dump.** From the JSON, write: prior decisions, what was tried/abandoned, and the current open thread.
3. **Anchor the open thread** on the most-recent session's `closing` — `closing.user` is the last thing you actually typed and `closing.assistant` is the assistant's last substantive reply (outcomes like "PR is up: …" survive); `branch` is the branch you left off on.
4. **Drill into a session worth expanding.** If one primer session needs more than its opening/closing (an ambiguous open thread, a decision you need the details of), get its full arc from `get_session_digest`: resolve the session's `filePath` via `search_sessions` (a distinctive phrase from its `intent` plus the repo as `project`), then digest that path. Expand a specific exchange with `get_session_messages(offset: exchanges[].index)` — don't page from 0.
5. **Keep it tight** — a short brief the user can act on, not a transcript.

## Guidelines

- Prefer the most recent + most-edited files as the likely active surface.
- If the primer is empty, say so plainly; don't invent history.