Project Indexing

Project Indexing

PROJECT-TOC.md is the project's machine-friendly index — one line per file, ≤80 chars summary. Reading it is dramatically cheaper than Glob-ing the whole tree.

When to use

• "Where is X defined?"
• "Find the file that handles Y"
• Before any Glob '**/*.ext' against more than a small directory
• When starting work in an unfamiliar codebase

Reading flow

1. Check PROJECT-TOC.md exists. If missing, the project is un-indexed. Suggest /index-project and fall back to Glob for the current question.

2. Check freshness. The TOC header contains:

   <!-- generated-at-commit: <SHA> -->
   

   Stale if either (both counts exclude PROJECT-TOC.md itself, so committing a regenerated TOC does not re-stale it):

   • git diff --name-only <SHA> HEAD returns files
   • git status --porcelain shows working-tree changes (untracked files count — the TOC doesn't cover them)

   Note: the SessionStart hook already computes toc_stale: true/false and injects it. If stale, prefer /index-project before deep navigation; for one-off questions, fall back to Glob.

3. Forest before trees. Read the ## Directory map first (one line per directory, with file + subdir counts) to find the right subtree, then grep/scan the ## Files entries under that path. On a large repo the SessionStart hook injects only the directory map (or just its top levels), so the per-file leaves are read on demand.

4. Open the file. Only after locating via TOC.

When NOT to rely on TOC

• TOC was just regenerated but agent hasn't seen it (mtime ≠ session start)
• File you're looking for is new (not yet in git)
• Question requires content search, not name search (use Grep then)

Rebuilding

When you make significant structural changes (new directories, renames, large refactors):

node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/index-builder.mjs --target .

Or simply tell the user to run /index-project. Don't try to maintain the TOC by hand-editing — it's auto-generated.

TOC format expectations

<!-- generated-at-commit: abc123 -->
<!-- DO NOT EDIT BY HAND — run /index-project or scripts/index-builder.mjs -->

# PROJECT TOC

## Directory map
- `.` (root) — 2 files, 3 subdirs
- `src/` — 1 file, 1 subdir
- `src/util/` — 4 files

## Files
- `src/main.cpp` — entry point, parses CLI args, initializes Engine
- `src/util/log.h` — fmt-based logger
- ...

## Decisions
- 2026-05-15: switched from X to Y (see docs/decisions/0001.md)

The ## Decisions section is human-edited (long-lived architectural notes). The ## Files section is mechanical.

Token economy

PROJECT-TOC.md typically fits within a few thousand tokens even for medium projects. The SessionStart hook adaptively injects the ## Directory map (or, for a small repo, the full ## Files) within the Tier 1 budget — and on a very large repo, only the top-level directories; the rest is read on demand. Don't ask the user to load the full TOC unless the budget allows.

Hard read rule: if PROJECT-TOC.md exceeds ~400 lines, do not read it whole — read the ## Directory map, then Grep the ## Files section for the subtree you need. A full-file Read of a large TOC can spend tens of thousands of tokens on one lookup.

Looking up indexing techniques

For deeper context-engineering / progressive-disclosure indexing approaches not covered here — invoke the docs-lookup skill. The current TOC algorithm is intentionally minimal; refinements (semantic chunks, embeddings) belong in a separate skill.

Typical entry query: progressive disclosure llm agent or agent harness indexing 2026.

Related

• using-harness-anchor — overall navigation, points here when files are sought
• feature-state-keeper — manages state files alongside the TOC