Context: what a seat knows when it arrives

Documented against OpenRig 0.5.14. Help text uses "node" where these pages say seat, for a seat's position in the running rig.

What it is for

A seat that arrives cold needs more than a prompt. Context packs are operator-authored bundles of files with a manifest; the daemon can assemble one and serve it to an agent on demand, address a single section of it by ref, or compose a situation-shaped profile from a pack's declared atoms for a fresh seat, a handover or a return from compaction. Skills are packaged, repeatable procedures loaded by name; the loadout for one working directory is inspected and reconciled with one verb. Plugins carry skills, hooks and MCP server declarations across machines and harnesses, and are inspected read-only.

The three commands you will use first

Find what context exists, then pull exactly what you need. get serves an assembled bundle or one addressed section; the file component is required even in a one-file pack.

rig context list
rig context get world-public
rig context get world-public/boundaries.md#this-pack-does-not-cover

Compose a profile for a situation. The piece set comes from the pack's manifest, never hand-authored; the token total is reported, and overage is reported rather than truncated.

rig context profile world-public --situation fresh --runtime claude-code

Inspect the skill loadout for a directory. Read-only by default; --apply writes only the managed set.

rig skill loadout --runtime claude-code
rig skill loadout --runtime codex --apply
rig skill audit

The rest of the family

rig context work-install resolves the ordered system world, topology and project world plan for a project, mission and slice, and can deliver it. rig context add selects a pack while retaining its Git source; rig context source inspect and source update manage that relationship explicitly. rig context trace walks the topology tree for one chain filename from instance to seat. rig context recap-write writes a durable seat-scoped recap beside the seat's learned file at a handover or compaction boundary. rig plugin list, show, used-by and validate inspect plugins on disk; there is no install verb in this build, and installation is an explicit copy.

The context, skill and plugin families

Command	What it does (from help)	Help source
`rig context`	Browse, preview, compose, and manage operator-authored context packs	context.txt
`rig context add`	Install a pack; --git discovers a pack in a Git repository and retains its update relationship	context.add.txt
`rig context compose`	Compose ordered files into a durable context-pack ref (never delivers)	context.compose.txt
`rig context get`	Serve the assembled bundle for an agent to load on demand (the pull verb)	context.get.txt
`rig context list`	List all context packs in the library	context.list.txt
`rig context preview`	Show the assembled bundle without delivering it	context.preview.txt
`rig context profile`		context.profile.txt
`rig context recap-write`	Write this seat's authored RECAP (decisions-with-rationale) at the handover boundary; supersedes the previous recap into the seat's chain	context.recap-write.txt
`rig context rm`	Remove a context pack from the library by its path-like ref	context.rm.txt
`rig context show`	Show pack manifest + per-file metadata	context.show.txt
`rig context source`	Inspect Git checkout vs served context, or explicitly fetch/merge and select an update	context.source.txt
`rig context source inspect`	Read local revision, edits, conflicts and selection; no fetch or consumption claim	context.source.inspect.txt
`rig context source update`	Explicitly fetch/merge the upstream, then select the clean pack; refuse local selection edits	context.source.update.txt
`rig context sync`	Re-walk discovery roots and refresh the library index	context.sync.txt
`rig context trace`	Walk the topology tree for one chain filename (instance -> rig -> optional pod -> optional seat), keyed off topology.root	context.trace.txt
`rig context work-install`	Resolve System World plus project work context and the managed skill loadout	context.work-install.txt
`rig plugin`	Inspect plugins (read-only)	plugin.txt
`rig plugin list`	List discoverable plugins (aggregated across vendored + runtime caches)	plugin.list.txt
`rig plugin show`	Show plugin manifest + skills + hooks + mcp servers	plugin.show.txt
`rig plugin used-by`	List agents referencing this plugin in their profile.uses.plugins[]	plugin.used-by.txt
`rig plugin validate`	Validate plugin manifest + skill frontmatter against agentskills.io spec	plugin.validate.txt
`rig skill`	Skill management and audit	skill.txt
`rig skill audit`	Read-only skill provenance and freshness audit	skill.audit.txt
`rig skill loadout`	Inspect or reconcile the composed managed skill loadout for one Claude/Codex working directory	skill.loadout.txt

What it does not do

Serving a pack does not prove an agent read it. Delivery and comprehension are separate facts; look at what the agent opened.
rig context add and source update are explicit; nothing synchronises libraries or running seats automatically.
Pasting library content into a seat or mission file makes a second copy that drifts. Compose by ref.
rig plugin is read-only. There is no plugin install on 0.5.14.

Where it goes next

Continuity: the recap and restore packets a seat carries across a handover.
Specs: where a seat's declared skills and guidance are wired into its AgentSpec.

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