# 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

[//]: # (table:start)
| 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 |

[//]: # (table:end)

## 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](/docs/continuity): the recap and restore packets a seat carries across a handover.
- [Specs](/docs/specs-edits): where a seat's declared skills and guidance are wired into its AgentSpec.