v0.3.0

Context CLI v0.3.0

This release is a major evolution in how ctx works with AI agents. Slash commands are replaced by a full Agent Skills system, a new autonomous mode (--ralph) enables unattended operation, and a comprehensive suite of hooks keeps context healthy during long sessions. Under the hood, two consolidation sweeps eliminated magic strings, deshadowed variables, and split large files into focused modules.

Canonical Release Narrative

ctx v0.3.0: The Discipline Release

Highlights

• Agent Skills System: All 21 slash commands migrated to directory-based skills following the agentskills.io spec, each with frontmatter, quality gates, usage examples, and "When NOT to Use" triggers
• Autonomous Loop Mode: ctx init --ralph creates PROMPT.md and IMPLEMENTATION_PLAN.md configured for independent agent operation without clarifying questions
• Context Health Hooks: New UserPromptSubmit hooks for context size checkpoints, backup staleness warnings, and a deployed context-watch.sh monitor tool
• Code Consolidation: Two systematic sweeps replaced magic strings/numbers with constants, deshadowed variables across all packages, and split large files (journal/site.go into 12 files, recall/export.go into 4 files)

Features

• Convert all .claude/commands/*.md to .claude/skills/*/SKILL.md directory structure with structured frontmatter
• Add ctx init --ralph flag for autonomous agent mode with dedicated PROMPT.md template
• Add context size checkpoint hook (check-context-size.sh) with adaptive reminder cadence (silent for 15 prompts, then every 5th, then every 3rd)
• Add ctx-context-monitor skill teaching agents how to respond to checkpoint signals
• Deploy context-watch.sh to .context/tools/ via ctx init for all users
• Add backup staleness hook (check-backup-age.sh) warning when backups are >2 days old
• Add global backup support (hack/backup-global.sh) for ~/.claude/ with make backup-global
• Add /consolidate skill with 9 project-specific drift checks
• Add /brainstorm skill for design-before-implementation workflow
• Add ctx agent --cooldown and --session flags with tombstone debounce
• Add "Update When" triggers to all context file templates (CONSTITUTION, TASKS, CONVENTIONS, etc.)
• Add Anti-Patterns section to AGENT_PLAYBOOK.md (Stale Context, Context Sprawl, Implicit Context, etc.)
• Deploy Makefile.ctx template via ctx init (amend, never overwrite)
• Add journal site /files/ index with popular/long-tail split
• Add journal site /types/ pages grouping sessions by type
• Change ctx recall export default to update mode preserving YAML frontmatter (--skip-existing for old behavior, --force for full overwrite)
• Add 7 deterministic normalize scripts for journal fence/metadata repair
• Add ctx-journal-normalize skill for clean journal site rendering

Bug Fixes

• Fix all 137 journal files: complete fence reconstruction (8 broken files with stray markers)
• Fix consolidateToolRuns root cause: (xN) on its own line creating broken fences
• Fix session export reliability and browser performance
• Resolve all golangci-lint v2 errcheck and staticcheck warnings
• Remove unnecessary nl parameter in recall/fmt.go
• Fix task insertion placement in TASKS.md
• Restore release-notes and release skills dropped during commands-to-skills migration

Refactoring

• Replace magic strings/numbers with config constants (ExtJSONL, IssueType*, DefaultSessionFilename, ClaudeField*, session headings, template strings)
• Deshadow err/ok variables with descriptive names across drift, recall, session, task, context, and validation packages
• Split journal/site.go into 12 focused files; split recall/export.go into 4 files
• Extract error constructors to err.go files
• Move Claude raw types to types.go with project-standard godoc
• Extract hook matcher into internal/claude/matcher.go
• Simplify defer file.Close() patterns
• Replace cmd.Printf("\n") with cmd.Println(fmt.Sprintf(...))

CI

• Upgrade to golangci-lint v2 for CI compatibility
• Fix goinstall mode removal and v2 security warnings

Documentation

• Add architecture docs and remove DRIFT.md (superseded by /consolidate skill)
• Add quick-reference table to CLI reference
• Add copyright headers to normalize scripts
• Add 3 blog posts: "The Attention Budget", "You Can't Import Expertise", "The Anatomy of a Skill That Works"
• Add blog post topic frontmatter to all 6 existing posts
• Add journal pipeline docs (session-journal.md)

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Full changelog: v0.2.0...v0.3.0