Auto Context

Auto-Context — Situational Awareness Protocol (Meta-Skill)

Before you act, understand where you are. This skill ensures the AI loads critical project context automatically before any major action, preventing wasted effort, duplicate work, and misaligned implementations.

OpenClaw / Moltbot / Clawbot

npx clawhub@latest install auto-context

When to Activate

This skill triggers automatically based on the current action. Do not wait for the user to ask — proactively load context when any of these conditions are met. TriggerWhyMinimum ContextStarting a new taskUnderstand priorities, avoid conflictsCritical + HighImplementing a featureKnow the plan, constraints, recent changesCritical + HighRefactoring codeUnderstand what changed recently, what's plannedCritical + High + MediumDebugging an issueCheck recent changes, known issues, discoveriesCritical + High + MediumPlanning or scoping workFull picture of roadmap, backlog, progressAll levelsSession start or resumeRebuild mental model from last session stateCritical + HighBefore a handoffEnsure nothing is missed in transitionAll levels

Context Files to Read

Read these files in priority order. Stop early if the task is narrow and lower-priority files are clearly irrelevant. PriorityFilePurposeRead WhenCriticalTODO.mdCurrent tasks, backlog, and prioritiesAlwaysCriticalroadmap.mdPhase status, milestones, project directionAlwaysHightask_plan.mdActive task breakdown and implementation planFile existsHigh.cursor/handoffs/*.mdRecent handoff notes (read last 3 by date)File existsMediumfindings.mdResearch results, discoveries, decisions madeRelevant to taskMediumCHANGELOG.mdRecent changes and their rationaleRelevant to taskLow.cursor/sessions/*.mdSession summaries (read last 2 by date)Planning or debugging

Alternate Locations

Some projects use different paths. Check these fallbacks if primary paths are empty: PrimaryFallbackTODO.mddocs/TODO.md, ai/TODO.mdroadmap.mddocs/roadmap.md, ROADMAP.mdtask_plan.mddocs/task_plan.md, .cursor/task_plan.mdfindings.mddocs/findings.md, .cursor/findings.md

Step 1: Load Critical Files (Always)

Read TODO.md → Extract: current task, next priorities, blockers Read roadmap.md → Extract: current phase, active milestone, upcoming deadlines If either critical file is missing, warn the user: "No TODO.md found. Consider creating one to track tasks."

Step 2: Load High-Priority Files (If They Exist)

Read task_plan.md → Extract: implementation steps, acceptance criteria Glob .cursor/handoffs/*.md → Read last 3 by modification date

Step 3: Load Medium/Low Files (If Relevant)

Only read these when the current task benefits from historical context: Debugging? — Read findings.md and CHANGELOG.md Planning? — Read everything including session files Quick fix? — Skip medium and low entirely

Step 4: Synthesize and Present

After loading, produce a context summary (see format below) before proceeding with the task.

Staleness Detection

Check modification dates on all loaded files. Flag files that may contain outdated information. AgeStatusAction< 24 hoursFreshUse as-is1-7 daysCurrentUse as-is, note the age7-30 daysStaleWarn: "{file} last updated {N} days ago — verify before relying on it"> 30 daysOutdatedWarn: "{file} is {N} days old and may no longer reflect project state" To check file ages on macOS: stat -f "%m %N" TODO.md roadmap.md task_plan.md findings.md CHANGELOG.md 2>/dev/null On Linux: stat -c "%Y %n" TODO.md roadmap.md task_plan.md findings.md CHANGELOG.md 2>/dev/null

Context Summary Format

• After loading context, present a concise summary using this template. Keep it tight — the goal is awareness, not repetition.
• ## Context Loaded
• **Current Phase:** {phase from roadmap}
• **Active Milestone:** {milestone and progress}
• **Current Task:** {from TODO.md or task_plan.md}
• Status: {in-progress / blocked / not started}
• Blockers: {any blockers, or "none"}
• **Recent Changes:**
• {last 2-3 items from CHANGELOG or handoffs}
• **Relevant Findings:**
• {key discoveries that affect the current task, or "none"}
• **Stale Warnings:**
• {any staleness warnings, or "all context is fresh"}
• If no context files exist at all, output:
• ## Context Loaded
• No project context files found. Operating without historical context.
• Consider creating TODO.md and roadmap.md to enable context-aware assistance.

Integration Points

This skill connects to other workflow commands and should run as a precursor. CommandHow Auto-Context Integrates/start-taskLoads full context before beginning work; populates task plan/intentReads roadmap and TODO to validate intent against project direction/workflowProvides the "understand" phase of any workflow automatically/progressUses TODO.md and task_plan.md to assess completion status/handoff-and-resumeReads last handoff to rebuild state on resume/session-summaryCross-references loaded context with session actions for accuracy

Execution Order

User triggers action → Auto-Context activates (this skill) → Context summary presented → Primary skill/command executes with full awareness

Quick Reference

Context Loading Checklist: 1. Read TODO.md (critical) 2. Read roadmap.md (critical) 3. Read task_plan.md (if exists) 4. Read last 3 handoffs (if exist) 5. Check file staleness 6. Read findings/changelog (if relevant) 7. Present context summary 8. Proceed with task

NEVER Do

NEVER skip critical files to save time — leads to duplicate work and conflicting implementations NEVER load every file regardless of task — wastes tokens and dilutes focus with irrelevant info NEVER ignore staleness warnings — stale context causes decisions based on outdated assumptions NEVER read files without summarizing — raw file dumps overwhelm; always synthesize first NEVER assume context from memory alone — sessions are stateless; always re-read files NEVER silently proceed when no context exists — user should know they're operating blind NEVER read handoffs/sessions beyond the limit — last 3 handoffs and last 2 sessions are sufficient