Read Project Context

This skill guides you through reading and understanding all project context stored in [CONTEXT] commits.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

•Starting a new Claude session with a project
•User requests to "show context" or "review project docs"
•Need to refresh understanding of project requirements
•Verifying context setup is working correctly
•Onboarding to an unfamiliar project

Context Reading Workflow

1. Read CLAUDE.md

Start by reading the context index:

bash

cat CLAUDE.md

This shows you:

•List of context commit references
•Session initialization instructions
•Any project-specific guidance

2. Extract Context References

Parse CLAUDE.md to identify:

•Commit hashes that need to be read
•Branch names (like context-progress)
•Number and description of each context entry

Example CLAUDE.md format:

code

READ THESE COMMIT MESSAGES FOR CONTEXT:
 1. [abc1234] Project requirements
 2. [def5678] TDD workflow
 3. [context-progress] Current progress

3. Read Each Context Commit

For each referenced commit, retrieve the full message:

bash

# For commit hash references
git log [commit-hash] -1 --format=%B

# For branch references (like context-progress)
git log [branch-name] -1 --format=%B

# Example
git log abc1234 -1 --format=%B
git log context-progress -1 --format=%B

4. Organize and Summarize

After reading all context, provide a summary organized by type:

•Requirements: What the project needs to accomplish
•Technical Specs: Technologies, platforms, versions
•Workflows: Development processes, TDD, review practices
•Architecture: Design decisions, patterns, trade-offs
•Progress: Current status, completed work, next tasks

5. Acknowledge Understanding

Confirm you've read and understood the context:

"I've read all context commits and understand:

•Project goals and requirements
•Development workflow and TDD practices
•Current progress and next tasks
•[Any other key context areas]

Ready to assist with specific tasks."

Complete Read Example

Here's a complete context reading flow:

bash

# 1. Read the index
cat CLAUDE.md

# Output shows:
# READ THESE COMMIT MESSAGES FOR CONTEXT:
#  1. [e7b0129] Project requirements
#  2. [ae291fc] Context pattern explanation
#  3. [7cc3e39] TDD workflow
#  4. [c8da0e3] Progress tracking workflow
#  5. [context-progress] Current project progress

# 2. Read each context commit
git log e7b0129 -1 --format=%B
git log ae291fc -1 --format=%B
git log 7cc3e39 -1 --format=%B
git log c8da0e3 -1 --format=%B
git log context-progress -1 --format=%B

# 3. Summarize understanding
# (Provide organized summary to user)

Batch Reading Command

To read all context at once, use this helper:

bash

# For a CLAUDE.md with known structure
for hash in e7b0129 ae291fc 7cc3e39 c8da0e3; do
  echo "=== Context: $(git log $hash -1 --format=%s) ==="
  git log $hash -1 --format=%B
  echo ""
done

# Read progress
echo "=== Current Progress ==="
git log context-progress -1 --format=%B

Automated Context Loading

Claude Code automatically reads CLAUDE.md on session start. This skill is useful for:

•Manual verification
•Re-reading during a session
•Understanding unfamiliar projects
•Debugging context setup

Context Types and What to Extract

From Requirements Context

Extract:

•Project goals and objectives
•Target platforms and environments
•Key features and functionality
•Technical constraints
•Success criteria

From Workflow Context

Extract:

•Development process (TDD, reviews, etc.)
•Testing requirements
•Code quality standards
•Commit and PR conventions
•Timeline expectations

From Architecture Context

Extract:

•Technology stack
•Design patterns in use
•Key architectural decisions
•Trade-offs and rationale
•Performance requirements

From Progress Context

Extract:

•Completed features/tasks
•Current work in progress
•Blocking issues
•Next planned tasks
•Status metrics (tests, coverage, etc.)

Verifying Context Integrity

Check that context setup is valid:

bash

# 1. Verify CLAUDE.md exists
test -f CLAUDE.md && echo "✓ CLAUDE.md exists" || echo "✗ CLAUDE.md missing"

# 2. Verify referenced commits exist
git log e7b0129 -1 --oneline > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo "✓ Commit exists" || echo "✗ Commit not found"

# 3. Verify context-progress branch exists
git rev-parse --verify context-progress > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo "✓ context-progress branch exists" || echo "✗ Branch missing"

# 4. Check commit messages have [CONTEXT] prefix
git log abc1234 -1 --format=%s | grep -q "^\[CONTEXT\]" && echo "✓ Has [CONTEXT] prefix" || echo "✗ Missing [CONTEXT]"

Presenting Context to User

When reading context for the user, structure the output:

code

📋 Project Context Summary

## Requirements
[Summary of project goals, features, technical specs]

## Development Workflow
[Summary of TDD, code standards, review process]

## Architecture
[Summary of design decisions, patterns, tech stack]

## Current Progress
[Summary of completed work, current tasks, next steps]

## Key Takeaways
- [Important point 1]
- [Important point 2]
- [Important point 3]

I'm ready to help with specific tasks!

Common Context Reading Patterns

Session Start Pattern

bash

# Quick context refresh at session start
cat CLAUDE.md
git log context-progress -1 --format=%B

# Focus on progress to see where to pick up

Deep Dive Pattern

bash

# Read all context for complete understanding
cat CLAUDE.md

# Read each commit in detail
for ref in [list of all refs]; do
  git log $ref -1 --format=%B
done

# Summarize and ask clarifying questions

Verification Pattern

bash

# Check context setup is correct
cat CLAUDE.md
git log context-progress -1 --oneline
git log [each-hash] -1 --oneline

# Verify all references are valid

Troubleshooting

CLAUDE.md not found:

bash

# Project may not have context workflow initialized
# Recommend using context-init skill

Commit hash not found:

bash

# Hash may be incorrect or from different repository
git log --oneline | grep CONTEXT  # Find actual context commits

context-progress branch missing:

bash

# Check if it exists
git branch -a | grep context-progress

# May need to initialize it
# Use context-init skill

Empty context commit:

bash

# Verify it's a [CONTEXT] commit
git log [hash] -1 --format=%s

# Check the full message
git log [hash] -1 --format=%B

Quick Reference Commands

bash

# Read index
cat CLAUDE.md

# Read specific context commit
git log [hash] -1 --format=%B

# Read progress
git log context-progress -1 --format=%B

# List all [CONTEXT] commits
git log --oneline --grep="^\[CONTEXT\]"

# Show commit subject only
git log [hash] -1 --format=%s

# Show commit body only
git log [hash] -1 --format=%b

Integration with Other Skills

•After context-init: Read context to verify setup
•After context-add: Read new context commit to confirm
•Before context-progress: Read current progress before updating
•Session start: Always read to understand current state

Summary

The context-read skill helps you:

•Efficiently load all project context
•Verify context setup is working
•Summarize and understand requirements, workflows, and progress
•Get up to speed on unfamiliar projects
•Provide clear acknowledgment of understanding to the user