project-tiny-context-harness

Project Tiny Context Harness

Translations: Chinese (Simplified)

project-tiny-context-harness ships the ty-context CLI for Project Tiny Context Harness: repo-native project memory for AI coding agents and a repo-native context contract.

The default is Minimal Context Harness. It maintains a compact project_context/** fact source, a short AGENTS.md startup router, role Skills, priority guidance for Context/code/evidence, and a validate-context gate so fresh agents can recover project intent, constraints, verification entry points and next safe actions quickly.

It does not default to lifecycle phases, plan tasks, stage skills, stage documents or phase gates. Harness maintains context quality; your project tests, CI, review process and human acceptance remain responsible for product quality.

Use it when coding agents repeatedly lose project intent across new chats, handoffs, RFC/debug turns or tool changes. The intended tradeoff is: keep durable intent and recovery paths; leave execution evidence to code, tests and review.

Think of it as durable project memory behind AGENTS.md, plus priority rules for Context/code/evidence, not another agent, process framework or task manager.

Best for:

• repos where coding agents keep rediscovering project intent
• teams using multiple agents or frequent fresh chats
• maintainers who want durable context without a full planning ceremony

Not for:

• replacing tests, review, CI or issue trackers
• autonomous Tiny Context execution
• codebase semantic indexing or external docs retrieval

Concrete shift:

Before: ask a fresh agent to read the repo and tell you what matters.
After: ask it to read AGENTS.md and project_context/** first, then summarize goal, non-goals, architecture boundaries and validation paths before proposing code.

What gets added:

flowchart LR
  A["Fresh agent session"] --> B["AGENTS.md startup router"]
  B --> C["project_context/** durable facts"]
  C --> D["Goal, non-goals, architecture boundaries, validation paths"]
  D --> E["Code proposal starts with repo intent loaded"]
  F["Tests / CI / review"] --> G["Product quality evidence"]
  C -. "does not own" .-> G

The demo shows the core loop: initialize AGENTS.md and project_context/**, run validate-context, then ask a fresh agent to recover intent before proposing code. Use the npm install path below, or inspect the no-install previews first.

No-install preview:

• Read the fresh-agent recovery walkthrough.
• Inspect the Minimal Context sample guide.
• Browse a tiny generated sample repository at examples/minimal-context-sample/.

Why It Exists

Coding agents can move quickly inside one thread and still drift when a new chat, model, tool, reviewer or debugging session loses the project-specific facts that were never encoded anywhere stable.

Minimal Context Harness creates a small, explicit recovery path: project goal, boundaries, architecture context, validation entry points and durable task conclusions. It is designed to sit beside specs, tests, issues, docs and code intelligence tools instead of replacing them.

The concrete failure mode is not only missing file search. In an ABCD module chain where A/B/C are upstream of downstream D, a D feature can expose a missing capability. Without Context, an agent may change upstream A/B to make D pass because current code permits it. Minimal Context adds a repo-owned intent layer: it records whether downstream D may change upstream A/B, whether the gap belongs in C's contract, or whether the task needs a Context Delta before implementation continues. Code shows what is possible; it cannot decide whether that is allowed project intent.

Tiny Context has two core layers. Minimal Context is the durable fact layer: it says what project facts live in project_context/** or DESIGN.md. The workflow contract is the agent behavior layer: it says to read Context first, let foundation/contract/rationale/architecture Context interpret current-code convenience, decide Context Delta, compile a Task Contract, use plan.md when complex work needs a visible execution surface, implement against those constraints and finish with Contract Conformance plus Context drift check.

The core bet is: keep the memory, drop the ceremony. Earlier stage-based workflows pushed ordinary software work through explicit phase artifacts and gates. Modern coding agents already internalize much of the understand, design, implement, test and repair loop, so Project Tiny Context Harness keeps the high-density repo context that survives fresh chats without making every task follow Tiny Context-stage choreography.

Current Best Practice

For short tasks, use the workflow contract and Context layer directly:

workflow contract + project_context/** -> implementation -> verification -> drift check

For long-running tasks, externalize the target first. Use explicit Skill invocation instead of broad keyword triggering:

Web GPT or another external planning model produces the long-task source inputs
-> /normal-long-task produces the full checklist and optional generic target-mode prompt
-> /superpowers-long-task consumes Product / Architecture Source + Technical Realization Plan + Acceptance Checklist when Superpowers execution is needed
-> Superpowers derives concrete implementation slices
-> execution maintains task-state.json, append-only events.ndjson and generated derived views
-> each slice follows the workflow contract + project_context/**

For ordinary target-mode preparation, a two-document upstream input remains enough: a Development Plan for execution direction and plan traceability, and an Acceptance and Tests packet for acceptance authority. Source Pack exports are temporary upload material for external planning, not durable Context.

The ordinary long-task path uses /normal-long-task. It is the non-Superpowers acceptance pass: it can generate or reuse the full acceptance checklist and can produce a generic target-mode prompt.

The Superpowers long-task path uses /superpowers-long-task when three inputs already exist: Product / Architecture Source, Technical Realization Plan and Acceptance Checklist. The product/architecture source preserves original intent and scope; the technical realization plan is the execution blueprint and plan-conformance source; the checklist is the acceptance authority. The Skill does not perform complexity routing: invocation means Superpowers long-task execution was already selected. Two-document compatibility is allowed only when the first document clearly contains both product/architecture source and technical realization plan sections. If only a product/architecture source and checklist exist, the Skill stops with a Missing Fields Report for a missing Technical Realization Plan instead of generating one. The technical realization plan must already satisfy the required Superpowers-ready Markdown implementation plan fields; if it does, the prompt binds it directly to Superpowers execution rather than regenerating the plan, and if it does not, the Skill stops before generating a prompt. The prompt is Tiny Context's adapter layer, aligned to the official Superpowers skills while remaining a Tiny Context-owned adapter rather than an upstream-owned schema. It may wrap Superpowers with Tiny Context authority, conformance and acceptance gates, but it must not redefine or fork Superpowers execution mechanics. It requires parent-level Product Context Delta and Technical Context Delta checks before implementation and uses a canonical state kernel under tmp/ty-context/plan-acceptance/<plan-slug>/: task-state.json is the only execution state source, events.ndjson is append-only and derived/** contains generated local audit, plan-conformance matrix, final acceptance verdict, progress ledger, evidence index, context alignment and final summary views. Complete acceptance rows are externally reviewable evidence claims derived from task-state.evidence[]: the checklist supplies the proof chain, fresh reviewable evidence must satisfy every required layer, and material drift, missing layers or unapproved sibling substitution prevent complete. Goal-mode wording separates audit_task_complete, acceptance_target_status and computed product_goal_complete: implementation / execution goals complete only when ty-context superpowers final-gate computes product_goal_complete=true; read-only audit goals may end at audit_task_complete, but a non-accepted verdict says Audit workflow completed; acceptance target not complete. and does not use unqualified Goal achieved or update_goal(status="complete") as acceptance of the user target.

For non-trivial Superpowers slices, the generated prompt requires a structured slice-delta.json. The executor applies it with ty-context superpowers apply-slice-delta <workdir> <slice-delta.json>, then runs ty-context superpowers derive and ty-context superpowers slice-gate. Each delta records touched plan items/ACs, code changes, closed and remaining proof layers, blockers, cleanup assertions, progress_value and canonical evidence records with proves, does_not_prove, freshness, redaction and reviewability. Default slice guidance is to group 2-4 strongly related missing layers that share an AC, runtime scenario, proof environment or verification path, while single-gap slices are reserved for blockers, contradictions or small metadata cleanup. The prompt also asks executors to classify missing layers, reuse DB/API/Browser environments only with unique proof prefixes and cleanup assertions, and run a stale/overclaim scan after deriving artifacts.

The generated Superpowers prompt uses Slice Gate / Epoch Gate / Final Gate cadence instead of running a full final gate after every slice. Progress Accounting tracks AC acceptance completion, engineering implementation progress, runtime/proof progress, artifact budget, proof-layer milestone status and workflow overhead in state and generated derived/progress-ledger.*. Workflow overhead backpressure asks executors to batch shared provider/browser/runtime/security epoch proof environments, prune stale artifacts and choose the Next 3-5 high-value clusters that close the most blocking AC/proof-layer gaps.

The recommended Superpowers layer is the specific obra/Superpowers plugin/workflow, not a generic planning substitute. After /superpowers-long-task accepts the input packet, prefer superpowers:subagent-driven-development when subagents are available and superpowers:executing-plans otherwise. Behavior changes should use superpowers:test-driven-development. Final gate order is derive all views, superpowers:verification-before-completion, ty-context validate-superpowers-state <dir>, ty-context validate-plan-acceptance <dir>, read-only auditor when available, rederive/revalidate if auditor fixes changed state or evidence, final stale/overclaim scan, then ty-context superpowers final-gate <dir> computes completion. The auditor reconstructs AC proof chains with a fixed auditor checklist and finds gaps, but does not become proof. Superpowers review and verification remain useful execution checks, but they cannot override Tiny Context gates: passing Superpowers review does not by itself prove plan conformance or checklist acceptance.

The reason is drift control. The workflow contract plus Context layer is intentionally a soft constraint. It works well for short tasks, and Context can still capture the expected facts for long tasks, but long execution makes the Context-to-code step drift as the context window grows, work is handed off, subagents split scope or validation loops multiply. The extra Tiny Context gates exist because Superpowers alone can still drift under long-running execution pressure: it strengthens execution discipline, but it does not by itself preserve source authority, prevent scope shrinkage, prove full conformance to the Technical Realization Plan or enforce AC-by-AC evidence against the Acceptance Checklist. A product/architecture source, technical realization plan, acceptance checklist, explicit long-task Skill invocation, target-mode prompt, canonical task state, generated derived views and optional Superpowers execution layer make implementation conformance and completion evidence recoverable without restoring a phase-gated workflow.

For high-risk product, architecture, technical-plan or acceptance-plan inputs, the workflow contract should be made visible in plan.md or an equivalent temporary plan surface before implementation. That plan surface separates Source-to-Context Coverage from Context-to-Implementation Binding. Source-to-Context maps each durable source constraint to an existing Context hit, a required Context update, a task-local-only decision, an explicit out-of-scope decision, a user decision or an under-scoped gap. Context-to-Implementation then maps Context facts to implementation obligations, expected surfaces, implemented paths, forbidden shortcuts and verification paths. validate-plan-contract can check the temporary plan for internal consistency, referenced path existence and declared binding consistency; it still does not prove product quality.

Small code tasks should not use that full plan surface. A small code task is a local implementation task where existing Context is sufficient and the change does not alter durable product, architecture, API/schema/data, runtime/state/recovery, verification/deployment, security/redaction or surface-ownership facts. This is semantic, not line-count based: a one-line schema change can be high risk, while a broad mechanical cleanup can remain small.

Positioning

Adjacent tool type	Use it for	Harness stance
Spec-first kits	Turning feature ideas into structured specs and plans.	Complementary; Harness keeps durable repo facts and module boundary intent beyond one feature spec.
BMAD-style workflows and full Tiny Context processes	Coordinated role/process ceremonies on high-risk work.	Lighter default; no phase gates or work-product trees.
Superpowers-style execution	Turning approved requirements into plans, subagent execution, TDD, review and finish discipline.	Complementary; use it to execute while Tiny Context owns durable repo intent and acceptance priority.
Task Master-style planners	Backlog decomposition and task execution state.	Complementary; Harness does not own task state.
Context7/Serena-style retrieval or code-intelligence tools	Pulling external docs, symbols or repository facts on demand.	Complementary; they do not answer whether downstream D may change upstream A/B. Harness stores that local repo truth.
IDE or agent memory	Tool-specific continuity inside one product surface.	Portable fallback; plain files any agent can read.

Try It In 60 Seconds

mkdir project-tiny-context-harness-demo
cd project-tiny-context-harness-demo
git init
npm init -y
npm install -D project-tiny-context-harness@latest
npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context init
make validate-context

Then open AGENTS.md, project_context/global.md and project_context/architecture.md. Those files are the small recovery surface a fresh agent should read before changing the project.

Source checkout preview:

Browser preview:

Open https://codespaces.new/Seven128/project-tiny-context-harness

When the Codespace finishes npm ci, run:

npm run smoke:quickstart
npm run preview:pack

Local preview:

git clone https://github.com/Seven128/project-tiny-context-harness.git
cd project-tiny-context-harness
npm ci
npm run smoke:quickstart
npm run preview:pack
cd /path/to/your/test-repo
npm install -D /path/to/project-tiny-context-harness/tmp/ty-context/source-preview/package/project-tiny-context-harness-0.2.76.tgz
npx --no-install ty-context init --adopt
make validate-context

Use this tarball path only for source-preview testing, private review or package development. For normal installs, use project-tiny-context-harness@latest from npm.

If the source preview path fails, open a Source preview report with the command, environment and shortest useful output.

Expected result:

AGENTS.md
project_context/
  context.toml
  global.md
  architecture.md
  areas/main.md
  areas/main/verification.md

Fresh-agent test prompt:

Read AGENTS.md and project_context/** first. Summarize the project goal, non-goals, architecture boundaries, validation entry points and next safe action before proposing code changes.

If the agent can answer that without rediscovering the repo from scratch, the Harness is doing its job.

A useful first answer should recover the project goal, non-goals, architecture boundaries, validation entry points and next safe action. It should not invent benchmark results or claim tests passed.

Feedback from real repositories is especially useful right now. If you try the Harness, open an adoption report with what your agent was forgetting, what Minimal Context made easier and what recovery facts were still missing.

Early feedback and starter issues:

• If the README, sample repo or generated Context leaves a fresh-agent recovery fact unclear, open a Context recovery gap.
• Share what worked or failed in the pinned adoption reports issue.
• Pick a starter issue: demo, sample walkthrough, benchmark rerun or launch FAQ.
• Keep claims narrow: recovery evidence is useful; benchmark speedup claims need fresh Minimal Context benchmark runs.

For current priorities and non-goals, see the roadmap.

For benchmark boundaries, read Benchmarking And Evidence.

For contribution, support, security, conduct and governance, see CONTRIBUTING.md, SUPPORT.md, SECURITY.md, CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md and GOVERNANCE.md.

For concrete examples, read the fresh-agent recovery walkthrough, the Minimal Context sample guide and the browseable sample repository.

For the longer technical argument, read Fresh coding-agent sessions need project memory, not more ceremony.

For adjacent-tool fit, read the comparison guide.

For existing repositories, read the adoption guide. For Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini CLI, OpenCode and other tool-specific setup notes, see agent surface recipes.

For common launch and adoption questions, see the FAQ.

Install

npm install -D project-tiny-context-harness@latest
npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context init

For existing projects:

npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context init --adopt

init creates project_context/context.toml, project_context/global.md, project_context/architecture.md, project_context/areas/main.md, project_context/areas/main/verification.md, agent guidance, Context authoring Skills, a Product Surface Contract Skill, a full-project export Skill, a Harness upgrade Skill, the /normal-long-task and /superpowers-long-task Skills, managed templates/tools, a Makefile include and .github/workflows/harness.yml. The generated workflow runs only the selected Harness gate: validate-context, validate-code-modularity or the composite validate-harness; validate-plan-contract and validate-plan-acceptance are explicit commands for complex plan surfaces and long-task artifacts, not default workflow gates. Maintainer-only package tests and source-drift checks are intentionally kept out of consumer projects. It does not create business Product Surface Contract files, stage work-product trees, lifecycle state or stage skills by default.

FAQ

Why not just write a better README?

README is for humans and broad orientation. Minimal Context is a smaller machine-readable recovery path for fresh agents: durable intent, non-goals, boundaries, validation commands and context drift notes.

Is this only for Codex?

No. The generated files are plain repository assets. Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Cline, Roo or a human reviewer can read the same facts.

The support assets can live in a tool-specific harness folder such as .codex, .claude, .cursor, .cline, .roo, .gemini or a custom folder; the durable recovery contract stays in root AGENTS.md and project_context/**. See agent surface recipes.

Is this an English-only or Chinese-only tool?

Neither. Public docs, npm copy, launch posts, CLI help/errors, generated Skill activation and default artifact names must be fully usable in English. Generated Skills may include multilingual trigger examples, but those examples are additive compatibility; every supported non-English trigger needs an equivalent narrow English trigger.

Does validate-context prove the project works?

No. It checks that recovery facts exist and avoids fake test-result claims. Product quality still belongs to tests, CI, review and human acceptance.

Will this create documentation burden?

It should stay smaller than a full process. Ordinary bug fixes and local refactors do not update Context unless they produce durable product, architecture, API, state or validation facts.

CLI Entry Safety

The canonical npm package is project-tiny-context-harness; ty-context is the bin name. Prefer package-qualified npx commands for ad hoc use because bare npx ty-context can resolve an older package name or a stale local install. After init, the managed Makefile wrapper uses the canonical latest CLI by default and can be overridden with TY_CONTEXT=... when a project intentionally pins a local package.

Use npx --no-install ty-context ... only when you explicitly want the already installed local package, such as release smoke tests against a packed tarball.

Capabilities

Capability	Entry Point	Description
Project initialization	npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context init	Creates project_context/context.toml, project_context/global.md, project_context/architecture.md, project_context/areas/main.md, project_context/areas/main/verification.md, AGENTS.md, minimal managed assets and a Makefile include.
Existing project adoption	npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context init --adopt	Adds Minimal Context Harness non-destructively to an existing repository.
Configurable Harness root	--harness-folder, package.json#tyContext.harnessFolderName, ty-context.config.json	Supports Codex .codex, Claude .claude, Cursor .cursor, Cline .cline, Roo .roo, Gemini .gemini or a custom folder.
Product planning Skill	<harnessRoot>/skills/context_product_plan/SKILL.md	Handles explicit product-planning requests and writes durable product conclusions to project_context/**.
UI/UX design Skill	<harnessRoot>/skills/context_uiux_design/SKILL.md	Handles explicit UI/UX design requests, writes screen/interaction conclusions to project_context/**, updates root DESIGN.md visual tokens with Google @google/design.md, and includes compact visual-quality calibration for product/page positioning, user needs, information density, brand/product UI and common AI-design anti-patterns.
Development engineer Skill	<harnessRoot>/skills/context_development_engineer/SKILL.md	Handles explicit development-engineering requests and writes durable engineering conclusions to project_context/**.
Product Surface Contract Skill	<harnessRoot>/skills/context_surface_contract/SKILL.md	Handles explicit Product Surface Contract, Screen Contract, surface responsibility and main/drilldown ownership work; it compiles project-owned surface contracts into project_context/** without adding a new context role or gate.
Full project context export Skill	<harnessRoot>/skills/context_full_project_export/SKILL.md	Handles explicit full-project, project-overall, Source Pack or code-level export requests and uses export-context --source-pack, --code-index, --task-context, --all, --full or --code to create temporary artifacts under tmp/ty-context/context-exports/**.
Harness upgrade Skill	<harnessRoot>/skills/context_harness_upgrade/SKILL.md	Handles explicit Tiny Context / Project Tiny Context Harness upgrade requests such as “upgrade Tiny Context” and “use the Tiny Context upgrade skill to upgrade this project”; it runs the canonical upgrade path, handles only migration-scoped manual_required / blocked follow-up, then runs diagnostics.
Ordinary long-task Skill	<harnessRoot>/skills/normal-long-task/SKILL.md	Invoke as /normal-long-task to turn a referenced plan, RFC, implementation proposal or two-document upstream input into a falsifiable acceptance checklist and optional generic paste-ready goal/target-mode prompt under tmp/ty-context/plan-acceptance/**; if the plan already contains an explicit concrete checklist, the Skill reuses it verbatim in the separate full-checklist file; compact summaries are only navigation/priority, but the Skill does not execute the plan or prove completion.
Superpowers long-task Skill	<harnessRoot>/skills/superpowers-long-task/SKILL.md	Invoke as /superpowers-long-task when Product / Architecture Source, Technical Realization Plan and Acceptance Checklist exist and Superpowers execution is needed. It emits a Superpowers-specific prompt with Context Delta checks and the official workflow skill names, directly binds a Superpowers-ready external implementation plan when supplied, requires a plan-conformance matrix, final acceptance verdict and externally reviewable evidence discipline during execution, and stops when required input fields are missing. It does not generate the technical plan, checklist or execute the plan.
Project-local Skills	<harnessRoot>/skills/<role>/SKILL.md	Optional local product/design/development Skills created by the project, such as product_plan, uiux_design or development_engineer. They supersede package-managed default Skills when more specific, are not overwritten by sync, and should keep front matter trigger keywords aligned with the project AGENTS.md role-trigger rule.
Managed file sync	make ty-context-sync or npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context sync	Refreshes package-managed guidance, default Skills, Makefile include, context templates, tools and workflow YAML. It does not run migrations or perform semantic Context generation; it may block only direct asset-refresh safety issues such as invalid managed blocks or deprecated managed Skill overrides.
Upgrade	make ty-context-upgrade or npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context upgrade	Use for releases marked upgrade-required or manual-required. Builds an upgrade plan, stops before writes when blocked items exist, otherwise applies safe_pending migrations, runs sync and doctor, and exits non-zero when manual follow-up or diagnostics remain.
Upgrade check	npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context upgrade --check [--json]	Checks the upgrade plan without writing files. Reports safe_pending, manual_required and blocked; exits non-zero when any work remains.
Source Pack export	npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --source-pack [--check]	Creates a bounded Source Pack under tmp/ty-context/context-exports/latest/ with upload-ready Context, code index and optional bundles, removing old timestamped rounds.
Code index export	npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --code-index [--check]	Creates a temporary implementation navigation index and manifest without complete source bodies.
Task context export	npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --task-context <name> [--profile <id>] [--check]	Creates a bounded focused task handoff pack from profile or explicit include selectors.
Combined project export	npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --all [--check]	Creates both default temporary exports under tmp/ty-context/context-exports/**.
Project Context export	npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --full [--output tmp/ty-context/context-exports/name.md] [--check]	Creates a temporary Context summary artifact. It is not Context and must not be registered in project_context/context.toml.
Code implementation export	npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --code [--output tmp/ty-context/context-exports/name.md] [--check]	Creates a temporary single-file code implementation artifact. It is not Context and must not be registered in project_context/context.toml.
Modularity check	npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context check-modularity --touched [--limit 300] [--fail-on-warning]	Reports selected handwritten source files over the physical line-count limit; --file <path> and --base <ref> select explicit files or branch changes, and config waivers are reported distinctly.
Code modularity validation	make validate-code-modularity	Hard gate for touched handwritten source modularity; CI can set TY_CONTEXT_MODULARITY_BASE=<ref> to audit PR/base changes.
Harness validation	make validate-harness	Composite gate for validate-context and validate-code-modularity.
Context validation	npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context validate-context, make validate-context	Checks required project recovery fields, Context graph metadata, declared paths/roles and fake test-execution claims.
Plan contract validation	npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context validate-plan-contract <plan.md|dir>	Checks Source-to-Context Coverage and Context-to-Implementation Binding for structural consistency, referenced path existence and weak-proof complete/bound contradictions.
Superpowers state validation	npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context validate-superpowers-state <dir>	Checks canonical Superpowers task-state.json, source hashes, graph references, evidence/proof-layer consistency, stale evidence, sibling substitution, auditor blockers, derived drift and final completion rules.
Plan acceptance validation	npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context validate-plan-acceptance <dir>	Checks legacy matrix/verdict artifacts when no state exists; when task-state.json exists, validates state-backed derived artifacts. It rejects contradictory complete claims, dangling evidence references, weak-proof complete rows, missing proof layers, material/critical drift, unapproved sibling substitution, blocking auditor findings, raw secrets/tokens/cookies, generated active-count drift, missing plan/AC cross-references and declared surface/architecture binding gaps. errors block; warnings / hygiene report cleanup.
Superpowers state helpers	npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context superpowers <subcommand>	Explicit /superpowers-long-task state helper for init, compile, apply-slice-delta, derive, slice-gate, epoch-gate, final-gate and next-slices under tmp/ty-context/plan-acceptance/**.
Diagnostics	make ty-context-doctor or npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context doctor	Reports Harness root, package version, schema version and required Minimal Context paths.
Package source checks	ty-context package sync-source, ty-context package check-source	Maintainer-only commands for keeping package canonical assets aligned with the source workspace.

For high-risk product, UI/UX and engineering tasks that affect durable architecture or module ownership, API/Schema/data contracts, state/runtime behavior, dependency direction, verification/deployment semantics or design-rationale tradeoffs, the default Skills compile a short current-task contract before implementation. The contract starts with Context Delta: none|required; required preserves context-first behavior, while none means the task can proceed against existing Context. When an input is a product/architecture source or technical implementation plan, the same judgment is refined into Product Context Delta: none|required and Technical Context Delta: none|required; either required means overall Context Delta: required. Product Context Delta covers product logic, flows, surface responsibility, information architecture, status meaning, operation boundaries and acceptance semantics. Technical Context Delta covers API/schema/data/event contracts, module ownership, dependency direction, worker/runtime/state semantics, verification/deployment paths and durable technical tradeoffs. For external product/architecture/technical/acceptance sources, plan.md or an equivalent temporary plan surface should also include Source-to-Context Coverage with covered, new_context_required, context_updated, task_local_only, out_of_scope_explicit, needs_user_decision or under_scoped status. For high-risk implementation work, the same plan surface should include Context-to-Implementation Binding with bound, partial, missing, blocked, out_of_scope_explicit, needs_user_decision or contradicted_by_current_state status. It can name Architecture Context Hit and Decision Rationale Hit: existing|required|none so agents explicitly check the controlling Context and rationale state. When module design principles are relevant, the same contract still uses Applicable Module Design for the principles, design logic and rationale controlling the current choice. For engineering, RFC and implementation work, the existing Task Contract still includes Modularity Check: none|required|exception so oversized touched files trigger split-or-exception reasoning without becoming an architecture gate. Ordinary bug fixes, local styling, small refactors, package/release chores, test repairs and spikes are not forced into architecture/rationale ceremony unless they produce durable facts. The task contract, Source-to-Context Coverage, Context-to-Implementation Binding and Contract Conformance are handoff or temporary execution evidence, not new PRD, tech-plan, ADR or implementation-document surfaces.

Technical architecture support is a Minimal Context capability: use restrained architecture.md, area Module Design Capsules and existing contract / decision-rationale roles when durable architecture or rationale matters. Do not invent rationale; store stable reasons, rejected alternatives or tradeoffs only in the smallest durable Context surface when they will affect future implementation or verification choices.

For long-running plans, RFCs or implementation proposals, invoke /normal-long-task to turn a plan plus relevant Context into a falsifiable acceptance checklist and an optional generic paste-ready goal/target-mode prompt. It also supports a two-document upstream input from Web GPT or another external planner: Development Plan for execution direction and Acceptance and Tests for target-mode acceptance input. If the plan already contains an explicit concrete acceptance checklist, the Skill copies that checklist verbatim into a separate full-checklist file instead of generating a competing checklist. The two-document packet path is strict mode: when required fields cannot be fully parsed from both documents, the Skill preserves the inputs, reports the missing fields, and stops without generating a checklist or goal/target-mode prompt. It is one pre-execution acceptance pass, not a task planner or workflow engine: it stores temporary inputs under tmp/ty-context/plan-acceptance/**, asks for confirmation when durable assumptions are unclear, and leaves execution evidence to the future executor, tests, CI, review or human acceptance. The generated prompt may require a local audit under the same temporary directory so future sessions can recover acceptance progress; that audit is not Context, not a quality proof and not a replacement for the project's Tiny Context workflow contract. When the prompt references a full checklist, that checklist is the acceptance authority; compact prompt text is only navigation, priority and recovery guidance.

When the next step explicitly needs Superpowers, invoke /superpowers-long-task on the Product / Architecture Source, Technical Realization Plan and Acceptance Checklist. It emits the Superpowers input packet and execution binding so the future executor sees which inputs feed Context Delta assessment, superpowers:subagent-driven-development, superpowers:executing-plans, TDD, superpowers:verification-before-completion, canonical task-state.json, append-only events.ndjson, generated derived/** views, proof-chain evidence and optional auditor review. This is Tiny Context's adapter layer for Superpowers workflows, aligned to the official Superpowers skills while remaining a Tiny Context-owned adapter rather than an upstream-owned schema. It may wrap Superpowers with authority, conformance and acceptance gates, but it must not redefine, duplicate or fork Superpowers execution mechanics; if a future Tiny Context-added step would conflict with, duplicate or override a Superpowers responsibility, stop and surface the boundary conflict instead of silently merging workflows. It cannot replace /normal-long-task for ordinary checklist preparation, does not route complexity, and does not derive a technical plan from a product plan; the Technical Realization Plan must already be a Superpowers-ready Markdown implementation plan or the Skill stops before generating a prompt. A two-document packet is accepted only when the first document explicitly contains both product/architecture source and technical realization plan sections. Product / Architecture Source, Technical Realization Plan and Acceptance Checklist remain the upstream authorities, while state/derived views/validator/auditor artifacts cannot rewrite them. The generated prompt also disambiguates audit_task_complete, acceptance_target_status and computed product_goal_complete; implementation / execution goals finish only when product_goal_complete=true, while a read-only audit goal can end at audit_task_complete only with a non-accepted verdict reported as Audit workflow completed; acceptance target not complete., not as Goal achieved.

For Product Surface work, context_surface_contract turns broad product/page/UI principles into project-owned surface responsibilities. A Product Surface can be a Web page, mobile screen, desktop window, game UI/HUD/menu, CLI/TUI output, extension UI or embedded/device interface. Cross-surface contracts use the existing contract role; area-owned screen facts stay in area or subdomain; repeatable validation paths use verification. The Harness does not add a new surface-specific role or create business surface contracts during init or upgrade. Product Surface Context authoring is not a default product-quality validator; plan validators only check declared temporary surface bindings for structural consistency. Projects that want mandatory task blocks should add a separate project-local Skill, while product-surface-contract.md is only a compact managed template for optional Context authoring.

To create Product Surface Context in a user project, use the Skill through an agent because the package cannot safely infer business-specific screen duties from code alone. For a new project, init installs the Skill, template and routing guidance; as the project grows, ask the agent to run Product Surface Audit / Compile when a durable surface appears or when a product/UI/engineering task changes main/drilldown ownership. For an existing project, first run ty-context upgrade; then ask the agent to backfill the current surface responsibilities, review the proposed contract, and only then apply it to project_context/**:

Use context_surface_contract in Audit + Compile mode for this repo. Inspect current user-facing routes, screens, panels, CLI/TUI outputs and relevant Context. Propose Product Surface Contract Context using existing roles only. Do not edit product code.

After review, apply the approved contract:

Apply the approved Product Surface Contract to project_context/**, update project_context/context.toml if a new contract file is needed, keep roles to contract/area/subdomain/verification, and run make validate-context.

ty-context check-modularity supports that field by auditing selected handwritten source files for physical line-count risk. It is warning-only by default as a report command, while validate-code-modularity and validate-harness run it as a hard gate. The gate is not validate-context: validate-context remains pure Context recoverability. When policy is scoped_waivers, over-limit exceptions must be backed by <harnessRoot>/config.yaml modularity.waivers entries with path, narrow category, reason and future_split_boundary; handoff prose alone is not a machine waiver.

Modularity Policy

Newly generated Harness configs default to strict_except_generated, which enforces the touched/PR handwritten source limit without legacy waivers:

modularity:
  limit: 300
  policy: strict_except_generated

Generated and non-source files are still auto-skipped when they match existing lock/build/dist/path exclusions or generated-file headers such as @generated / Code generated ... DO NOT EDIT. strict_except_generated does not allow modularity.waivers; any configured waiver fails the modularity gate.

Use scoped_waivers when a small number of legacy exceptions must be explicit and time-bounded:

modularity:
  limit: 300
  policy: scoped_waivers
  waivers:
    - path: src/legacy/big-file.ts
      category: legacy_migration
      reason: "Existing legacy module exceeds the hard source size bound."
      future_split_boundary: "Extract provider adapters and retry policy."

Omitting policy behaves the same as scoped_waivers for compatibility with existing projects. Allowed waiver categories are generated, third_party_reference, legacy_migration, aggregate_styles and fixture_snapshot.

Multilingual trigger phrases are compatibility details. Public README, npm and launch copy stay English-first, and public/package-managed surfaces must remain English-complete; literal non-English examples are documented only where they explain generated Skill matching and must not be the sole activation path.

The Harness upgrade Skill exists so consumer agents have a short, repeatable upgrade procedure for existing projects. It treats upgrade as the default after package updates and for explicit upgrade requests; sync-only only allows a direct managed-asset refresh shortcut when that is what the user asked for. Manual handling stays limited to the migration scope reported by the CLI instead of guessing project semantics.

For complex task-contract work, agents use plan.md or an equivalent temporary plan surface as scratch space for Source-to-Context Coverage, Context-to-Implementation Binding, Context Delta, Task Contract, implementation steps and Conformance notes. It is execution cache only: durable facts must be extracted into project_context/** or DESIGN.md, and temporary plans are not Context, not registered in context.toml and not default project assets. Small code tasks must not create plan.md, full trace tables, Source-to-Context Coverage or Context-to-Implementation Binding unless they discover durable Context changes, receive an external source packet or expand into high-risk/multi-surface work. If coverage still contains unresolved new_context_required, needs_user_decision or under_scoped rows, the implementation cannot be described as fully aligned to the source. If binding still contains partial, missing, blocked, needs_user_decision or contradicted_by_current_state rows, the implementation cannot be described as fully aligned to Context. Use ty-context validate-plan-contract <plan.md|dir> when that artifact should be machine-checked for self-consistency and referenced path existence.

For Product Surface work, frontend layout, UI/UX, product module boundaries or decisions about where information belongs, agents should run a lightweight product/page positioning check before deciding whether the change is context-first. The check asks what judgment the user needs to make on the surface, what information/actions/feedback the product must provide, what should not be persistent, what belongs on the main surface versus drilldown, operations, diagnostics, evidence or detail, and whether layout and information density match the surface task. If ownership is unclear, inspect the relevant surfaces and Context first, and use context_surface_contract for a focused audit. The check is input to change classification: it does not by itself require a Context update, new role, new document chain or validator gate.

The expected Context Priority Ladder is: read Context first, run the product/page positioning or Surface Contract check when applicable, classify durable-fact impact or use Context Delta inside task-contract scenarios, choose context-first or code-first, then perform Contract Conformance when applicable and Context drift check before handoff. This is prompt-level guidance, not an edit-order validator.

Managed AGENTS.md guidance is intentionally a startup router, not a full manual. It should contain fact-source entry points, hard boundaries, key triggers and shortest validation commands; package consumers default long design reasoning to Context unless they already have a local spec/design convention. The source repository keeps stable Harness workflow rationale in PROJECT_SPEC.md. Role procedures belong in Skills and human usage guidance in README. The recommended 40-70 line range is a soft budget, not a validator gate.

Minimal Context Contract

project_context/global.md should contain:

• project goal
• non-goals / boundaries
• background
• project-wide design rationale, including rejected alternatives and tradeoffs that still matter
• architecture context link
• product / delivery brief
• UX / screen brief
• short verification context pointers
• current state
• next safe action
• context index

project_context/architecture.md should contain restrained architecture facts:

• system boundary
• component map
• data / control flow
• architecture-level design rationale, rejected alternatives and tradeoffs
• constraints and tradeoffs
• verification implications
• open risks

project_context/context.toml is the Schema v4 Context graph manifest. init creates a default main product/domain area for ordinary projects and registers project_context/areas/main/verification.md as its default verification role Context. upgrade creates a conservative baseline manifest for existing projects by registering current project_context/areas/**/*.md files as areas, except obvious verification.md and deployment.md role files. Larger projects can add [[areas]] and [[context]] entries with role, trigger/read policy, default children and monorepo boundary metadata such as forbidden_runtime_dependencies.

project_context/areas/<unit>.md should contain product/domain ownership context by default. Complex projects can freely nest context nodes under areas/, such as areas/<area>/README.md, areas/<area>/contracts/*.md, areas/<area>/foundation/*.md, areas/<area>/verification.md, areas/<area>/deployment.md or other durable context files:

• responsibility
• user / system contract
• core data / API / state
• module design capsule when stable principles, design logic or rationale should affect future work
• key constraints
• code entry points
• related role context pointers
• open risks

A module design capsule should stay small and decision-shaped: Principles are stable execution constraints, Design Logic is the minimum choose/reject/degrade/compose logic, and Design Rationale keeps only reasons, rejected alternatives and tradeoffs that change later implementation or verification decisions. Current thresholds, commands and probe parameters belong in the relevant contract or verification Context as execution instances, not as permanent principles.

Use the smallest durable rationale surface: project-wide tradeoffs in global.md#Design Rationale, architecture choices in architecture.md#Design Rationale, module reasons in an area Module Design Capsule, cross-domain interface rationale in contract role Context, larger cross-cutting reasons in decision-rationale, and visual identity or token rationale in DESIGN.md. Do not record implementation summaries, PR notes, command output, test-passed claims, screenshot review notes, debug history, agent reasoning or rationale inferred only from current code shape.

Other context files under project_context/** can declare context_role in front matter or receive a role from context.toml. Roles are semantic labels for agent reading and authoring behavior; validate-context checks graph structure, paths and field shapes instead of enforcing a writing template for every role. Supported roles are global, architecture, area, domain, subdomain, contract, foundation, verification, deployment, archive, implementation-index and decision-rationale.

Product Surface Contracts use these existing roles. Use contract for cross-surface or cross-area files such as project_context/areas/product-surface-contracts.md; use area or subdomain for owned screen contracts inside one domain; use verification for repeatable UI/app/CLI surface checks. Do not add roles such as surface-contract, product-surface, web-contract, app-contract or game-surface.

init gives new projects the Product Surface Contract capability, not a pre-filled business contract. The first durable contract is created when a user or agent explicitly audits/compiles a surface responsibility and writes the approved facts into project_context/**. Existing projects receive the same Skill and template after upgrade, but upgrade intentionally does not inspect current screens or guess their responsibilities; treat Product Surface Context backfill as an explicit follow-up task.

When authoring, migrating or cleaning up project_context/areas/**, run a soft role placement scan before registering every Markdown file as an [[areas]] entry. Keep area / domain for product ownership, use subdomain only for a smaller owned product context, move interface semantics into contract, stable theory or vocabulary into foundation, repeatable test/deploy execution paths into verification / deployment, code maps into implementation-index, design reasons into decision-rationale, and non-default historical or external material into archive. This is prompt-level guidance, not a validator gate.

Automatic migration moves legacy project_context/modules/**/*.md files into project_context/areas/**/*.md, creates a usable graph baseline and does not infer deep semantic roles. If an existing deep area file is really a foundation, contract, archive or implementation index, a later agent should update context.toml explicitly. Boundary rules are metadata only; Harness does not scan source imports or build a runtime dependency graph.

Temporary Project Exports

export-context --source-pack is the recommended external LLM / Web GPT planning path:

npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --source-pack
npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --source-pack --check

It writes tmp/ty-context/context-exports/latest/ as ordinary files/directories and removes old timestamped export rounds. A standard Source Pack is capped at 5 files: source-pack-manifest.json, full-project-context.md, code-index.md, and at most code-bundle-core.md plus code-bundle-extended.md; small projects may omit bundles. The source-pack-v1 manifest uses repo-relative artifact paths and hashes, aggregates warnings and omitted files, and recommends upload sets for daily planning, cross-module review and full fallback.

export-context --code-index creates the navigation index and manifest without complete source bodies:

npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --code-index

code-index.md includes export metadata, repository shape, Context area mapping, entry/API/UI/CLI-worker/test/oversized indexes and a Source File Index with path, type, lines, characters, SHA256, deterministic summary, bundle and tags.

export-context --task-context <name> creates a focused handoff pack, also capped at 5 files:

npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --task-context apex-trend-map --profile apex-trend-map
npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --task-context demo --include-context project_context/areas/main.md --include-code 'src/demo/**'

Profiles live in <harnessRoot>/config.yaml under source_packs; they are export selectors only, not durable facts, and their verification entries are listed without being executed. Source Pack modes keep secret redaction enabled across indexes, bundles, task contexts and manifests. --redaction-strict exits non-zero if redaction was required, --max-pack-files defaults to 5 and cannot exceed 5, and --prune <count> is accepted for older scripts while latest-only retention is applied by default.

Legacy exports remain for compatibility and full fallback.

export-context --all creates both temporary Markdown artifacts for copying into an external tool, archiving an ad hoc discussion or handing context to a one-off collaborator:

npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --all
npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --all --check

This generates both default artifacts with the same timestamp: tmp/ty-context/context-exports/full-project-context-<timestamp>.md and tmp/ty-context/context-exports/code-level-implementation-<timestamp>/code-level-implementation.md. --all does not accept --output; use --full or --code for custom single-artifact paths.

export-context --full creates only the temporary Markdown Context bundle:

npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --full
npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --full --output tmp/ty-context/context-exports/my-export.md
npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --full --check

The default output is tmp/ty-context/context-exports/full-project-context-<timestamp>.md. The file title is # Full Project Context Export. --check reports the planned output path, source count, source file list and warnings without writing a file. The artifact header always says Export artifact. Do not reference from project_context/context.toml.

The exporter includes Context files, key README / AGENTS / DESIGN documents, managed Skill guidance, Makefile verification-entry summaries, a directory tree summary and Context code-entry indexes. It excludes .env*, secret/token/cookie-oriented files, raw captures, licensed payload dumps, node_modules, build output, caches, coverage, test reports and existing export artifacts; obvious sensitive assignment values are redacted and reported as warnings.

export-context --code creates one temporary Markdown file for handing the current implementation state to an external model:

npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --code
npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --code --output tmp/ty-context/context-exports/my-code-export.md
npx --yes --package project-tiny-context-harness@latest ty-context export-context --code --check

The default output is tmp/ty-context/context-exports/code-level-implementation-<timestamp>/code-level-implementation.md. The file title is # Code-Level Implementation Export. It scans main source and engineering configuration files, adds each file path, type, line count, character count, SHA256, a heuristic one-sentence summary and a fenced redacted code block. It does not split output into multiple Markdown files.

All export modes refuse project_context/** and non-temporary output paths. validate-context also rejects obvious export artifact names such as code-level-implementation, full-project-context, legacy Chinese export names, project-overview, context-bundle, context-summary or context-export if they are registered in project_context/context.toml.

The Context should be dense, durable and short. Former ADR content belongs in Design Rationale when it still affects future changes. Implementation details that are obvious from code should stay in code and tests; only non-obvious constraints belong in Context.

Verification and deployment role Context are allowed only when a test, smoke, CI, deployment, bootstrap or runtime path has durable recovery value. Record minimal preparation, the shortest command/path, expected stage or signal, acceptable warnings and dead ends already ruled out. Verification paths are reusable execution instances, not independent definitions of capability, metric or acceptance targets; first use the owning module's design Context to decide what claim should be proven, then choose the command or probe. Do not record one-off logs, full output, temporary JSON, CI artifacts, release ledgers, reports, secrets, tokens, cookies, device ids or raw payloads. Put execution details in the owning area's verification or deployment role Context; use project-level references only for truly cross-domain paths.

project_context/** is authoritative for intended responsibility, ownership, product intent, architecture boundaries, integration direction, allowed or forbidden dependencies and verification/deployment entry paths. Source code is authoritative for current implementation state. If code shape, keyword search results or nearby implementations disagree with Context, agents should call out implementation drift, missing work or stale Context instead of overriding Context-declared ownership or intent.

Before the first code edit, agents should classify the change instead of relying on a fixed timer. Long-term fact changes include product ownership or plans, module responsibilities, information architecture, API / Schema, state-machine or scheduler semantics, cross-area boundaries and verification/deployment entry paths. If a task hits one of these categories, Context-first is the default path and the first update should be the relevant project_context/** entry with enough durable context to guide implementation, without a fixed line-count limit:

context -> implementation -> verification -> context drift check

Code-first is a controlled exception for ordinary bug fixes, local styling changes, local implementation-drift repairs, test fixes and exploratory spikes; those should not update Context unless they produce a durable fact. Once code discovery produces one, the agent should update Context before final alignment or handoff:

implementation discovery -> context update if long-term fact changed -> implementation alignment -> verification

This ordering is guidance, not a new validator gate. validate-context checks recoverability and fake verification claims; it does not infer whether Context or code was edited first. Automation may warn about possible context-first drift, but should not block work. Handoffs should report only a lightweight status such as Context: updated ... or Context: no durable fact change.

The product planning, UI/UX and development engineer Skills are Context authoring helpers. They may shape product plans, screen flows, design handoff, implementation plans or technical decisions, but they do not create a default PRD/UIUX/tech-plan document chain. Their descriptions intentionally avoid broad generic single-word triggers such as product, design or development in any language. For visual systems, init creates root DESIGN.md as the durable source for colors, typography, spacing, shapes and component tokens; upgrade creates it for existing Harness projects when missing. The generated file starts as a neutral starter baseline with visual tokens, background/color logic, typography, spacing, component states and do/don't guidance; user-authored design rules take precedence once present. Validate it with npx @google/design.md lint DESIGN.md. The product/design Skills keep compact calibration for product/page positioning, user needs, information density, content/action placement, true empty/error/loading states, layout stability, register cho