Where should I store global preferences?

Global preferences should be placed in ~/.claude/CONTEXT.md, which acts as the top-level parent for all projects on your machine.

How do I see which context files are currently active?

You can run the '/ctx tree' command to see a visual representation of the context hierarchy and which files are contributing to the resolved context.

What is the difference between CONTEXT.md and MEMORY.md?

CONTEXT.md contains static, intentionally written knowledge about the project, while MEMORY.md is used to store distilled learnings and session-specific updates.

How does the ctx skill resolve context?

It walks up the directory tree from your current working directory, aggregating context from local folders (.context/), the repository root (.claude/), and your global user settings (~/.claude/).

Can I prevent a local directory from inheriting global styles?

Yes, you can use the @override or @ignore directives in your local CONTEXT.md file to specifically replace or remove sections inherited from parent directories.

Hierarchical Context Manager

Name: Hierarchical Context Manager
Author: c-daly

byc-daly

0•

Productivity & Workflow

Manages multi-level, inheritance-based context files to provide Claude with precise project-specific knowledge and standards.

The Hierarchical Context Manager (ctx) optimizes Claude's performance by organizing project knowledge into a structured hierarchy ranging from specific features to global user preferences. By utilizing localized CONTEXT.md files alongside repository and global configurations, it ensures the AI always operates with the most relevant coding standards, patterns, and project goals. This system allows for granular control through section inheritance and overrides, preventing context pollution while maintaining consistency across complex codebases and agent-based workflows.

Key Features

01Hierarchical resolution from local directory to global user settings

02Interactive tree view to visualize context propagation across directory levels

03In-session context editing and management commands

04Support for inheritance, section overrides (@override), and explicit ignores (@ignore)

05Clear distinction between static project knowledge and session-based distilled memory

060 GitHub stars

Use Cases

01Enforcing specific design patterns within a sub-module of a large monorepo

02Reducing AI hallucinations by surfacing only the documentation relevant to the current task scope

03Applying global developer preferences across all projects while allowing repository-specific overrides

What are Skills?·How to Install

Install with 🐟 Skill.Fish

npx skillfish add c-daly/agent-swarm ctx

For use in Claude.ai and ChatGPT

Download Skill