context-capsule git:20260727.4f9f17bA

Immutable. This exact content never changes and is served at /api/v1/blob/0dd7d8d1bd851f65.

---
name: context-capsule
description: The capsule verb, invoked explicitly — reconcile from the live memory, write a resume-ready capsule, then stop. Mid-session checkpoint or completion capsule; a rolling best-effort version of the same write also runs automatically on every Stop event via daemons/stop-capsule-writer.mjs.
trigger: /context-capsule
status: Two-verb lifecycle — supersedes the v1 capsule skill and absorbs /close (there is no separate close ceremony).
related:
  - "docs/two-verb-lifecycle.md (design doc — schema, content gate, sovereignty rules)"
  - "daemons/capsule-verb.mjs (validateCapsuleText — required fields + content gate)"
  - "daemons/capsule-content-gate.mjs (content gate; shared with the stop-writer)"
  - "skills/resume/SKILL.md (the mirror verb)"
---

# /context-capsule — the capsule verb

**The entire job: reconcile → write the capsule → confirm it → chronicle → sync the vault → STOP.** The capsule absorbs `/close`: there is no separate close ceremony, and no separate stamping step — writing a valid capsule (content gate passes, required fields non-empty) and folding the session into durable memory is the capsule contract.

## When this skill fires vs the automatic verb

A rolling, best-effort version of this write already runs on every `Stop` event via `daemons/stop-capsule-writer.mjs` — you don't need this skill for ordinary turn-by-turn capture. Invoke `/context-capsule` for the explicit cases: a mid-session checkpoint before risky work, a completion capsule when a thread ships, or a handoff.

## Operator sovereignty (never violate)

- The capsule is **best-effort autosave, never a gate**. An operator `/clear` passes through whether or not a capsule landed; never tell the operator to wait on capsule machinery.

## Fences (never cross)

- **Do NOT write a narration capsule.** Reconcile-from-memory is the value: a capsule that restates the transcript instead of the live memory/git state is the trap this verb exists to prevent.

## Steps (tight + terminal)

1. **RECONCILE from live memory** — re-read the session log, active priorities, and this session's git commits. Record what happened, not what was said. Budget: **2–4 reads, no more**.
2. **WRITE** `vault/memory/capsules/<YYYY-MM-DD>-<slug>.md`:
   - Frontmatter — all four REQUIRED fields non-empty, no inline `#` comments on them, `waiting_on` quoted (never bare `null`): `id`, `objective`, `waiting_on`, `next_valid_action`; plus `parent_capsule_id`, `status: active`, `trigger`, `expires`, `tags`, `created_at`. Stamp `created_at` with the real current date-time at this write, **ISO-8601 with offset** (e.g. `2026-07-25T11:12:04-07:00`) — the selector parses this field, and a date-only stamp backdates the capsule to midnight UTC where it loses to every same-day autosave. `resume_trigger` and `success_criteria` are OPTIONAL — include them when they add real signal, omit otherwise.
   - Body — `[REFERENCE ONLY]` banner, then: `Done (don't redo)` · `Historical-Errors → Resolutions` · `Historical-Rejected-Approaches` · `Files-Read / Files-Modified` · `Operating-Facts` · `Pending-Gates` · `Claimed-Rows`. Historical- prefixes and latest-wins stay (anti-zombie).
   - `waiting_on` is the resume contract: write it so a fresh session can act from it alone — concrete items, owners, gates.
3. **CONFIRM the write.** Re-read the exact file you just wrote: it landed at the path you think it did, `id` matches the filename, and every required field is populated. Self-check the frontmatter against the field list and the content gate (injection echo / ceremony action, `daemons/capsule-content-gate.mjs`). There is no separate trusted-writer pass to catch a mistake after the fact, so an unread write is an unverified one. Repair before continuing.
4. **CHRONICLE — the close-parity pass.** This verb absorbed `/close`, so it has to absorb what `/close` actually did, or the durable record stops growing the moment you stop running the old verb:
   - **Memory-delta pass** — fold this session's real changes into the durable notes that changed (typically 2 to 6 files under `vault/memory/`). Precise edits, not a transcript dump.
   - **Stage directives** — anything decision-shaped or instruction-shaped that isn't already banked goes to `vault/memory/MEMORY_CANDIDATES.md`. A directive that exists only inside a capsule dies with that capsule: the capsule is spent on the next resume, and the directive is not meant to be.
   - **One `vault/memory/SESSION_LOG.md` line**, newest first: `- <YYYY-MM-DD> <capsule-id>: <one-line summary>`.
5. **SYNC fail-soft.** After the capsule and any memory edits land, run `node daemons/vault-sync.mjs`. It resolves the installed root from `.aigent/state.json`, stages only capsule/memory changes, and handles no-remote or push-failure outcomes without prompting or gating the lifecycle. Fail-soft is deliberate: a fresh install has no remote, and the lifecycle must never wedge because one is absent. But if it reports a failure and a remote IS configured, that is a real finding — say so plainly rather than moving on, because unsynced memory is memory you will lose.
6. **STOP.** One line acknowledging the capsule path, then silence.

## Lifecycle

`active → resumed → resolved`. The resume RUNTIME marks the capsule `resumed` mechanically at load (`daemons/resume-verb.mjs` via `markCapsuleConsumed`) — never edit a capsule's status by hand, and never expect the same capsule to be silently re-resumed on a later clear. A capsule superseded by a newer one, or `resumed` >30 days, resolves. `/open`/`/close` are retired — resume absorbs open, this verb absorbs close.

## When NOT to capsule

- Mid-thought (finish the thought).
- Trivial sessions a fresh session could reconstruct from memory alone.
- Inside a dispatched sub-agent (the dispatch brief IS the capsule).