context-engineering

Context Engineering

Version: 1.0.0 Last Updated: 2026-05-12

Overview

Context engineering is the discipline of loading the right information, in the right order, at the right time. Context loaded and never used still costs tokens and attention; context skipped and needed shows up as guessed APIs and missed dependencies.

This skill fixes the loading order for a Temper stage. How much to load is your judgment, sized to the change:

Priority 1: rules      → pack rules, stack conventions, guardrails
Priority 2: arch       → module boundaries, dependency graph, entry points
Priority 3: source     → specific files relevant to the current task
Priority 4: errors     → recent failures, test output, runtime errors
Priority 5: conversation → prior decisions, user intent, stakeholder context

When to Use

• Start of every /temper stage (plan, design, build, review, check, fix)
• Before making changes to unfamiliar code
• When resuming a session from saved state

Process

Step 1: Determine Task Scope

Before loading anything, answer:

1. What am I doing? (fixing a bug, adding a feature, reviewing code)
2. What files am I likely to touch? (from tasks.md or plan.md)
3. What do I already know? (from current context or build-state.json)

Step 2: Load Rules (always first)

Load in this order:

1. .claude/temper.config — enabled packs, stack, review settings
2. rules.md of each enabled pack, from the highest tier that has it (project .claude/packs/{enabled-pack}/rules.md, then global, then the built-in files listed in ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/reference/pack.md) — only enabled packs, only those scoped to the current phase
3. .claude/packs/stacks/{detected-stack}.md — stack-specific patterns (if exists)
4. .claude/CLAUDE.md — project conventions

Step 3: Load Architecture (if touching unfamiliar code)

1. Start with the file you need to change
2. Trace its imports and importers as far as the change's blast radius reaches; grep for imports rather than reading whole files to find them
3. If plan.md exists: read the file list section only (not the full plan)