Does it need the Shopify connection?

No. Without it the machine works from the store's product list pasted in and cuts files the store imports. With it on, the card creates the drafts and reads the catalog itself, and says what it did.

Will it publish for me?

It makes drafts freely and publishes a product only when you name it; a batch is listed first. That is the law on the face.

Where do prices come from?

From you, on the ladder or off it. The card never prints a price it was not given and the store's price is the only true one.

Can it attach the files?

No — that door is the app's and yours. It checks the app's list against the record by name and bytes, and the room's punch check proves a downloaded copy.

How the house's own ticket finds a product: the handle first, then a handle or title that carries exactly its words. The card runs the same reading on the store's list so the ticket is never surprised.

No. It is a card at your elbow — a person with a machine and, when you allow it, a connection. It stores nothing, runs no server and holds no key of its own.

THE INSTRUMENTS · Nº 778 · EDITION 1 · METHOD + MACHINE

LUND CARDS · THE INSTRUMENTSNº 778 PROPOSED

THE CONTEXT BUDGET CARD — the LSC-1 face

THE CARD AS TEXT · FOR EYES AND FOR MACHINES

THE CONTEXT BUDGET CARD · the reading seat · measure first, read only what you need

WAKES WHEN opening a big file, a long log or a large output; a long working session that is filling up; searching inside a big file for one place; picking the work back up after a break

THE LOOP

NAME — say: "This is THE CONTEXT BUDGET CARD." Ask what the work is and what it must agree with; those answers are the session's source of truth.
MEASURE — `python3 scripts/budget.py measure FILE` — and follow the verdict.
PEEK — `python3 scripts/budget.py peek FILE --head 40 --tail 20` or `--grep "pattern" --around 3`.
SQUEEZE — `python3 scripts/budget.py squeeze run.log` for long logs.
CHECKPOINT — `python3 scripts/budget.py checkpoint STATE.md --goal "..." --done "..." --next "..." --file F`, before the session fills, and read it first when you come back.
LEDGER — write the ledger line.

NEVER

a big file read whole
a long output pasted in full
a session run until it forgets

THE SEAL 68 of 100 · EPIC · WITNESSED · MACHINE ABOARD · SELFTEST 7/7 · 10 TESTS · WITNESSED ON REAL WORK

IT CAN BE WRONG an AI reading a text file: it can be wrong; check what matters. THE-CLAUSES.md rides in the packet and is part of the licence.

THE PUNCH · SHA-256 OF SKILL.MD · B7B4E09DBBABC7F4E6C6441F

THE FACE, FULL SIZE → · THE MACHINE FACE → · card.json →

THE CONTEXT BUDGET CARD

the reading seat · measure first, read only what you need

MEASURE BEFORE YOU OPEN · PEEK, NEVER SWALLOW · CHECKPOINT BEFORE IT FILLS

EPICWITNESSEDIN CLAUDE IN LUNDR IN CHATGPT

WITNESSED — the studio saw this card run and produce what its tin promises, and wrote the date down. What the marks mean →

THE SPEC SHEET · READ BEFORE YOU BUY · THE STANDARD EVERY CARD MEETS →

SEAL: 68 of 100 · EPIC · WITNESSED
EDITION: E1
MACHINE: scripts/ · 1 command · selftest 7/7
RUNS: On your own computer. Standard library only, offline; no account, no key, no telemetry.
HOSTS: Claude · Claude Code · ChatGPT · Gemini · any AI that reads a file (HOSTS.md names each door)
LICENCE: One person, any number of their own AIs and computers · editions replace files · nothing renews · freeze, not loss
PUNCH: B7B4E09DBBABC7F4E6C6441F · sha-256 of SKILL.md · check any file against it →

CITE THIS CARDTHE CONTEXT BUDGET CARD, Edition 1. Lund Studio LLC, Westminster, Colorado. https://lundr.tech/?view=context-budget-card. Punch B7B4E09DBBABC7F4E6C6441F. Retrieved 2026-10-10.

What it is.

A seat for reading like a professional: measure a file before opening it, read only the part you need, and checkpoint before the session fills.

Measures files and estimates their tokens, shows only the lines you need, collapses repeating logs, and writes a checkpoint to come back to.

Its laws, written into the card.

Measure before you open. A big file read whole crowds out everything else the session knows.
Read the part you need: the head and tail, or the lines around a match. Count what was left out, and say so.
Long lines and long logs are cut and collapsed, never pasted whole.
Checkpoint before the session fills: the goal, what is done, what is next, and each file's hash.
Token counts here are estimates and are called estimates.

How it works, once your AI has it.

NAME — say: "This is THE CONTEXT BUDGET CARD." Ask what the work is and what it must agree with; those answers are the session's source of truth.
MEASURE — `python3 scripts/budget.py measure FILE` — and follow the verdict.
PEEK — `python3 scripts/budget.py peek FILE --head 40 --tail 20` or `--grep "pattern" --around 3`.
SQUEEZE — `python3 scripts/budget.py squeeze run.log` for long logs.
CHECKPOINT — `python3 scripts/budget.py checkpoint STATE.md --goal "..." --done "..." --next "..." --file F`, before the session fills, and read it first when you come back.
LEDGER — write the ledger line.

When it says no.

A big file read whole.
A long output pasted in full.
A session run until it forgets.

What’s in the buy.

CARD.md — the whole card · SKILL.md — the door your AI reads first · START-HERE.md — the first five minutes
AUDIT.md · CARD.md · HOSTS.md · LICENSE-NOTE.md · MANIFEST.md · MY-LEDGER.md · SKILL.md · START-HERE.md · THE-CLAUSES.md · TIN.md · WITNESS.md · card-machine.svg · card.html · card.json · card.svg · references/THE-METHOD.md · scripts/budget.py · tests/EVALS.md · tests/evals.json · system/short-prompt.md · system/system-prompt.md — the packet as the cards chat cut it
MY-LEDGER.md · TIN.md · LICENSE-NOTE.md · THE-CLAUSES.md · card.svg + card-machine.svg + card.json · card.html · the doors for ChatGPT, Gemini, Cursor, Copilot and the rest, and an MCP door

PROOF · MACHINE ABOARD · SELFTEST 7/7 · 10 TESTS · WITNESSED ON REAL WORK · AUDIT 12/12 · EDITION 1 · PUNCH B7B4E09DBBABC7F4E6C6441F

ON EVERY DOOR · A CARD FOR YOUR AI, A FILE FOR YOUR COMPUTER

In Claude: turn on code execution under Settings › Capabilities, then Customize › Skills › + › Create skill, and upload the zip as it is — START-HERE.md in the box walks you through it, and tells you how to keep the ledger. In ChatGPT, Gemini and the rest: a Project, a GPT or a Gem with the card’s files attached and the short door in the box pasted as its instructions. The words run anywhere an AI reads Markdown; the machines run wherever the host runs Python. Witnessed in Claude only. The host marks →

Take it.

Nº 778 PROPOSED · ONE PAYMENT

Sold as is under the term printed. A card instructs an AI you operate; results depend on your model, your files and your judgement. Not legal, tax, medical or financial advice. The terms →

ONE PAYMENT · NOTHING RENEWS ITSELF

OFFLINE · ONE LICENCE · PUNCH-CHECKABLE · THE STANDARD

One payment. The file is yours to keep and keeps working at its edition; new editions issued in the year after you buy reach you by email as replacement files. Tax is added at checkout where it applies. Nothing auto-renews.

ONE PAYMENT — NOTHING RENEWS ITSELF. CHECKOUT IS SHOPIFY’S OWN; YOUR CARD COMES BY EMAIL AFTER IT.

← THE INSTRUMENTS · THE FLOOR →