{
 "format": "LSC-1",
 "edition": 2,
 "cut": "2026-10-14",
 "header": "AI SKILL CARD · LSC-1",
 "house": "THE METHODS",
 "wing": "CLAUDE CODE",
 "no": "Nº 491",
 "name": "THE CONTEXT CARD",
 "handle": "context-card",
 "role": "The working-set seat: the files that bear on a task, ranked with reasons, budgeted and packed.",
 "description": "Use when an agent needs the right files for a task and not the whole repository: ranked, budgeted in tokens, packed with a header per file. Not for writing the memory file or taking checkpoints.",
 "wakes_when": {
  "face": "A task needs the right files, not all of them.",
  "situations": [
   "An agent is reading the whole repository for a change that touches three files.",
   "Someone wants to know what to paste into a chat for this task and how much it costs.",
   "A context window keeps filling and the agent forgets the start.",
   "A set of files must be handed to a fresh session with every line traceable."
  ]
 },
 "loop": [
  "Rank the files by the task, with why",
  "Budget the set in estimated tokens",
  "Pack it with a header per file",
  "Say the estimate is an estimate"
 ],
 "never": [
  "Never packs a secret file",
  "Never calls a file relevant without saying why",
  "Never passes an estimate off as a model's count",
  "Never claims a certainty it does not have"
 ],
 "hand_off": [
  "The file an agent reads first every session → THE CLAUDE.MD CARD",
  "A way back after the agent changes the set → THE CHECKPOINT CARD",
  "Work too big for one context window → THE CREW CARD"
 ],
 "in_the_box": [
  "SKILL.md",
  "CARD.md",
  "▣ scripts/context.py (machine)",
  "▣ scripts/evals.py (test runner)",
  "tests/EVALS.json (9 tests)",
  "references/ (schema + fictional demo)",
  "START-HERE.md · system/ doors",
  "MY-LEDGER.md · LICENSE-NOTE.md",
  "card.svg · card.json · card.html",
  "AUDIT.md · MANIFEST.md · WITNESS.md · SELFTEST.md"
 ],
 "machine": {
  "file": "scripts/context.py",
  "usage": [
   "python3 scripts/context.py rank --root DIR --task TEXT [--top N] --out RANK.json  — rank every text file for the task; each line shows the score and why",
   "python3 scripts/context.py budget --root DIR --task TEXT --limit TOKENS --out SET.json  — the working set that fits: ranked files added in order until the limit, the rest LEFT OUT and counted",
   "python3 scripts/context.py pack --set SET.json --out CONTEXT.md  — write the set as one file with a header per file (path, bytes, estimated tokens, why it is here)",
   "python3 scripts/context.py explain --set SET.json  — print the set as a table: in or LEFT OUT, score, tokens, why",
   "python3 scripts/context.py scan --root DIR --out FILES.json  — list every text file with its size and estimated tokens; secrets and binaries NOT PACKABLE",
   "python3 scripts/context.py selftest  — build a fictional repository in a temp dir and prove every command and every refusal"
  ],
  "selftest": "12/12"
 },
 "punch": {
  "hex": "4E14D848B6B8C1BFCBE05DB4",
  "bits": "010011100001010011011000010010001011011010111000110000011011111111001011111000000101110110110100",
  "of": "SKILL.md",
  "method": "first 96 bits of SHA-256"
 },
 "proof": "Machine selftest 12/12 witnessed in Claude, 2026-10-14, on fictional fixtures. Tests in fresh chats and any run on real data are owed.",
 "seal": {
  "score": 98,
  "of": 100,
  "band": "LEGENDARY",
  "mark": "WITNESSED",
  "criteria": {
   "Trigger": 5,
   "Machinery": 5,
   "Law": 5,
   "Portability": 5,
   "Proof": 5
  },
  "scale": "five Skill Scale criteria, each out of 5, ×4, capped at 98; computed by the cutter from the packet",
  "computed": {
   "Trigger": "+2 description 194 characters with a trigger and an anti-trigger; +1 4 situations it wakes on; +2 9 tests of all three kinds aboard",
   "Machinery": "+3 a machine of its own, `context.py`, whose selftest passes (12/12); +1 eight or more selftest checks; +1 5 working commands besides the selftest",
   "Law": "+1 4 never-lines; +1 3 hand-offs; +1 a written law; +2 5 selftest checks prove a refusal or a flag inside the machine",
   "Portability": "+3 Python standard library only; +1 no network calls; +1 runs no other programs",
   "Proof": "+3 the machine's selftest witnessed in Claude on 2026-10-14, on fictional fixtures; +1 run from inside the packet itself; +1 the 9 tests asked in a fresh chat holding only the card, scored by scripts/evals.py: 9/9, witnessed on 2026-10-14"
  }
 },
 "term": {
  "price": "set on the store at sale",
  "licence": "one person, any number of their own AIs and computers; never another person",
  "renewal": "nothing auto-renews"
 },
 "you_bring": [
  "The task, in the words the code uses.",
  "The repository folder.",
  "The token limit you are working within."
 ],
 "studio_edition": "Planned as a separate seat, not in this box and not yet on sale: the working sets the studio packs for its own long builds.",
 "hold": null,
 "disclaimer": "not a search engine · not a payment card · no refunds · © 2026 Lund Studio LLC",
 "endorsement": "The holder brings their own AI; no endorsement by Anthropic or any other AI company is claimed."
}