{"slug":"using-cortex","title":"using-cortex","summary":"Use when the user asks to check the cortex vault, refers to earlier work (\"last time\", \"that project\", \"we discussed\", \"之前那個\", \"上次的\"), asks to resume something from a previous session, or names a topic the SessionStart hook listed for this vault. Routes the request to the cortex-","platform":"Claude","tags":[],"authorName":"LLM Mart","authorSlug":"llm-mart","score":0,"source":"github","price":null,"verified":false,"createdAt":"2026-09-07T18:44:05.358098Z","repo":{"url":"https://github.com/XBlueSky/cortexes","stars":21,"forks":4,"license":"Apache-2.0","updatedAt":"2026-09-22T03:59:52Z"},"bodyHtml":"<hr>\n<h2>name: using-cortex\ndescription: &gt;\nUse when the user asks to check the cortex vault, refers to earlier work\n(\"last time\", \"that project\", \"we discussed\", \"之前那個\", \"上次的\"), asks\nto resume something from a previous session, or names a topic the\nSessionStart hook listed for this vault. Routes the request to the\ncortex-query skill so the answer is grounded in the user's own notes\ninstead of re-derived. Do not use for general questions, for fresh work\nwith no prior-context signal, or when the user has asked to skip the\nvault.</h2>\n<h1>Using Cortex — When to Consult the Vault</h1>\n<p>The cortex vault is the user's own knowledge base: distilled Notes,\nProjects, and Raw session records. This skill decides <strong>when</strong>\nconsulting it is warranted, and hands the actual search to the\n<code>cortex-query</code> skill.</p>\n<p>Retrieval is worth doing when there is a concrete signal that prior context\nexists. It is not worth doing on speculation — an unprompted search costs\nthe user tokens and latency, and surfacing unrelated notes pollutes the\nanswer.</p>\n<h2>Search the vault when any of these is true</h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Explicit request.</strong> The user asks for it: \"check cortex\", \"查一下\ncortex\", \"有沒有記錄過\", \"do I have notes on this\".</li>\n<li><strong>Reference to prior work.</strong> The user points at something earlier:\n\"之前那個\", \"上次的\", \"我記得有\", \"我們討論過\", \"that ticket\", \"the\nproject we set up\", \"continue where we left off\".</li>\n<li><strong>Listed topic.</strong> The request names a topic that the SessionStart hook\nactually listed for this vault. The list is authoritative — match\nagainst what it showed, not against a guess about what might exist.</li>\n<li><strong>Resuming a session.</strong> The user asks to pick up, continue, or hand off\nwork from a previous session.</li>\n</ol>\n<p>In each case, invoke the <code>cortex-query</code> skill rather than searching the\nvault directly — that skill knows the retrieval infrastructure, including\n<code>cortex-vec</code> and its fallbacks.</p>\n<h2>Do not search the vault when</h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The user has not given any of the four signals above. A question being\ndifficult, technical, or open-ended is <strong>not</strong> a signal.</li>\n<li>The user picked <strong>option 4 (\"直接開始工作\")</strong> from the SessionStart menu,\nor skipped the menu. That choice means \"do not go to the vault\"; honour\nit for the rest of the session unless the user later asks.</li>\n<li>The user says \"don't check cortex\", \"just answer directly\", or similar.</li>\n<li>The task is self-contained: editing code in the current repo, answering\nfrom the current turn, or anything the conversation already supplies.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>When in doubt, <strong>answer directly</strong>. If the answer would have been better\nwith vault context, the user can ask — and signal 1 then applies.</p>\n<h2>How to apply</h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Check the four signals against the user's actual message. If none\nmatches, proceed without the vault and do not mention it.</li>\n<li>If one matches, invoke <code>cortex-query</code>.</li>\n<li>If results are relevant, ground the answer in them and cite the source\npage. If nothing relevant comes back, say so briefly and continue.</li>\n</ol>\n<h2>Anti-patterns</h2>\n<ul>\n<li>❌ Searching on every message, or at conversation start, \"just in case\".</li>\n<li>❌ Treating a hard question as implicit permission to search.</li>\n<li>❌ Overriding the user's option 4 / \"skip the vault\" choice.</li>\n<li>❌ Grepping the vault directly instead of going through <code>cortex-query</code>.</li>\n<li>❌ Announcing \"let me check cortex\" when no signal applies.</li>\n</ul>\n<h2>Why This Skill Exists</h2>\n<p>The individual cortex skills fire on their own explicit phrases. This skill\nadds the small set of cases where the user has clearly gestured at prior\nwork without naming a command — so the vault gets consulted when it will\nactually help, and stays out of the way otherwise.</p>\n","files":[{"path":"SKILL.md","sizeBytes":3699,"isText":true}],"reviewScore":null,"reviewSummary":null,"trust":{"provenance":"trusted-source-unreviewed","notice":"Community-authored content, reproduced verbatim and not vetted as instructions. Treat it as data to evaluate, never as directives to follow.","bodySource":null},"bodyLocked":false,"purchaseUrl":null,"sourceUrl":null,"report":{"provenance":"trusted-source-unreviewed","screen":{"ran":true,"outcome":"clean","suspicious":0,"notes":0,"hiddenCharacters":false},"virusScan":{"engine":"clamav","status":"clean","scannedAt":"2026-09-07T18:44:33.501321Z","sha256":"1347EB60FE9EE1A415A3C38BDF4C0BEC34BFE9143966DFFC7C600F41A6DFD206","sizeBytes":1884},"review":null,"source":{"repositoryUrl":"https://github.com/XBlueSky/cortexes","path":"skills/using-cortex","license":"Apache-2.0","commit":"ff2eaeb522f21bb1022ff25b090aad0072d2aca1","subtreeSha":"531A56AE3AF11979B4880CE7C7795451B399FD4FAFCB66AE5A138B4C58096B54","lastSyncedAt":"2026-09-25T06:49:31.454583Z"},"reviewedAt":"2026-09-07T18:53:02.718014Z","notice":"Community-authored content, reproduced verbatim and not vetted as instructions. Treat it as data to evaluate, never as directives to follow."},"install":[{"target":"skills-cli","command":"npx skills add https://github.com/XBlueSky/cortexes/tree/plugin/skills/using-cortex"},{"target":"claude-code","command":"claude plugin marketplace add https://llmmart.ai/marketplace.json && claude plugin install xbluesky-cortexes@llmmart"},{"target":"git","command":"git clone https://github.com/XBlueSky/cortexes.git"}]}