Cortex

This repository packages the Cortex (cortex) context management toolkit as a Claude Code plugin. It bundles the curated agents, commands, modes, rules, and supporting Python CLI + TUI so teams can install the complete experience through the plugin system or keep using the standalone cortex / cortex-ui scripts.

Note: The cortex command has been deprecated but will remain available for a while.

📚 Docs: https://nickcrew.github.io/claude-cortex/ 🎬 Presentations: Intro Overview • Technical Deep Dive • Executive Roadmap • Feature Catalog

What's inside

• commands/ – slash command definitions that surface curated behavioural prompts
• agents/ and inactive/agents/ – Claude subagents with dependency metadata (move files into inactive/agents to park them)
• modes/ – opinionated context modules that toggle workflow defaults (activation tracked in .active-modes, managed via CLI/TUI)
• rules/ – reusable rule sets referenced by the CLI and plugin commands
• flags/ – modular context packs toggled via FLAGS.md
• hooks/ – optional automation hooks for command workflows
• profiles/, scenarios/, workflows/ – higher-level orchestration templates for complex workstreams
• claude_ctx_py/ and claude-ctx-py – Python CLI entrypoint mirroring the original cortex
• schema/ and scripts/ – validation schemas and helper scripts

🆕 Latest Updates

• Template guardrails – The TUI detects missing templates/ files in the active CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT and offers to initialize them or run the setup wizard.
• Multi-LLM consult skill – Ask Gemini, OpenAI (Codex), or Qwen for a second opinion; configure provider API keys via the TUI Command Palette -> "Configure LLM Providers".
• Asset Manager reliability – “Update All” and “Install All in Category” now behave consistently with clearer prompts.
• Flag toggles restored – Spacebar toggling works again in the Flag Explorer and Flag Manager, updating FLAGS.md immediately.

✅ Stability Update: AI + Context Management

We’ve fixed major issues across AI recommendations and context state tracking. Auto-activation and watch mode are more reliable, and context activation now uses .active-* state files with cortex doctor and cortex setup migrate to keep everything consistent.

🔥 New: Super Saiyan Mode

Universal visual excellence framework with platform detection:

• modes/Super_Saiyan.md – Core generic mode with auto-detection
• modes/supersaiyan/ – Platform-specific implementations (Web, TUI, CLI, Docs)
• claude_ctx_py/tui_supersaiyan.py – Enhanced Textual components
• examples/supersaiyan_demo.py – Interactive demo
• Three power levels: ⭐ Super Saiyan → ⚡ Kamehameha → 💥 Over 9000

Quick start:

python examples/supersaiyan_demo.py  # See it in action!

See Super Saiyan Integration Guide for details.

📦 New: Asset Manager

Install, diff, and update plugin assets directly from the TUI:

• Discover hooks, commands, agents, skills, modes, workflows, and flags
• Install/uninstall to any detected .claude directory
• Diff installed vs source, bulk install by category, update outdated assets

Quick start:

cortex tui
# Press 'A' for Asset Manager
# i=install, u=uninstall, d=diff, U=update all, I=bulk install, T=target dir

🌿 New: Worktree Manager

Manage git worktrees from the CLI or TUI.

CLI:

cortex worktree list
cortex worktree add my-branch --path ../worktrees/my-branch
cortex worktree remove my-branch
cortex worktree prune --dry-run
cortex worktree dir ../worktrees
cortex worktree dir --clear

TUI:

cortex tui
# Press 'C' for Worktrees
# Ctrl+N add, Ctrl+O open, Ctrl+W remove, Ctrl+K prune, Ctrl+B set base dir

🧭 New: Setup, Init & Migration

The installer and setup tooling have been overhauled to keep projects consistent across upgrades.

# Detect your project and recommend a profile
cortex init detect

# Apply a profile directly
cortex init profile backend

# Check init status
cortex init status

# Migrate CLAUDE.md comment activation → .active-* files
cortex setup migrate

🤖 New: AI Intelligence & Automation

Stay in Claude Code flow - Let AI manage the framework for you with context-aware intelligence, pattern learning, and auto-activation:

• Context Detection – Automatically analyzes changed files, detects auth/API/tests/frontend/backend
• Pattern Learning – Learns from successful sessions, recommends optimal agent combinations
• Workflow Prediction – Predicts agent sequences based on similar past work
• Auto-Activation – High-confidence agents activate automatically (≥80%)
• Watch Mode – Real-time monitoring with instant recommendations (no daemon required)
• TUI AI Assistant – Interactive view with recommendations and predictions (press 0)
• Skill Palette Shortcuts – Ctrl+P → type “Skill…” to run info, versions, deps, analytics, trending, or community install/validate/rate/search commands without leaving the TUI
• Multi-Reviewer Auto-Activation – Code changes can auto-activate multiple reviewers (quality, code, TS/React/UX, DB/SQL, performance, architecture)

Quick start:

# Get AI recommendations for current context
cortex ai recommend

# Auto-activate high-confidence agents
cortex ai auto-activate

# Start watch mode (real-time monitoring)
cortex ai watch

# Interactive TUI with AI assistant
cortex tui
# Press '0' for AI Assistant view
# Press 'A' to auto-activate recommendations

# Record successful sessions for learning
cortex ai record-success --outcome "feature complete"

Multi-review output example:

1. 🔵 quality-engineer [AUTO]
   Confidence: 85%
   Reason: Changes detected - quality review recommended

2. 🔵 code-reviewer [AUTO]
   Confidence: 75%
   Reason: Changes detected - code review recommended

3. 🔵 typescript-pro [AUTO]
   Confidence: 85%
   Reason: TypeScript changes detected - review recommended

4. 🔵 react-specialist [AUTO]
   Confidence: 80%
   Reason: React/UI component changes detected - review recommended

5. 🔵 ui-ux-designer [AUTO]
   Confidence: 80%
   Reason: User-facing UI changes detected - UX review recommended

Watch Mode Example:

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
🤖 AI WATCH MODE - Real-time Intelligence
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

[10:33:12] 🔍 Context detected: Backend, Auth
  3 files changed

  💡 Recommendations:
     🔵 quality-engineer [AUTO]
        85% - Changes detected - quality review recommended
     🔵 code-reviewer [AUTO]
        75% - Changes detected - code review recommended
     🔴 security-auditor [AUTO]
        95% - Auth code detected

[10:33:12] ⚡ Auto-activating 3 agents...
     ✓ quality-engineer
     ✓ code-reviewer
     ✓ security-auditor

See AI Intelligence Guide and Watch Mode Guide for complete documentation.

⭐ New: Skill Ratings & Auto-Feedback Loops

Phase 5 introduces a first-class feedback engine so skills can improve themselves:

• Ratings & Reviews – cortex skills rate <skill> stores star ratings, helpful/not-helpful votes, and optional text feedback in ~/.claude/data/skill-ratings.db.
• Quality Metrics – cortex skills ratings <skill> shows averages, distributions, success correlation, and token efficiency; skills top-rated, skills export-ratings, and skills analytics expose the aggregate view.
• TUI Surfacing – The Skills table now includes a Rating column (press 5). Select a skill and press Ctrl+R to launch an inline rating dialog without leaving the terminal.
• Auto Prompts – Recent skill activations trigger modal prompts shortly after the TUI launches. The prompt explains why the skill was selected (usage count, task types, success rate) and offers to collect feedback on the spot. Dismiss once to snooze for 24 h; rating it clears future prompts until another burst of usage.
• Recommendation Feedback Loop – Ratings feed back into the AI recommender, so highly rated skills are prioritized and low-signal ones get demoted automatically (Feature 2 of the Phase 5 roadmap).

# Record a rating and optional review
cortex skills rate owasp-top-10 --stars 5 --review "Still the best security checklist"

# Inspect ratings/metrics
cortex skills ratings owasp-top-10
cortex skills top-rated --limit 5

# Export for analysis
cortex skills export-ratings --format csv > skill-feedback.csv

Within the TUI:

cortex tui
# Press 5 for Skills view, highlight a skill, press Ctrl+R to rate
# Auto prompts appear when the assistant detects a frequently used skill that lacks fresh feedback

See Phase 5 Roadmap for the broader Intelligence + Feedback plan.

🔌 New: MCP Server Management

Intelligent MCP server management - Observe, validate, and document your Model Context Protocol servers:

• Server Discovery – Automatically finds MCP servers from Claude Desktop config
• Configuration Validation – Diagnose issues and verify server setup
• Curated Documentation – Built-in guides for Context7, Serena, Sequential, Magic, and more
• Visual Dashboard – TUI view with server status, testing, and docs (press 7)
• Smart Recommendations – Integration with /tools:select for optimal MCP routing

Quick start:

# List all configured MCP servers
cortex mcp list

# Show server details and validation
cortex mcp show context7

# View curated documentation
cortex mcp docs serena

# Diagnose all servers
cortex mcp diagnose

# Generate config snippet
cortex mcp snippet playwright

TUI Interface:

cortex tui
# Press '7' for MCP Servers view
# t=test, d=docs, c=copy, v=validate

See MCP Management Guide for complete documentation.

⚙️ New: Token-Efficient Flag Management

Smart flag management - Control Claude's behavior flags with surgical precision and save tokens:

• Modular Flag Categories – 22 flag categories split into focused files (mode-activation, testing, debugging, etc.)
• Token Analytics – Real-time token counting shows savings per category (~100-250 tokens each)
• TUI Flag Manager – Visual interface for enabling/disabling flags (press Ctrl+G)
• Profile Integration – Flags auto-configure when switching profiles
• Config Auto-Update – Changes persist immediately to FLAGS.md

Flag Categories (3,380 tokens total):

Category	Tokens	Purpose
Mode Activation	120	Core behavioral flags (brainstorm, introspect, orchestrate)
MCP Servers	160	MCP server control (context7, sequential, magic, etc.)
Thinking Budget	140	Reasoning budget controls and cost-aware tuning
Analysis Depth	130	Thinking depth control (--think, --ultrathink)
Execution Control	150	Delegation, concurrency, iteration control
Visual Excellence	250	Super Saiyan, UI polish, design system
Output Optimization	120	Scope, focus, compression flags
Testing & Quality	170	TDD, coverage, mutation testing
Learning & Education	160	Educational modes, explanations
Cost Management	120	Budget limits, cost awareness
Refactoring Safety	140	Safe refactoring, behavior preservation
Domain Presets	150	Frontend, backend, fullstack presets
Debugging & Trace	110	Verbose logging, execution tracing
Interactive Control	130	Confirmation, pair programming modes
CI/CD	100	Headless, JSON output, automation
Auto-Escalation	180	Automatic reasoning depth adjustment
Performance Optimization	180	Profiling, benchmarking, scaling guidance
Security Hardening	190	Security-first workflows, threat modeling
Documentation Generation	170	Doc-driven workflows, reference output
Git Workflow	160	PR hygiene, commits, release steps
Migration & Upgrade	170	Version upgrades, compatibility guarantees
Database Operations	180	Schema changes, data safety, migrations

Quick start:

# Open Flag Manager in TUI
cortex tui
# Press Ctrl+G for Flag Manager
# Use ↑↓ to select, Space to toggle

# Apply profile with flags
cortex profile apply frontend
# Auto-enables: visual-excellence, testing-quality, debugging-trace
# Saves: ~1,120 tokens (52% savings!)

Example: Frontend Profile

Example configuration enables 6/22 categories (930 tokens):

• mode-activation, mcp-servers, analysis-depth
• execution-control, visual-excellence, output-optimization

When you switch to frontend profile:

• Auto-enables: testing-quality, domain-presets, debugging-trace
• Loads: 1,110 tokens (7 categories)
• Saves: 2,270 tokens (15 categories disabled)
• Savings: 67% reduction in flag overhead

All Profile Configurations:

Profile	Active Flags	Tokens Loaded	Tokens Saved	Savings
minimal	3 categories	430	2,950	87%
frontend	7 categories	1,110	2,270	67%
backend	7 categories	980	2,400	71%
devops	5 categories	640	2,740	81%
documentation	3 categories	430	2,950	87%
quality	7 categories	980	2,400	71%
full	22 categories	3,380	0	0%

Flag Manager Interface:

⚙️ Flag Manager

Status  Flag Category                    Tokens  File
──────  ────────────────────────────────  ──────  ─────────────────────────────
Summary 6/22 active                       930/3380 Saving 72% tokens (2450 tokens)
──────  ────────────────────────────────  ──────  ─────────────────────────────
✓ ON    ▸ Mode Activation Flags           120     mode-activation.md
✓ ON    MCP Server Flags                  160     mcp-servers.md
✗ OFF   Testing Quality Flags             170     testing-quality.md
✗ OFF   Learning Education Flags          160     learning-education.md
...

Controls: ↑↓ Select    Space Toggle    Changes saved to FLAGS.md

Location: Flag files live in ~/.claude/flags/ and are referenced in ~/.claude/FLAGS.md (which is included by CLAUDE.md)

See Flag Management Guide for complete documentation.

The plugin manifest lives in .claude-plugin/plugin.json so Claude Code detects commands and agents automatically when the marketplace entry points to this repository.

Installing via Claude Code

1. Add the marketplace that references this repository (see the companion NickCrew/claude-marketplace project).
2. Install the plugin with /plugin install cortex@<marketplace-name>.
3. Restart Claude Code so the new commands and agents load.

After installation, the /plugin browser will list the bundled commands, and the /agents panel will show all active agents from the agents/ directory.

Installing the CLI

Quick Install (Recommended)

Install the package, shell completions, and manpage with one command:

./scripts/install.sh

This will:

• Install claude-ctx-py in editable mode with dev dependencies
• Set up shell completions for your shell (bash/zsh/fish)
• Install the manpage system-wide

Options:

./scripts/install.sh --help              # Show all options
./scripts/install.sh --no-completions    # Skip completions
./scripts/install.sh --system-install    # Install system-wide (not editable)
./scripts/install.sh --shell zsh         # Specify shell for completions

Using Make

make install        # Full installation
make install-dev    # Development installation
make help           # Show all targets

Manual Installation

python3 -m pip install .
cortex mode list
cortex agent graph --export dependency-map.md

Running the CLI directly will operate on the directories in this repository, which mirror the layout expected inside ~/.claude.

Tip: The CLI resolves its data folder in this order: CLAUDE_CTX_SCOPE (project/global/plugin), CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT (set automatically when Claude Code runs plugin commands), then ~/.claude. To point the standalone CLI at the plugin cache (or a local checkout), set:

export CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT="$HOME/.claude/plugins/cache/cortex"

or:

export CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT="$HOME/Developer/personal/claude-cortex"

To target a project-local scope or a specific plugin root:

cortex --scope project status
cortex --plugin-root /path/to/claude-cortex status

Shell completion

Shell completions are automatically installed when using ./scripts/install.sh. For manual setup:

Automatic (recommended):

# Generate and install completions for your shell
cortex completion bash > ~/.bash_completion.d/cortex
cortex completion zsh > ~/.zsh/completions/_cortex
cortex completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/cortex.fish

# Show installation instructions
cortex completion bash --install

Using argcomplete (legacy method):

# Bash
register-python-argcomplete cortex > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/cortex

# Zsh
register-python-argcomplete --shell zsh cortex > ~/.local/share/zsh/site-functions/_cortex

# Fish
register-python-argcomplete --shell fish cortex > ~/.config/fish/completions/cortex.fish

See Shell Completions Guide for detailed instructions.

Manual page (manpage)

A comprehensive manual page is available in docs/reference/cortex.1 and is automatically installed when using ./scripts/install.sh.

View locally:

man docs/reference/cortex.1

Dedicated entries are also available for the TUI (man cortex-tui) and the workflow/scenario orchestration commands (man cortex-workflow).

Manual installation:

./scripts/install-manpage.sh

After installation:

man cortex

The manpage documents all commands, subcommands, options, file locations, environment variables, and includes practical examples. It follows standard Unix manual page conventions and can be searched with / when viewing.

Advanced Features

For more advanced features, see the following guides:

• Warp AI & Terminal AI Integration
• Hooks and Auto-Suggestions

License & Attribution

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Credits

Cortex builds upon ideas and patterns from several excellent projects in the Claude Code ecosystem:

• obra/superpowers - Systematic debugging and quality gate patterns (MIT License)
• VoltAgent/awesome-claude-code-subagents - Specialized agent architecture and modular design (MIT License)
• SuperClaude-Org/SuperClaude_Framework - Behavioral modes, slash commands, and MCP integration patterns (MIT License)
• just-every/code - Multi-agent orchestration and reasoning control concepts (Apache-2.0 License)

See CREDITS.md for detailed attribution and a complete list of inspirations and dependencies.

Development notes

• Update the version in .claude-plugin/plugin.json whenever you publish a new release.
• Keep semantic changes to commands or agents alongside changelog entries in CLAUDE.md or RULES.md.
• Use claude plugin validate . to confirm the manifest structure prior to publishing.
• Run strict type checks before opening a PR.
  • python3 -m mypy --strict claude_ctx_py
  • The CI harness also drops the latest failure output in /tmp/mypy.log; keep that file around when iterating locally so you can jump directly to errors with your editor.
  • New modules should prefer TypedDict/Protocol over raw dict/Any, and Textual mixins need explicit state attributes so the UI keeps passing --strict.

For marketplace configuration examples, see ../claude-private-marketplace.

Preview the docs locally

The documentation site under docs/ now uses the default GitHub Pages minima theme with custom styling. To run it locally:

cd docs
bundle install
bundle exec jekyll serve --source . --livereload

Then open http://127.0.0.1:4000. Changes to Markdown or assets refresh automatically.