By name: ctx-status description: "Show context summary. Use at session start or when unclear about current project state." allowed-tools: Bash(ctx:*)
Show the current context status: files, token budget, tasks, and recent activity.
When to Use
- At session start to orient before doing work
- When confused about what is being worked on or what context exists
- To check token usage and context health
- When the user asks "what's the state of the project?"
When NOT to Use
- When you already loaded context via
/ctx-agentin this session (status is a subset of what agent provides) - Repeatedly within the same session without changes in between
Usage Examples
/ctx-status
/ctx-status --verbose
/ctx-status --json
Flags
| Flag | Short | Default | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
--json |
false | Output as JSON (for scripting) | |
--verbose |
-v |
false | Include file content previews |
What It Shows
The output has three sections:
1. Overview
- Context directory path
- Total file count
- Token estimate (sum across all
.mdfiles in the context directory)
2. Files
Each .md file in the context directory with:
| Indicator | Meaning |
|---|---|
| check | File has content (loaded) |
| circle | File exists but is empty |
File-specific summaries:
CONSTITUTION.md: number of invariantsTASKS.md: active and completed task countsDECISIONS.md: number of decisionsGLOSSARY.md: number of terms- Others: "loaded" or "empty"
With --verbose: adds token count, byte size, and a 3-line
content preview per file.
3. Recent Activity
The 3 most recently modified files with relative timestamps (e.g., "5 minutes ago", "2 hours ago").
Execution
ctx status
After running, summarize the key points for the user:
- How many active tasks remain
- Whether any context files are empty (might need populating)
- Token budget usage (is context lean or bloated?)
- What was recently modified (gives a sense of momentum)
Interpreting Results
| Observation | Suggestion |
|---|---|
| Many empty files | Context is sparse; populate core files (TASKS, CONVENTIONS) |
| High token count (>30k) | Consider ctx compact or archiving completed tasks |
| No recent activity | Context may be stale; check if files need updating |
| TASKS.md has 0 active | All work done, or tasks need to be added |
Quality Checklist
After running status, verify:
- Summarized the output for the user (do not just dump raw output without commentary)
- Flagged any empty core files that should be populated
- Noted token budget if it seems high or low