context-check

Optional manual drift audit — report stale provenance-tracked docs, then per stale doc offer re-scout, re-baseline, or defer. Not the daily loop; commit-gate auto-heal owns routine maintenance.

What it does

An optional, on-demand drift audit for the bypass case: a merge, a direct push, or a manual edit outside a normal commit changed a tracked source file, so commit-gate’s auto-heal never got a chance to fire (that heal runs automatically on every commit that touches a drift_trigger source — this command is not that routine path). It reports every stale provenance-tracked doc, then for each one offers a choice: re-scout (a partial scout run), re-baseline (accept the new hash into .codearbiter/.provenance/), or defer.

It’s read-only until you pick one of those actions — nothing is modified or committed on its own. The SessionStart drift line is the usual signal that this check is worth running.

Usage

/ca:context-check

Takes no arguments.

Example

> /ca:context-check

Stale provenance-tracked docs (2):
  tech-stack.md       drift_trigger: package.json  (hash changed 3 commits ago)
  security-controls.md drift_trigger: auth/**       (hash changed 1 commit ago)

For tech-stack.md: re-scout / re-baseline / defer?

When to reach for it

Skip it for routine maintenance — commit-gate’s auto-heal already covers the common case with no manual step. A full brownfield re-scan from scratch is /ca:create-context’s job; a project-state snapshot without a drift focus is /ca:status’s.

Related

• context-check
• create-context
• status

Source

Source — plugins/ca/commands/context-check.md (v2.9.1)

---
description: Optional manual drift audit — report stale provenance-tracked docs, then per stale doc offer re-scout, re-baseline, or defer. Not the daily loop; commit-gate auto-heal owns routine maintenance.
argument-hint: (none)
---

# /ca:context-check — manual drift audit

An optional, on-demand audit for bypass cases: a merge or external edit
changed a tracked source file you are not about to commit, so commit-gate's
auto-heal did not fire. Routes to the `context-check` skill.

## When to use

Use this only when you believe drift was introduced outside a commit (e.g. a
direct push, a merge you did not author, a manual file edit while outside a
normal commit workflow). The SessionStart drift line (backed by
`startup_drift_line`) is the usual signal that this check is warranted.

## When NOT to use

- **Routine maintenance** — commit-gate auto-heal runs automatically on every
  commit that touches a `drift_trigger` source. No manual intervention needed
  for the common case.
- Full brownfield re-scan from scratch → `/ca:create-context`.
- Project state snapshot → `/ca:status`.

## Hard gate

Read-only unless the user explicitly chooses re-scout (partial scout run) or
re-baseline (hash update in `.codearbiter/.provenance/`). MUST NOT commit on
its own. MUST NOT modify any derived doc without an explicit user selection.

View in repo