claude-cortex

Claude Cortex

Context management, project guidelines, and code review for AI coding assistants — all in one plugin.

Three systems that work independently, but integrate deeply when used together:

• Context Framework — Persistent project context that prevents AI assistants from losing track between sessions
• Project Guidelines — Define and enforce coding standards with automated compliance reviews
• Code Review — Structured, security-first code reviews with merge recommendations

Compatible with Claude Code and GitHub Copilot.

The Guides

Guide	What it covers
Context Framework	What CDS is, how .context/ works, daily workflow, templates
Project Guidelines	Simple vs full mode, severity system, review heuristics, subagent
Code Review	/code-review vs /ult-code-review, severity tiers, 10-agent suite, testability assessment

Quick Start

Install (Claude Code)

# Marketplace
/plugin marketplace add xanderscannell/claude-cortex
/plugin install claude-cortex

# Or manual
git clone https://github.com/xanderscannell/claude-cortex.git
/plugin marketplace add ./claude-cortex
/plugin install claude-cortex

Install (VS Code)

# Open the Command Palette (F1) and run:
Chat: Install Plugin From Source
# then point to this directory.

Set up a project

/cortex-init             # Full setup: .context/ framework + PROJECT_GUIDELINES.md
# Or run them separately:
/context-init            # Create .context/ framework + bootloaders
/guidelines-init         # Generate PROJECT_GUIDELINES.md

Daily use

/context-session         # Load project context at session start; update at session end
/code-review             # Review current changes
/guidelines-review --pr  # Check PR against project guidelines

Skills

Command	What it does
/cortex-init	Full framework setup — runs /context-init then /guidelines-init in series, with a single combined commit
/context-init	Scaffold .context/ directory, CLAUDE.md, and .github/copilot-instructions.md with auto-detected project details
/context-session	Load context at session start, update status and guidelines at session end
/guidelines-init	Generate PROJECT_GUIDELINES.md — simple (flat rules) or --full (categorized + severity)
/guidelines-review	Review code against guidelines. Scopes: --pr, --staged, --changed, file, or directory
/code-review	Security-first code review with 4 severity tiers, testability analysis, and merge verdict
/ult-code-review	10 parallel specialist agents for near-complete bug and vulnerability coverage

What's Inside

claude-cortex/
|-- .claude-plugin/
|   |-- plugin.json              # Plugin manifest
|-- skills/
|   |-- cortex-init/             # /cortex-init — full framework setup
|   |-- context-init/             # /context-init — scaffold context framework
|   |-- context-session/         # /context-session — load/update session context
|   |-- guidelines-init/         # /guidelines-init — generate guidelines
|   |-- guidelines-review/       # /guidelines-review — compliance review
|   |-- code-review/             # /code-review — structured code review
|   |-- ult-code-review/         # /ult-code-review — 10-agent parallel review
|-- agents/
|   |-- reviewer.md              # Subagent for parallel guideline reviews (51+ files)
|-- templates/
|   |-- context/                 # Templates for .context/ files
|       |-- CLAUDE.md            # Bootloader template (Claude Code)
|       |-- copilot-instructions.md  # Bootloader template (GitHub Copilot)
|       |-- CURRENT_STATUS.md    # Project status template
|       |-- ARCHITECTURE.md      # System design template
|       |-- CONVENTIONS.md       # Tooling and environment setup template
|       |-- DECISIONS.md         # ADR template
|       |-- MASTER_PLAN.md       # Roadmap template
|       |-- SETUP.md             # Dev setup template
|-- references/
|   |-- guideline-categories.md  # Per-stack example rules (JS/TS, Python, Go, Rust)
|-- docs/
|   |-- context-framework.md     # Deep dive: context system
|   |-- guidelines.md            # Deep dive: guidelines system
|   |-- code-review.md           # Deep dive: code review
|-- README.md
|-- LICENSE

How the Systems Connect

Each system works standalone, but they're stronger together: