How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/cds-prevention:cds-preventionThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
Prevent Context Degradation Syndrome (CDS) — when an AI assistant loses track of project state between sessions, forgets architecture decisions, repeats mistakes, or ignores established conventions.
Prevent Context Degradation Syndrome (CDS) — when an AI assistant loses track of project state between sessions, forgets architecture decisions, repeats mistakes, or ignores established conventions.
This skill reads and updates your project's persistent context files so the AI assistant maintains complete awareness across sessions.
At the START of each session, this skill loads:
CLAUDE.md and/or .github/copilot-instructions.md in the project root. Read whichever exist (both may be present). These contain the Current Focus and context-loading instructions..context/CURRENT_STATUS.md — What was accomplished last session, what's in progress, what's next.context/CONVENTIONS.md — Coding standards and patterns to follow.context/ARCHITECTURE.md — System design and how components connectThen reads as needed based on your task:
.context/MASTER_PLAN.md — Full roadmap, to understand where current work fits.context/DECISIONS.md — Architecture Decision Records to avoid re-debating settled questionsWhile working:
DECISIONS.md when significant technical choices are madeAt the END of each session:
Update .context/CURRENT_STATUS.md with:
Update the Current Focus section in whichever bootloader files exist (CLAUDE.md and/or .github/copilot-instructions.md) if priorities changed
Create a checkpoint in .context/CHECKPOINTS/ if the session was long or made significant progress
Commit the changes (git add + commit with message describing what was done)
| File | Purpose | Updated |
|---|---|---|
CLAUDE.md | Bootloader for Claude Code (read automatically) | Every few sessions |
.github/copilot-instructions.md | Bootloader for GitHub Copilot (read automatically) | Every few sessions |
.context/CURRENT_STATUS.md | Where the project stands right now | Every session |
.context/MASTER_PLAN.md | Implementation roadmap | When phases change |
.context/ARCHITECTURE.md | System design and components | When architecture evolves |
.context/DECISIONS.md | Architecture Decision Records | When decisions are made |
.context/CONVENTIONS.md | Coding standards and patterns | Rarely |
.context/SETUP.md | Dev environment setup | Rarely |
.context/CHECKPOINTS/ | Session summaries and snapshots | End of long sessions |
If you see [PLACEHOLDER] markers (like [CURRENT_TASK], [PHASE_NAME], etc.) in CLAUDE.md, .github/copilot-instructions.md, or .context/ files, run /cds-init to initialize the framework with your project details.
npx claudepluginhub xanderscannell/claude-cds-prevention --plugin cds-preventionPersists project memory across Claude Code sessions. Auto-loads context on startup, tracks git activity, and saves session state via deterministic Node.js scripts.