| name | ctx-kb-ask |
| description | Q&A grounded in the existing kb. Read-only on prose; refuses to web-jump; if the kb cannot answer, opens a Q-### row in outstanding-questions.md and reports the gap. Writes an ask closeout for the audit trail. |
Answer a question using only what .context/kb/ already contains.
Cite by EV-###. Do not web-jump, do not invent prose, do not
modify topic pages. If the kb cannot answer, open a Q-### row
in .context/kb/outstanding-questions.md and report the gap.
This is the read side of the editorial pipeline. The write side
is /ctx-kb-ingest. Authority for prose synthesis lives there;
this skill is read-only on prose.
When to Use
- The user asks "does the kb say...", "according to evidence...",
"what do we know about ".
- The user wants a citation-backed answer before deciding
whether to ingest more material.
When NOT to Use
- The user wants new material extracted (
/ctx-kb-ingest).
- The user wants the kb structurally audited
(
/ctx-kb-site-review).
- The user wants external re-grounding (
/ctx-kb-ground).
- The question is about
ctx itself (answer from
KB-RULES.md directly).
Input
A single question, supplied as the slash argument or inline.
No flags, no sources, no URLs.
Refuse-on-Empty
If no question was supplied, return exactly:
no question provided; pass a question or describe it inline.
Stop. The CLI enforces this independently.
Pre-Write Gates
.context/ missing → suggest ctx init and stop..context/kb/ missing → suggest ctx init --upgrade and stop.- Kb scope undeclared → refuse with the scope message and stop.
Process
- Verify pre-write gates.
- Survey the kb in this order, stopping early when an answer
surfaces with adequate citation coverage:
index.md for
scope, topic-page indexes and sub-pages for matching slugs,
evidence-index.md, glossary.md, contradictions.md,
outstanding-questions.md.
- Decide answer vs gap:
- Answerable with citations: cite every load-bearing
claim by
EV-###. Name the topic page(s). Note the
confidence floor of cited rows.
- Partial answer: answer the covered part; open a
Q-### row for the gap.
- Not answerable: open a
Q-### row; report the gap.
Do not invent. Do not web-jump.
- If a gap exists, append a
Q-### row to
outstanding-questions.md. Do NOT mint EV-### rows;
evidence authoring is /ctx-kb-ingest's authority.
- Write the ask closeout under
.context/ingest/closeouts/<TS>-ask-closeout.md with
required frontmatter (sha, branch, mode: ask,
pass-mode: read-only, life-stage, generated-at) and
body sections: Question, Answer (or none (gap)),
Citations (EV-### + topic-page paths), Gaps (Q-###
opened with one-line rationale), Next pass hint.
Anti-Patterns
- Web-jumping when the kb cannot answer. The contract is
read-only on prose AND web-quiet.
- Inventing citations or claims.
- Modifying a topic page to extend an answer mid-pass.
- Minting
EV-### rows from this skill.
- Skipping the
Q-### row when the kb cannot answer.
- Skipping the closeout once pre-write gates pass.
Output Contract
For pre-write refusals, return only the refusal text and stop.
For passes that clear pre-write gates, end with:
- Question: verbatim or faithful paraphrase.
- Answer: concise; cites every load-bearing claim by
EV-###.
- Confidence floor: lowest band among cited rows.
- Gaps:
Q-### opened, or none.
- Closeout: filename.
- Next-recommended-action: explicit invocation if a gap
was opened (
/ctx-kb-ground or
/ctx-kb-ingest <sources>), or none.
