context-collection

name	context-collection
description	Land raw project information — meeting notes, existing specs, domain research, external tool exports, interview answers — into docs/context/ with provenance, so later phases and stateless agents can use it. Use this at project kickoff, whenever new source material appears (a document, a decision made in chat, findings from web/MCP research), and before any distillation work that lacks raw inputs.

Context Collection

Collection has one job: get information out of volatile places (chats, heads, external tools) and into the repository, faithfully. Completeness beats tidiness here — the distillation phase (see context-distillation) will filter. What collection must never do is silently interpret: a paraphrase that changes meaning is worse than a messy verbatim note, because downstream agents will trust it.

Landing zone

• Everything lands under docs/context/<topic>/, one topic per directory (e.g., docs/context/device-pairing/, docs/context/line-integration/).
• Each topic directory keeps an INDEX.md: one line per file — what it is and why it matters. Agents read indexes first; keep them current.
• Large binaries and originals stay in their system of record; store a link and an extracted-text or summary file here instead.

Provenance header (mandatory)

Every collected file starts with:

---
source: <URL, meeting name, person, or tool>
retrieved: <YYYY-MM-DD>
method: <verbatim | export | interview | ai-summary | web-research>
collector: <human name or agent/session identifier>
sensitivity: <public | internal | confidential>
status: raw
---

The method field is what lets a future reader calibrate trust: verbatim/export can be quoted as fact; ai-summary and web-research must be re-verified before becoming an agreement.

Collection rules

1. Raw over summarized. Prefer the original wording; if you must condense, keep the original alongside or linked. Mark interpretation as such.
2. Chat is a source too. When a real decision or requirement surfaces in a conversation, capture it here (method: verbatim, source: the conversation) — otherwise it evaporates when the session ends.
3. External systems via MCP. Pull from external tools (docs, tickets, designs) through the MCP servers configured for this repo (.vscode/mcp.json for interactive surfaces; repository settings for the cloud agent). Record which server/tool produced the data in source.
4. No secrets, ever. Redact tokens, credentials, and personal data before a file lands. If sensitivity is confidential, confirm with a human that the repository is an acceptable home before committing.
5. Contradictions are content. When two sources disagree, collect both and note the conflict in INDEX.md — resolving it is a distillation/agreement decision, not a collection edit.

Definition of done for a collection pass

• New material sits under the right topic with a complete provenance header.
• INDEX.md updated.
• Conflicts and open questions listed at the top of INDEX.md.
• Nothing in the pass exists only in a chat window.