| name | skill-knowledge-work |
| disable-model-invocation | true |
| description | Switch to Knowledge Work mode for research and writing — use when task is non-code focused |
| triggerPatterns | ["switch.*mode","knowledge.*mode","research.*mode","toggle.*knowledge","force.*knowledge","force.*dev"] |
Knowledge Work Mode - Context Override Skill
Context Auto-Detection (v7.8+)
Claude Octopus now auto-detects work context! The system analyzes your prompt and project to determine whether you're in a Dev Context (code-focused) or Knowledge Context (research/strategy-focused).
You typically don't need this skill - context is detected automatically when you use:
octo research X - Auto-detects dev vs knowledge researchocto build X - Auto-detects code vs document buildingocto review X - Auto-detects code vs document review
When to Use This Override
Use ONLY when auto-detection is wrong:
- Auto-detection chose Dev but you want Knowledge behavior
- Auto-detection chose Knowledge but you want Dev behavior
- You want to force a specific context for the entire session
Override Commands
Force Knowledge Context
/octo:km on
All subsequent workflows will use Knowledge Context until reset.
Force Dev Context
/octo:km off
All subsequent workflows will use Dev Context until reset.
Return to Auto-Detection
/octo:km auto
Context detection returns to automatic mode.
Check Current Status
/octo:km
Shows current mode (auto, knowledge, or dev).
How Auto-Detection Works
When you use any octo workflow, context is detected by analyzing:
-
Prompt Content (strongest signal):
- Knowledge indicators: "market", "ROI", "stakeholders", "strategy", "personas", "presentation", "report", "PRD"
- Dev indicators: "API", "endpoint", "database", "implementation", "code", "function", "deploy"
-
Project Type (secondary signal):
- Has
package.json, Cargo.toml, go.mod → Dev Context
- Mostly
.md, .docx, .pdf files → Knowledge Context
-
Explicit Override (if set via /octo:km):
- Overrides all auto-detection until reset to "auto"
Visual Indicator Shows Context
When workflows run, you'll see the detected context in the banner:
Dev Context:
🐙 **CLAUDE OCTOPUS ACTIVATED** - Multi-provider research mode
🔍 [Dev] Discover Phase: Technical research on caching patterns
Knowledge Context:
🐙 **CLAUDE OCTOPUS ACTIVATED** - Multi-provider research mode
🔍 [Knowledge] Discover Phase: Market analysis for APAC expansion
Examples of Auto-Detection in Action
Example 1: Technical Research (Auto → Dev)
User: "octo research caching strategies for our Node.js API"
Claude: (auto-detects Dev Context from "Node.js API")
🐙 **CLAUDE OCTOPUS ACTIVATED** - Multi-provider research mode
🔍 [Dev] Discover Phase: Technical research on caching strategies
[Researches with technical/implementation focus]
Example 2: Market Research (Auto → Knowledge)
User: "octo research market opportunities in healthcare AI"
Claude: (auto-detects Knowledge Context from "market opportunities")
🐙 **CLAUDE OCTOPUS ACTIVATED** - Multi-provider research mode
🔍 [Knowledge] Discover Phase: Strategic research on healthcare AI market
[Researches with business/strategic focus]
Example 3: Override When Auto Gets It Wrong
User: "octo research React patterns"
Claude: (auto-detects Dev) 🔍 [Dev] Discover Phase...
User: "Actually, this is for a presentation. Force knowledge mode."
Claude: "Setting context override to Knowledge Mode."
/octo:km on
User: "octo research React patterns"
Claude: (uses override) 🔍 [Knowledge] Discover Phase... (focuses on trends, adoption, strategic implications)
Example 4: Check Current Status
User: "What context mode am I in?"
Claude:
Current mode: Auto-detection (no override set)
Last detected context: Dev (based on project having package.json)
To override: /octo:km on (force Knowledge) or /octo:km off (force Dev)
To return to auto: /octo:km auto
What Changes Per Context
Dev Context 🔧
| Workflow | Focus |
|---|
octo research X | Technical implementation, libraries, code patterns |
octo build X | Code generation, architecture, tests |
octo review X | Code quality, security, performance |
| Agents | codex, backend-architect, code-reviewer, security-auditor |
Knowledge Context 🎓
| Workflow | Focus |
|---|
octo research X | Market analysis, competitive research, literature synthesis |
octo build X | PRDs, strategy docs, presentations, reports |
octo review X | Document quality, argument strength, completeness |
| Agents | strategy-analyst, ux-researcher, exec-communicator, product-writer |
Document Delivery 📄
After running knowledge workflows, export to professional formats:
- DOCX - Word documents for reports, business cases
- PPTX - PowerPoint presentations for stakeholder decks
- XLSX - Excel spreadsheets for data analysis
Just say: "Export this to Word" or "Create a PowerPoint presentation"
Override Command Reference
| Command | Description |
|---|
/octo:km | Show current status (auto, on, or off) |
/octo:km on | Force Knowledge Context for all workflows |
/octo:km off | Force Dev Context for all workflows |
/octo:km auto | Return to auto-detection (default) |
When NOT to Use Override
Don't override if:
- Auto-detection is working correctly
- You're doing mixed work (let each prompt be detected individually)
- You just want to see what context was detected (check the banner)
Override is for:
- Forcing a specific context for an entire session
- Correcting persistent misdetection
- Specific use cases where you know better than auto-detect
Cross-Task Learnings
At the end of significant work sessions, extract learnings:
- What task type was this? (debugging, implementation, research, review)
- What approach worked? What failed?
- What would you do differently next time?
Store learnings in .claude-octopus/learnings/<date>-<summary>.json:
{
"date": "2026-03-21",
"task_type": "debugging",
"approach": "Traced the error from the test failure back to the API handler",
"outcome": "success",
"lesson": "Always check middleware ordering before investigating handler logic"
}
Each learning file captures: task_type, approach, outcome, and lesson.
Session Start: Relevance Matching
At session start, check for relevant learnings:
- Read
.claude-octopus/learnings/ directory
- Match by task type and file patterns relevant to the current work
- Inject top 3 most relevant learnings as context (within ~5% token budget)
- Prefer recent learnings; deprioritize those older than 30 days
Budget Controls
- Maximum 5 learnings extracted per session (prevents runaway writes)
- Maximum 50 learning files retained (oldest pruned automatically)
- Relevance injection capped at 3 learnings and ~5% of available token budget
- Learning files are lightweight JSON (~200 bytes each)
Related Skills
/octo:discover - Research workflow (auto-detects context)/octo:develop - Build workflow (auto-detects context)/octo:deliver - Review workflow (auto-detects context)/octo:docs - Document export (works in both contexts)
