help

name	help
description	Contextual guidance and command discovery. Shows available skills, agents, and intelligent suggestions based on vault state.
tags	["documentation","onboarding","help"]

Skill: help

Delegates to: @ars-contexta:knowledge-guide

Trigger

Invoke this skill when the user asks for help, doesn't know what to do next, wants to discover available commands, or is new to the vault.

Arguments

Optional flag: --compact — suppress narrative, show only the command table and next-action suggestions.

Behavior

The skill operates in one of three modes, selected automatically based on vault state:

Narrative Mode (first-time users: notes/ contains fewer than 5 notes) Give a warm, brief orientation:

• What Ars Contexta is (a research-backed, derived knowledge system)
• The core daily loop: capture → reduce → reflect → navigate
• The three spaces: self/ (you), notes/ (knowledge), ops/ (system)
• What to do first: create a note or run /setup if the vault is not initialized

Contextual Mode (active vault: 5 or more notes present) Show the full command reference alongside intelligent next-action suggestions:

1. Discover available skills by scanning .github/skills/*/SKILL.md and listing each by name and description.
2. Show domain-native vocabulary from ops/derivation-manifest.md so the user knows what terms their vault uses.
3. Analyze vault state for suggestions:
   • Count files in the inbox area — if > 5, suggest running the reduce workflow
   • Check ops/health/ for recent warnings — surface the top issue
   • Check for notes with no outbound links — suggest a reflect session
   • If ops/tutorial-state.yaml exists and is incomplete, suggest resuming the tutorial

Compact Mode (--compact flag or returning user who has seen help before) Single-screen output only:

• Command table (skill name + one-line description)
• Top 3 next-action suggestions
• No narrative, no orientation text

Output Structure (all modes)

## Available Skills
{skill name} — {description}
...

## Agents
{agent name} — {one-line role summary}
...

## Suggested Next Actions
1. {action with rationale}
2. {action with rationale}
3. {action with rationale}

Always show the vault's domain-native vocabulary for at least one section heading if it differs from the generic defaults (e.g. "Thoughts" instead of "Notes").