ctx-kb-ask

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.

Ask the KB

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.

Authoritative background reading: .context/ingest/KB-RULES.md §Authority boundary and §Evidence discipline; specs/kb-editorial-pipeline.md §Interface.

When to Use

• The user asks "does the kb say...", "according to evidence...", "what do we know about ", or invokes the explicit slash form with the question.
• The user wants a citation-backed answer before deciding whether to ingest more material.
• The user is auditing what is already known versus what is asserted elsewhere (DECISIONS.md, LEARNINGS.md, conversation).

When NOT to Use

• The user wants new material extracted (use /ctx-kb-ingest).
• The user wants the kb structurally audited (use /ctx-kb-site-review).
• The user wants kb claims re-grounded against external sources (use /ctx-kb-ground).
• The question is about ctx itself or the editorial pipeline contract (answer from KB-RULES.md / spec directly).

Authority Boundary (vs Other Skills)

• /ctx-kb-ask: read-only Q&A over .context/kb/ prose, evidence-index.md, glossary.md, contradictions.md, outstanding-questions.md, timeline.md, source-map.md, domain-decisions.md. Writes are limited to opening a Q-### row in outstanding-questions.md when the kb cannot answer, plus the ask closeout.
• /ctx-kb-ingest: writes prose, evidence, scaffold. Only ingest may add citations or extend topic pages.
• /ctx-kb-ground: refreshes external sources via grounding-sources.md; this skill never web-jumps to fill a gap. If the gap matters, recommend /ctx-kb-ground or /ctx-kb-ingest.

Usage Examples

/ctx-kb-ask "what does the kb say about cursor hooks failure modes?"
/ctx-kb-ask "how do we cite a transcript locator?"
/ctx-kb-ask "are there contradictions on backup retention windows?"

Input Contract

A single question, supplied as the slash argument or inline. No flags. No sources. No URLs.

Refuse-on-Empty

If the invocation supplied no question (empty slash arg, empty inline body), return exactly:

no question provided; pass a question or describe it inline.

Stop. Do not prompt interactively. The CLI enforces this independently via cmd/ask.

Pre-Write Gates

Three distinct refusals, each leaves zero residue (no Q-### row opened, no closeout):

• .context/ missing → suggest ctx init and stop.
• .context/kb/ missing → suggest ctx init --upgrade and stop.
• .context/kb/index.md exists but ## Scope is undeclared → refuse with the scope message (same wording as /ctx-kb-ingest uses) and stop.

Process

1. Verify pre-write gates. Refuse cleanly if any gate fails. Zero residue on refusal.

2. Read the question. Parse for the concept(s) it names.

3. Survey the kb. Read in this order, stopping early when an answer surfaces with adequate citation coverage:

   • .context/kb/index.md for scope.
   • .context/kb/topics/<slug>/index.md and any sibling sub-pages for any slug that plausibly matches the question.
   • .context/kb/evidence-index.md for EV-### rows whose claim text matches.
   • .context/kb/glossary.md for term definitions.
   • .context/kb/contradictions.md for known disagreements relevant to the question.
   • .context/kb/outstanding-questions.md for prior unanswered questions on the topic.

4. Decide answer vs gap. One of three outcomes:

   • Answerable with citations. The kb's prose plus EV-### rows cover the question. Compose a concise answer. Cite every load-bearing claim by EV-###. Name the topic page(s) where the prose lives. Note the Confidence floor of the cited rows.
   • Partial answer. Some of the question is covered; the rest is not. Answer the covered part with citations. Name the gap explicitly. Open a Q-### row for the gap (see §6).
   • Not answerable. The kb has no prose and no EV-### coverage. Do not invent. Do not web-jump. Open a Q-### row (see §6) and report the gap.

5. Do not jump. This skill is read-only on prose AND web-quiet. If the kb cannot answer:

   • Do not fetch a URL.
   • Do not propose synthesized prose without citations.
   • Do not call MCP search tools.
   • Do not quote LLM training-data recall as if it were kb evidence.

   The correct response to a gap is to name the gap, open a Q-### row, and recommend /ctx-kb-ground (if external refresh is the right path) or /ctx-kb-ingest <sources> (if the user has materials to feed in).

6. Open a Q-### row if there is a gap. Append a row to .context/kb/outstanding-questions.md per its schema. The row's question text is the user's question (or a faithful paraphrase). The row notes what the kb does cover (if partial) and what evidence would resolve. Do NOT mint EV-### rows from this skill; that is ingest's authority.

7. Write the ask closeout. Create .context/ingest/closeouts/<TIMESTAMP>-ask-closeout.md with required frontmatter:

   ---
   sha: <short>
   branch: <name>
   mode: ask
   pass-mode: read-only
   life-stage: <bootstrap|maintenance>
   generated-at: <RFC-3339>
   ---
   

   Body sections:

   • Question: what the user asked, verbatim.
   • Answer: the answer given, or none (gap) if not answerable.
   • Citations: EV-### IDs cited, with topic-page paths.
   • Gaps: Q-### opened in outstanding-questions.md, with a one-line rationale.
   • Next pass hint: explicit invocation for the next pipeline step (e.g. /ctx-kb-ground to refresh, /ctx-kb-ingest <sources> to extend).

Edge Cases

Case	Expected behavior
Empty question	Refuse with the standard no-question text. No Q-### opened, no closeout.
.context/ missing	Refuse; suggest ctx init. No residue.
.context/kb/ missing	Refuse; suggest ctx init --upgrade. No residue.
Kb scope undeclared	Refuse with the scope message; point at .context/kb/index.md. No residue.
Multiple topics relevant	Cite each topic page; do not synthesize a new cross-topic claim (that would be ingest work). Surface the seam as a Q-### if it merits one.
Contradiction surfaces during answer	Answer with the lower-confidence side noted; cite both EV-### rows; point at contradictions.md.
Cited rows are all speculative or low	Surface the confidence band in the answer. Recommend /ctx-kb-ground to corroborate. Do not promote in this pass.
Question matches an existing Q-### row	Cite the existing row's ID; report status (open, partially-answered); do not open a duplicate.
Question requires external evidence the kb does not have	Open a Q-### row; recommend /ctx-kb-ground with the gap named; do not fetch the source.
Question is meta (about the pipeline itself)	Answer from KB-RULES.md / spec directly; this skill is for kb content, not pipeline contract. State that explicitly.

Anti-Patterns

• Web-jumping when the kb cannot answer. The contract is read-only on prose AND web-quiet.
• Inventing citations or claims to make the answer look fuller.
• Modifying a topic page to extend an answer mid-pass. Topic-page authoring is /ctx-kb-ingest's authority.
• Minting EV-### rows from this skill. Evidence authoring is /ctx-kb-ingest's authority.
• Skipping the Q-### row when the kb cannot answer. The gap is the audit trail; silence on a gap is invisible.
• Skipping the closeout once the pre-write gates pass. The closeout is the residue wrap-up's handover step folds into the next session's recall.

Output Contract

For pre-write refusals, return only the specified refusal text and stop. No residue.

For passes that clear pre-write gates, end with this structured summary:

• Question: verbatim or faithful paraphrase.
• Answer: concise; cites every load-bearing claim by EV-###.
• Confidence floor: lowest band among cited rows (high|medium|low|speculative), or n/a if no rows cited.
• Gaps: Q-### opened (one bullet per opened row), or none.
• Closeout: filename on its own line.
• Next-recommended-action: explicit invocation if a gap was opened (e.g. /ctx-kb-ground or /ctx-kb-ingest <sources>), or none if the answer is complete.

Quality Checklist

Before reporting completion, verify:

• Pre-write gates passed (or the matching refusal was returned with zero residue).
• Every load-bearing claim in the answer cites at least one EV-### row from evidence-index.md.
• If a gap exists, a Q-### row was opened (or an existing row was cited).
• No URL was fetched, no MCP search was called, no LLM training-data recall was quoted as kb evidence.
• No topic page was modified, no EV-### row was minted.
• Closeout written with all required frontmatter fields.