cortex-help

name

cortex-help

description

One-screen menu of what cortex-x can do right now — list of invokable slash commands (cortex-init, cortex-help, cortex-doctor, audit, designer, start, test-audit) + operator-facing terminal CLIs (cortex-update, cortex-uninstall, cortex-hooks-register, cortex-claude-md-augment, cortex-doctor), a 1-line summary of what each does, and a count of underlying capabilities (action_kinds, profiles, standards). Auto-discovered after install.{sh,ps1} sync. Invoke as "/cortex-help", "what can cortex do?", or when the user asks "co umíš?" / "jaké jsou skills?" / "ukaž mi capabilities". NOTE: namespaced as cortex-help because /help is reserved as a Claude Code built-in slash command. Defers full machine-readable registry to cortex/capabilities.md.

/cortex-help — what can cortex-x do right now

Voice charter: see standards/voice.md. The menu IS the voice surface — no greetings, no emoji, no emotion words. Counts not praise.

You are running the cortex-x help menu. The user wants a one-screen answer to "what can I type next?" — NOT a wall of documentation. Print the menu, suggest a sensible default action based on detected project state, stop.

Step 1 — language signal

Read the user's language from prior turns. If they wrote Czech, answer in Czech. Otherwise English. Don't ask explicitly.

Step 1.5 — surface install state (one line, always)

Before the menu, print ONE line showing where cortex-x is installed. Read ~/.claude/shared/cortex-source.yaml via Bash or Read tool to get the resolved paths. Format:

cortex-x: source <cortex_source> · data <cortex_data_home>

Fail-open: if the yaml is unreadable, fall through to "(install state unknown — try cortex-update --check)".

This is load-bearing because the operator's friend / new-PC scenario commonly opens with "kde je cortex?" — surface the answer at the top of the menu so they don't have to ask.

Step 2 — detect current state (one quick scan)

Before printing the menu, peek at $PWD:

• .cortex-bootstrap-pending exists → bootstrap was started, point them at the next step
• cortex/AUDIT.md exists → audit already ran; suggest /retrofit next
• cortex/discovery.md or cortex/proposal.md exists → new-project in flight; suggest resuming
• package.json / pyproject.toml / Cargo.toml / go.mod present → existing project; default = /audit
• Folder near-empty → new project; default = /cortex-init

You do NOT block on this — if any check fails, fall through to "no detection signal."

Step 3 — print the menu

Print this menu, with the "default" tag on whichever option Step 2 indicated. Format as table-or-list, choose what renders cleanly in the user's chat surface.

Slash commands you can type right now

Command	What it does	When to use
/cortex-init	Interactive picker — New / Existing / Framework — primes the right flow	Just installed cortex-x; not sure what to do
/start	New-project bootstrap (Discover → Research → Architect → Scaffold → Adapt)	Empty folder, want a full project scaffold
/audit	Existing-project deep audit (12 dimensions, 4 parallel agents)	Established codebase, want to know what's there
/test-audit	Senior-QA-consultant audit → P0/P1/P2 gap list with research memos	Repo needs a testing-strategy review
/improve-codebase-architecture	Read-only audit for shallow/zero-test modules → deepening candidates (AI-codeability lens)	Agents write bad code in one area; before a big refactor
/designer	Designer flow — intake + library palette + parallel worktree exploration	Front-end / landing-page / dashboard design session
/cortex-doctor	Healthcheck — cortex install integrity + drift detection (Sprint 2.21)	Weekly, after migration, or new machine
/retrofit †	Apply cortex-x patterns to an audited project	After /audit finishes
/sync †	End-of-session knowledge capture — decisions + lessons → cortex library	After a sprint or notable work session
/cortex-reflect †	Deep reflection — surfaces grounded cross-project insights	When something feels off, or after big refactor
/cortex-help	This menu	Anytime you forget what's available

† = paste the prompt manually from ~/.claude/shared/prompts/<name>.md (these are prompts, not slash-skills yet; SKILL.md wrappers planned for Sprint 2.18+).

Terminal CLIs — run in shell, outside Claude Code

These are operator-facing maintenance tools shipped under ~/.claude/shared/bin/ (add to PATH or invoke directly). Run them in a normal terminal, not inside the Claude Code chat surface.

Command	What it does	When to use
cortex-update	Fast-forward source clone + re-run installer. Flags: --check, --reinstall, --json	Bump framework to latest
cortex-uninstall	Conservative removal — preserves $CORTEX_DATA_HOME by default. Flags: --dry-run, --purge, --backup, --keep-source, --yes	Removing cortex-x from machine
cortex-doctor	Same checks as /cortex-doctor slash skill but headless. Flags: --json, --fix-suggestions. Exit 0/1	CI / scripted health audit
cortex-hooks-register	Opt-in idempotent merge of cortex hooks into ~/.claude/settings.json with timestamped backup. Flags: --apply, --remove, --status, --dry-run, --yes, --json	Manual hooks wiring if install consent declined
cortex-claude-md-augment	Opt-in BEGIN/END-marker append of discipline block to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md (R1+R2+task-list+voice+surgical). Flags: --apply, --remove, --status, --dry-run, --yes, --json	Manual global-CLAUDE wiring if install consent declined
cortex-permissions-register	Opt-in idempotent merge of safety-floor permissions into ~/.claude/settings.json (deny floor + allow baseline). Replaces --dangerously-skip-permissions: same speed, deny > ask > allow precedence floor. Flags: --apply, --remove, --status, --dry-run, --yes, --json	Manual permissions wiring if install consent declined
cortex-usage	Usage rollup over the tool-use journal — which standards / prompts / agents / skills actually get read in sessions (hot = earns its context cost) vs cold prune candidates. Flags: --since, --kind, --cold, --json	Regaining overview · feeding the usage-driven pruning audit

Full CLI roster (15 tools incl. internal Steward + lessons + propose-skill + evolve-ab + wiki-consolidate + doc-audit): see bin/README.md.

Default behaviors (these run without being asked)

Behavior	When	Override
Web research	Whenever a task depends on external state (framework versions, library APIs, CVEs, design trends, a11y standards) — Claude is expected to dispatch parallel research subagents first, cache under $CORTEX_DATA_HOME/research/, cite URLs	--no-research flag · CORTEX_OFFLINE=1 env
Session-start context injection	Every Claude Code session — sprint state, git state, capability tip (once / 18h), pending insights	uninstall hooks or CORTEX_HOOKS_DISABLED=1
Block destructive	rm -rf /, force-push to main, DROP TABLE, --no-verify are refused	run outside Claude Code
Auto-orchestrate review	Multi-agent parallel review pipeline auto-dispatches on non-trivial diffs	CORTEX_AUTO_ORCHESTRATE_DISABLED=1

What's under the hood (read-only summary)

The above are user-facing skills. Underneath, cortex-x ships:

• Steward action_kinds — typed actions the autonomous nightly runtime can execute (dep_update_patch, recommendation, pattern_transfer, senior_tester_review, etc.)
• Steward primitives — zero-deps CJS modules implementing safety, dispatch, memory layers
• Universal hooks — block-destructive, session-start, pre-compact, post-tool-use, etc.
• 26 standards across 5 tiers: Rule 0 Ship-Ready → Rule 1 SSOT/Modular/Scalable → Rule 1.5 Coding Behavior + Self-Correction + Auto-Optimization → Rule 2 Security/Testing/Observability/Correctness → Rule 3 process (Accessibility/Performance/Errors/Git/Docs/AI-Patterns/AI-SDKs/Web-Research/Voice/Skills). Voice charter (standards/voice.md) governs every skill's tone — no greetings, no emoji, no emotion words, [cortex/recall] + [^cN] footnotes for memory recall.
• 11 profiles — project-type templates (nextjs-saas, waas-template, chatbot-platform, ai-agent, browser-agent, kiosek, qa-engineer, tauri-desktop, astro-static, cli-tool, minimal)
• Review-pipeline agents — blind-hunter, edge-case-hunter, acceptance-auditor, security-auditor, ssot-enforcer, correctness-auditor, cortex-thinker
• GitHub workflows — steward-*.yml cron lanes per action_kind

Full machine-readable registry with exact counts + descriptions: cortex/capabilities.md (auto-generated; refresh via npm run capabilities).

Don't see what you want?

• For autonomous nightly runs (Steward), see docs/steward-usage.md
• For the full project trajectory roadmap, see docs/steward-roadmap.md
• For one-line summary of "what is cortex-x", see README.md
• For mental model + SSOT contract, see CLAUDE.md

Step 4 — single-line nudge

Below the menu, print ONE line: the suggested next move based on Step 2 detection. Examples:

• "Detekoval jsem package.json v této složce → doporučuji /audit."
• "Folder vypadá prázdně → doporučuji /cortex-init nebo přímo /start."
• "Vidím cortex/AUDIT.md z předchozího běhu → /retrofit by byl logický další krok."
• "Žádný signál — vyber si z menu výše."

Step 5 — stop

After the menu + nudge, end the turn. Do NOT auto-invoke another skill. The user picks what they want.

Anti-patterns

• Don't dump capability registry verbatim. That's npm run capabilities territory; this skill is the human-facing menu.
• Don't explain how each command works in detail. One line per command, full docs are linked.
• Don't repeat the README. README is for first-time discovery; /help is for "I forgot what's here."
• Don't ask follow-up questions. Print, nudge, stop.

Composes with

• /cortex-init — natural follow-up if user is fresh-installed
• cortex/capabilities.md (Sprint 2.15 auto-registry) — the machine-readable detailed view this skill links to