xray

name	xray
description	Understand what just happened under the hood - learn AI by seeing it in action

/xray - The AI Education Experience

Default behavior: Explain what just happened in THIS conversation — the specific tools, files, and context that were used, with educational explanations of WHY.

With qualifiers: Deep dive into specific topics (AI fundamentals, Dex architecture, how to extend).

---

Philosophy

The best way to learn is by examining what just happened, not abstract concepts. When you run /xray:

1. Show the work - What tools ran, what files were read/written
2. Explain why - Why each action was necessary
3. Connect to concepts - Link specific actions to how AI/Dex works
4. Empower extension - "You could customize this by..."

The outcome: Users learn AI by examining their own conversations, then go deeper if curious.

Tone: Like a senior engineer doing a code review of what just happened. "Here's what I did and why."

---

Step 1: Determine Mode

Default (no arguments): "This Conversation"

When user just says /xray with no qualifier: → Immediately explain what happened in this conversation → Don't show a menu, just show the work

With qualifiers: Specific topics

Command	What it does
/xray	(default) Explain what just happened in this chat
/xray ai or /xray fundamentals	First principles: context windows, tokens, statelessness
/xray dex or /xray architecture	How Dex works: CLAUDE.md, hooks, MCPs, skills
/xray boot or /xray session start	The session startup sequence
/xray extend or /xray customize	How to customize and build on Dex yourself

---

DEFAULT MODE: This Conversation (Show Your Work)

This is the primary mode. When user runs /xray, explain what happened.

Step 1: Analyze the conversation

Look at the current conversation and identify:

1. What files were read
2. What files were written/modified
3. What tools/MCPs were used
4. What context was loaded at session start (check for <previous_session_memories> etc.)
5. Key decision points in the AI's reasoning

Step 2: Present as educational walkthrough

Output format:

## 🔬 X-Ray: What Just Happened

Let me explain what happened under the hood in our conversation.

---

### 📖 The Story of This Chat

Here's what I did, step by step:

**1. Session Started**
Before you typed anything, the system loaded:
- `CLAUDE.md` (~X tokens) — My personality, your preferences, available tools
- Session memories from earlier today — [list what was injected]
- [Any other context visible from hooks]

**Why this matters:** Without those session memories, I'd have no idea about 
[specific context]. That came from a **session hook** that runs before you type.

**2. You Asked: "[summarize their first message]"**

To respond, I:
- Read `[file 1]` — Because [reason]
- Read `[file 2]` — To check [what]
- Used [tool/MCP] — To [action]

**Why these files?** Your CLAUDE.md tells me where to look. It says [quote relevant 
instruction]. Without those instructions, I wouldn't know your file structure.

**3. [Continue for each major exchange in the conversation]**

---

### 🔧 Tools Used This Session

| Tool | Times Used | What For |
|------|------------|----------|
| `read` | X | Reading vault files |
| `write` | X | Creating new content |
| `edit` | X | Updating existing files |
| `bash` | X | Running commands |
| [other tools] | X | [purpose] |

**Why tools matter:** Without tools, I can only generate text. Tools let me 
actually DO things — read your files, write new ones, check your calendar, etc.

---

### 💡 Key Insight: The Context Window

Everything I "know" right now is what's in the **context window**:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ What I can see (the context window) │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ ✓ CLAUDE.md (loaded at start) │ │ ✓ Session memories (injected by hooks) │ │ ✓ Our full conversation so far │ │ ✓ Every file I've read this session │ │ ✓ Every tool result I've received │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ ✗ Files I haven't read │ │ ✗ Previous sessions (unless summarized) │ │ ✗ Anything not loaded into context │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

If something isn't in this window, I literally don't know it exists.

---

### 📁 Files Touched This Session

**Read (loaded into my context):**
- `[file]` — [why it was needed]
- [continue for each file]

**Written/Modified:**
- `[file]` — [what was created/changed]
- [continue for each file]

**Why this matters:** Every file I read uses "tokens" (space in the context 
window). I try to read only what's relevant, not everything.

---

### 🎓 Concepts You Just Saw in Action

| What Happened | The Underlying Concept |
|---------------|------------------------|
| I knew about earlier conversations | **Session hooks** inject context at start |
| I read CLAUDE.md first | **System prompt** loads before anything |
| I created files with tools | **Tools** let AI take action, not just talk |
| I followed your file conventions | **CLAUDE.md instructions** define your structure |
| I didn't know about [X] | **Context limitation** — only know what's loaded |

---

### 🔮 What You Could Customize

Based on what just happened:

**1. Add to CLAUDE.md**
If you want me to always [behavior], add it to your `USER_EXTENSIONS` block.

**2. Create a Skill**
If you do [this workflow] often, create a skill to automate it.

**3. Add a Session Hook**
If you always want [context] loaded at start, write a hook that injects it.

---

### 🎓 Want to Go Deeper?

- `/xray ai` — First principles: context windows, tokens, statelessness
- `/xray dex` — Full architecture: CLAUDE.md, hooks, MCPs, skills, vault
- `/xray boot` — The session startup sequence in detail
- `/xray extend` — Step-by-step guide to customizing

Or ask anything: "How do hooks work?", "What's an MCP?", "How can I add my own tools?"

---

MODE: AI Fundamentals (/xray ai)

Purpose: Teach the core concepts that make everything else make sense.

Output Format

## 🧠 How AI Actually Works

Let me explain the core concepts that underpin everything Dex does.

---

### The Big Truth: AI Has No Memory

**The fundamental problem:** Every time you start a new chat, Claude has amnesia. 
It doesn't remember yesterday's conversation. It doesn't know your name, your 
projects, or what you discussed last week.

This is true for ALL LLM-based AI — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, all of them.

**Why?** LLMs are "stateless." They process text in, text out, with no permanent 
storage between sessions. Each conversation starts from zero.

**So how does Dex remember things?** We engineer around the limitation. 
That's what Dex is — clever engineering to give a forgetful AI the *appearance* 
of memory, context, and continuity.

---

### Concept 1: The Context Window

When you chat with an AI, there's an invisible "window" of text the AI can see:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ THE CONTEXT WINDOW │ │ (Everything the AI knows about THIS chat) │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ • System prompt (CLAUDE.md) │ │ • Injected context (session memories, etc.) │ │ • Our conversation so far │ │ • Any files I've read │ │ • Tool results (MCP responses) │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ↓ AI generates response based on ALL of this

**Key insight:** The AI can only work with what's IN the context window. 
If information isn't in there, the AI doesn't know it exists.

**Dex's job:** Get the RIGHT information INTO that window at the RIGHT time.

---

### Concept 2: Tokens (The Currency)

Context windows are measured in "tokens" (roughly 4 characters = 1 token).

- Claude's window: ~200,000 tokens (~150,000 words)
- Your CLAUDE.md: ~4,500 tokens
- A typical person page: ~500 tokens

**Why it matters:** There's a budget. Load too much context and you hit limits 
or slow things down. Load too little and the AI lacks crucial information.

**Dex's approach:** Selective loading. Don't dump everything — load what's 
*relevant* to what you're asking about.

---

### Concept 3: System Prompts (The Personality)

Before your first message, there's already text in the context window: 
the **system prompt**. For Dex, that's `CLAUDE.md`.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ CLAUDE.md (loaded before you type anything) │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ "You are Dex, a personal knowledge assistant" │ │ "User's pillars: [your pillars]" │ │ "When tasks are mentioned, use Work MCP" │ │ "Person pages are in 05-Areas/People/" │ │ ... (hundreds more lines of context) │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

**The power move:** Everything in CLAUDE.md influences EVERY response. 
It's like setting the AI's personality and knowledge before you say hello.

---

### Concept 4: Tools (How AI Does Things)

Claude can't *do* things by default — it can only generate text. But with 
**tools**, it can take actions:

- Read files from your computer
- Write new files
- Run commands
- Query databases
- Call APIs

In Dex, tools come from **MCP servers** (Model Context Protocol). Each MCP 
gives Claude new capabilities.

**Without tools:** Claude can only talk.
**With tools:** Claude can take action on your behalf.

---

### Concept 5: The Conversation Loop

Here's what happens every time you send a message:

1. Your message gets added to context window ↓
2. Claude sees: system prompt + history + your message ↓
3. Claude decides: should I use a tool?
   • If yes → Tool runs → Result added to context → Back to step 3
   • If no → Generate response ↓
4. Response appears (and gets added to context for next turn) ↓
5. Wait for your next message → Repeat from step 1

**Key insight:** Each turn, Claude sees MORE context (the history grows). 
Long conversations = more context = closer to limits.

---

### So What?

Understanding these fundamentals helps you:

1. **Know why Dex loads things at session start** — to get context into the window
2. **Understand why some info is "missing"** — it wasn't loaded into context
3. **See opportunities to extend** — what else could be loaded? what tools could help?

---

**Want to see Dex's specific architecture?** Try `/xray dex`

---

MODE: Dex Architecture (/xray dex)

Purpose: Explain the specific building blocks that make Dex work.

Output Format

## 🏗️ How Dex Works: The Architecture

Now that you understand AI fundamentals, here's how Dex engineers around 
the limitations to create something useful.

---

### The Core Insight

**Problem:** Claude forgets everything between sessions.  
**Solution:** Store everything in FILES and reload context intelligently.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ YOUR VAULT │ │ (Plain Markdown files YOU own) │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ • CLAUDE.md - Core context & personality │ │ • 05-Areas/People/ - Relationship memory │ │ • 03-Tasks/Tasks.md - Work in progress │ │ • System/Session_Memory/ - Past conversations │ │ • System/Work_In_Progress.md - Active projects │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ↓ loaded at session start ↓ ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ AI Context Window │ └─────────────────────────────┘

**The magic:** Your knowledge lives in files. AI reads files. 
Therefore, AI can "remember" by reading what was written before.

---

### Building Block 1: CLAUDE.md (The Brain)

The system prompt that defines who Dex is and how it behaves.

**Location:** `/CLAUDE.md` (root of your vault)

**Contains:**
- Your user profile (name, role, company)
- Your strategic pillars
- How Dex should behave
- What skills are available
- References to other docs

**Why it matters:** This loads FIRST, before anything else. It shapes every 
response. Edit this, and you change how Dex thinks.

**You can customize:**
```markdown
## USER_EXTENSIONS_START
<!-- Your personal additions go here -->
## USER_EXTENSIONS_END

---

Building Block 2: Session Hooks (The Boot Sequence)

When you start a chat, things happen BEFORE you type anything.

What hooks do:

• Inject session memories from recent conversations
• Surface relevant context (person info, project status)
• Pre-load data you'll likely need

Current hooks in Dex:

• Session memories injection
• Person context surfacing
• Company context surfacing

The power: You can ADD hooks. Want weather loaded at session start? Your calendar? Write a hook, and it's there every session.

---

Building Block 3: MCP Servers (The Toolbox)

MCP = Model Context Protocol. It's how Claude gets superpowers.

Each MCP server gives Claude new abilities:

Server	What It Does
Work MCP	Task management with deduplication and pillar alignment
Calendar MCP	Reads your Apple Calendar
Granola MCP	Searches meeting transcripts
Career MCP	Career evidence tracking and analysis

Why MCPs instead of just reading files?

• Speed: Pre-process data instead of parsing raw files
• Logic: Implement business rules (like "can't have 4 P0 tasks")
• Integration: Connect to external systems

---

Building Block 4: Skills (The Playbook)

Skills are structured instructions for multi-step workflows.

Location: .claude/skills/[skill-name]/SKILL.md

Examples:

• /daily-plan - Check calendar, review tasks, generate plan
• /meeting-prep - Load person context, surface recent discussions
• /xray - This skill you're running right now!

Why skills?

• Consistency: Same workflow every time
• Complexity: Handle multi-step processes
• Reusability: Build once, use forever

---

Building Block 5: The Vault (The Memory)

Everything persists to Markdown files:

Your Vault/
├── 00-Inbox/           ← Capture zone
├── 03-Tasks/           ← Active tasks
├── 04-Projects/        ← Time-bound work
├── 05-Areas/           ← Ongoing responsibilities
│   ├── People/         ← Person pages
│   └── Companies/      ← Company profiles
├── 06-Resources/       ← Reference material
└── System/             ← Dex configuration

Why plain Markdown?

• You own it forever (no vendor lock-in)
• Works anywhere (Obsidian, VS Code, any editor)
• AI can read and write it
• Version control with Git if you want

---

How It All Connects

Session starts
     ↓
Hooks fire (inject context)
     ↓
CLAUDE.md loads (personality + instructions)
     ↓
You type your message
     ↓
Claude reads relevant files (on-demand)
     ↓
Claude uses MCPs (if needed)
     ↓
Response generated + files updated
     ↓
Repeat for each message

---

Key Insight: It's All Text

There's no magic database. No proprietary format. No cloud service.

• CLAUDE.md is text
• Skills are text
• Your notes are text
• Session memories are text

Claude reads text, processes it, generates text, writes text.

Everything you're experiencing is text transformation.

Understanding this is liberating — you can read, edit, and extend anything.

---

Want to see the session startup in detail? Try /xray boot Ready to customize? Try /xray extend

---

## MODE: Session Boot Sequence (`/xray boot`)

**Purpose:** Detailed walkthrough of what happens when a session starts.

### Output Format

```markdown
## 🚀 What Happens When You Start a Chat

Let me walk you through exactly what happens from the moment you open 
a new chat to when you type your first message.

---

### The Boot Sequence (In Order)

#### Step 1: Environment Detection

Is this Claude Desktop? Claude Code? Cursor? PI? ↓ Each environment has slightly different capabilities

#### Step 2: Settings Load

Read configuration files ↓ This defines which hooks to run and which MCPs are available

#### Step 3: Hooks Fire (CRITICAL)

Pre-session hooks run in order: ↓ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Session memory injection │ │ → Reads System/Session_Memory/[date].md │ │ → Injects summaries of recent conversations │ │ → AI "remembers" what you discussed before │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ↓ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Context injectors │ │ → Person context ready when you mention │ │ names │ │ → Company context ready when relevant │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ↓ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ (Your custom hooks could go here) │ │ → Whatever YOU want loaded at start │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

**This is where the magic happens!** Hooks let you inject ANY context 
before the conversation starts.

#### Step 4: CLAUDE.md Loads

The entire CLAUDE.md file enters the context window: ↓ • Your profile (name, role, company) • Your strategic pillars
• Behavior guidelines • Reference to skills and tools • User extensions (YOUR customizations)

#### Step 5: MCPs Connect

MCP servers become available: ↓ • Calendar MCP → Ready to check schedule • Work MCP → Ready to manage tasks • Granola MCP → Ready to search meetings

#### Step 6: Ready for Input

NOW you can type your first message.

The AI already has: • Your personality and preferences (CLAUDE.md) • Recent conversation summaries (from hooks) • Relevant context (from hooks) • Access to tools (MCPs)

---

### What This Means for You

**The AI doesn't start from zero.** By the time you type your first message, 
Claude already knows who you are, what you've been working on, and what 
tools are available.

**The boot sequence IS the memory system.** It's how a stateless AI 
"remembers" who you are.

---

### 💡 Customization Opportunity

**What else could be loaded at session start?**

Ideas for hooks:
1. Today's calendar events
2. Current sprint goals
3. Recent Git commits
4. Weather for outdoor planning
5. Your daily intention

**The pattern:** Anything you want the AI to "know" at the start of every 
session can be injected via a hook.

---

**Ready to create your own customizations?** Try `/xray extend`

MODE: How to Extend (/xray extend)

Purpose: Practical guide to customization.

Output Format

## 🛠️ How to Extend Dex

Now that you understand how it works, here's how to make it your own.

---

### Level 1: Edit CLAUDE.md (5 minutes)

**The simplest customization.** Add your own instructions:

1. Open `CLAUDE.md` in any editor
2. Find the `USER_EXTENSIONS` section
3. Add your rules:

```markdown
## USER_EXTENSIONS_START

### My Preferences
- I'm a morning person — suggest important work before noon
- "The board" always means my company's board of directors
- Never suggest scheduling meetings on Wednesdays (my focus day)

## USER_EXTENSIONS_END

This survives updates. When you run /dex-update, this block is preserved.

---

Level 2: Create a Skill (30 minutes)

Make a reusable workflow:

1. Create folder: .claude/skills/my-skill/
2. Create file: SKILL.md

---
name: my-skill
description: What it does in one line
---

# My Custom Skill

## When to Use
[Trigger conditions]

## Steps
[Instructions for Claude to follow]

## Output Format
[What the result should look like]

3. Use it: Just type /my-skill

Example ideas:

• /standup-prep - Generate daily standup update
• /client-brief - Create client meeting brief
• /weekly-email - Draft weekly summary email

---

Level 3: Create a Hook (1 hour)

Inject context at every session start:

1. Create a script that outputs the context you want
2. The output gets injected into the AI's context window
3. Now every conversation starts with that knowledge

Example ideas:

• Inject today's calendar at start
• Load current sprint goals
• Show recent Git commits

---

Level 4: Create an MCP Server (Half day)

Give Claude new capabilities:

Run /create-mcp for guided setup.

Example ideas:

• Todoist MCP - Sync tasks with Todoist
• Notion MCP - Read/write to Notion
• Weather MCP - Get current conditions

---

The Extension Philosophy

Dex is scaffolding, not a finished product. It's a starting point you customize.

The goal isn't to use Dex "as is" forever — it's to understand it well enough to make it truly yours.

Question for you: What do you wish the AI knew at the start of every session? That's your first extension.

---

## Usage Tracking

After running `/xray`, silently update `System/usage_log.md`:
- Check `X-ray transparency (/xray)` in the discovery section

If user runs specific educational modes, update the AI Education Progress section:
- `/xray ai` → Check "Understands context windows", "Understands tokens"
- `/xray dex` → Check "Understands system prompts", "Understands tools/MCPs"
- `/xray boot` → Check "Understands session hooks"
- `/xray extend` → Check "Understands vault architecture"

---

## Tone Guidelines

- **Concrete over abstract** — Use specific examples from their conversation
- **Show don't tell** — Point to actual files, tools, actions
- **Empowering not impressive** — Goal is their understanding, not your cleverness
- **Inviting curiosity** — End with pathways to learn more

---

## Track Usage (Silent)

Update `System/usage_log.md` to mark AI transparency education as used.

**Analytics (Silent):**

Call `track_event` with event_name `xray_used` and properties:
- `mode` (context/tokens/prompts/tools/hooks/vault/extend)

This only fires if the user has opted into analytics. No action needed if it returns "analytics_disabled".