Context Packs
Start the next task with the right knowledge already assembled. Context Packs turn a useful collection of pages into reusable project context, while goal-based preparation helps your agent choose a pack, add relevant sources, or ask you which direction you mean.
Instead of re-explaining your project, writing style, or recurring review process, maintain the source pages once and retrieve them when the work calls for them.
What a pack contains
A pack has a name, a description of its purpose, and references to vault pages. Richer definitions can describe tasks, trigger phrases, aliases, tags, and the role of included pages. These details help the context router recognize when the pack is useful.
The pages remain the current saved files in your vault. A pack does not freeze the text at creation time. Update the underlying brief or decision page, and future retrieval can use that current content.
A good project pack might include:
| Page | Why it belongs |
|---|---|
| Project brief | Goal, audience, and success criteria. |
| Current requirements | What the work must accomplish. |
| Key decisions | Choices and reasoning that should carry forward. |
| Source notes | Evidence behind the current direction. |
| Latest handoff | What is complete and where to resume. |
Keep the pack focused. A few maintained sources are often more useful than a large bundle of loosely related notes.
Ask for context in ordinary language
Prepare the best MindWiki context for revising the Website Launch homepage. Include our audience, current messaging decisions, and unresolved questions. Explain which sources you chose before drafting.The agent can call mindwiki_prepare_context with your goal. The result includes a strategy, selected packs, supplemental page references, alternatives, and a rationale. It helps the agent explain what it used and what is missing.
How context preparation chooses a path
| Outcome | What it means for your work |
|---|---|
| A named pack | You explicitly requested a particular pack. |
| Pack only | A saved pack is a strong fit for the goal. |
| Pack plus retrieval | A pack provides the foundation, with additional pages for this task. |
| Ask you | Several plausible packs need a choice. |
| Retrieval only | Search is more useful than an existing pack. |
| Retrieve and suggest a pack | Relevant sources form a useful candidate for recurring work. |
| No confident context | MindWiki could not find a dependable starting set. |
The agent should follow the result: ask when the choice is ambiguous, read the selected sources, and identify gaps. A candidate pack is a suggestion, not an automatically approved new pack.
Load a known pack directly
Load my Website Launch context pack from MindWiki. Read the included pages and summarize the current goal, decisions, and next milestone.Use mindwiki_list_context_packs to discover names and mindwiki_get_context_pack to retrieve a known pack. Use mindwiki_search_context_packs to find candidates by intent without loading their page contents.
If the task is exploratory and no pack fits, ordinary search or mindwiki_get_relevant_context can help discover pages. You can turn a repeated, useful selection into a pack later.
Create a pack you will reuse
Open the Mac app's Agents → Context Packs workspace to inspect and manage packs. You can also ask an authorized agent to propose one:
Read the brief, decisions, and latest handoff for Website Launch. Propose a focused context pack for future work on the project. Explain each included page and leave the proposal for review.mindwiki_propose_context_pack creates a pending proposal after validating the page references. It does not create the pack immediately. Review the included pages, purpose, sensitivity, and name before approving through the supported proposal flow.
Control the amount of context
For integrations, mindwiki_prepare_context supports tight, balanced, and generous budgets. The default response_mode: plan returns references; the agent must retrieve the necessary content. response_mode: inline includes content within the selected budget. A plan listing a page is different from an agent actually reading it.
Use a tighter budget for a narrow question and more room for a broad brief. Large pages or packs can be bounded or truncated. Check the returned materials and missing-source information before treating a pack as complete evidence.
The optional modes let an integration favor packs, favor search, force a named pack, or freshen the selected context. A forced pack reflects your choice; it is not a guarantee that every source remains relevant.
Keep recurring context useful
Name packs by the work they support: “Website Launch,” “Writing Voice,” or “Weekly Project Review.” Maintain the source pages as decisions change. Replace obsolete context deliberately and keep evidence linked to the conclusions it supports.
Context Packs are available across your authorized agents. A pack selected by one client can support another client's task against the same vault, subject to connection scopes and the Context Packs permission.
Next: Shared Agent Memory, Project Workflows, and MCP Tools.