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Agent skill

Context Trace

by ai-analyst-lab in ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst

Show which context the AI analyst would receive for a question, why each item was selected, how it is delivered, and which conflicts, stale items, or omissions need attention.

MITAuto-check passed

Install Context Trace

skills CLI
$ npx skills add ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst --skill context-trace -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst context-trace --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.claude/skills/context-trace .claude/skills/context-trace && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
context-trace
GitHub stars
304
Token cost
~549 tokens
SKILL.md length
229 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
43
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Show which context the AI analyst would receive for a question, why each item was selected, how it is delivered, and which conflicts, stale items, or omissions need attention.

  • Works in 7 steps: Read .knowledge/active.yaml and confirm… → Run the deterministic manifest builder.… → Read working/context-trace.md and… → …
  • The user asks what context was loaded
  • Calls python
  • Why a definition did

What it does

Context Trace is an agent skill from ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst. Show which context the AI analyst would receive for a question, why each item was selected, how it is delivered, and which conflicts, stale items, or omissions need attention. Use when the user asks what context was loaded, why a definition did or did not reach an analysis, what the analyst knows about a question, or invokes /context-trace.

Its SKILL.md is about 550 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

The repository describes itself as: AI Product Analyst — Claude Code-powered data analysis toolkit. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • The user asks what context was loaded
  • Why a definition did
  • Did not reach an analysis
  • What the analyst knows about a question

Example prompts

  • “/context-trace”

Requirements

  • Python 3

Workflow steps

7 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Read .knowledge/active.yaml and confirm an active dataset exists.
  2. Run the deterministic manifest builder. Replace the question and output path with the user's values
  3. Read working/context-trace.md and working/context-trace.json.
  4. If blocking is true, stop the analysis and show the conflicting trusted definitions or
  5. If a selected item is stale or missing a review date, name it before using it.
  6. Explain the result in four parts
  7. State the limit plainly: the manifest proves what the selector supplied. It does not prove the worker used it or that it is correct.

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 52c0744. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • python

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Context Trace loads about 549 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 89 tokens; SKILL.md has 229 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~89
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~549

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst at commit 52c0744, republished under its MIT licence (© ai-analyst-lab). 229 words, ~549 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/context-trace/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
context-trace
description
Show which context the AI analyst would receive for a question, why each item was selected, how it is delivered, and which conflicts, stale items, or omissions need attention. Use when the user asks what context was loaded, why a definition did or did not reach an analysis, what the analyst knows about a question, or invokes /context-trace.

Context trace

Build an evidence record before explaining the context.

  1. Read .knowledge/active.yaml and confirm an active dataset exists.

  2. Run the deterministic manifest builder. Replace the question and output path with the user's values:

    bash
    python -m helpers.knowledge.context_manifest \
  --project-root . \
  --question "THE EXACT QUESTION" \
  --output working/context-trace.json

    When a live DuckDB path is available, add --duckdb PATH. This runs the schema guard and excludes relevant items whose table shape no longer matches the reviewed snapshot. For another warehouse, call guard_context() with the live connection and pass its result to build_context_manifest(quarantined=...).

  3. Read working/context-trace.md and working/context-trace.json.

  4. If blocking is true, stop the analysis and show the conflicting trusted definitions or relevant schema quarantine. Ask for an approved decision or re-verification.

  5. If a selected item is stale or missing a review date, name it before using it.

  6. Explain the result in four parts:

    • content: what information was supplied;
    • representation: metric, relationship, example, correction, or instruction;
    • delivery: resident, selected, or compiled;
    • governance: source, owner, status, review date, conflict, and omission.

  7. State the limit plainly: the manifest proves what the selector supplied. It does not prove the worker used it or that it is correct.

When an analysis is available, ask the worker to return the context item IDs it cited and used. Reconcile those IDs and the SQL with reconcile_context_use() from helpers.knowledge.context_manifest. Distinguish supplied, cited, and applied. Never treat a citation alone as proof that the SQL followed the context.

© ai-analyst-lab, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in .claude/skills/context-trace of ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 52c0744

Compare with similar skills

Context Trace next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Context Trace compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Context Trace this skillai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst304—~549Automated safety check: PassMIT
Observe Traceruvnet/ruflo74k—~522Automated safety check: NotesMIT
Payments Receivedsickn33/agentic-awesome-skills47k1 repos~3.5kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Tracezereight/gitlab-mcp2k1 repos~412Automated safety check: PassMIT
Distributed Tracingwshobson/agents40k12 repos~527Automated safety check: PassMIT
Arize Tracegithub/awesome-copilot40k1 repos~5.9kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT

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Questions about Context Trace

What does Context Trace do?

Show which context the AI analyst would receive for a question, why each item was selected, how it is delivered, and which conflicts, stale items, or omissions need attention. Context Trace is an agent skill from ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst. Show which context the AI analyst would receive for a question, why each item was selected, how it is delivered, and which conflicts, stale items, or omissions need attention.

When should I use Context Trace?

Context Trace fits situations like: the user asks what context was loaded; why a definition did; did not reach an analysis; what the analyst knows about a question.

How do I install Context Trace in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst --skill context-trace -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.claude/skills/context-trace in ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst) into .claude/skills/context-trace in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Context Trace in Codex?

Run `npx skills add ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst --skill context-trace -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.claude/skills/context-trace in ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst) into .agents/skills/context-trace in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Context Trace in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst --skill context-trace -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/context-trace, .gemini/skills/context-trace, .github/skills/context-trace and .opencode/skills/context-trace in your project.

What does Context Trace need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Context Trace needs the command-line tools its instructions call (python). Our summary lists: Python 3.

Does Context Trace access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Context Trace safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Context Trace use?

Context Trace is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Context Trace use?

About 549 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.2k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Context Trace?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Context Trace: Observe Trace (ruvnet/ruflo, 74k stars), Payments Received (sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills, 47k stars), Trace (zereight/gitlab-mcp, 2k stars) and Distributed Tracing (wshobson/agents, 40k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Context Trace?

ai-analyst-lab (a GitHub organization) maintains it in ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst, which has 304 GitHub stars. The repository holds 43 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 30, 2026.

Source: ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.