Continuous Context Development

CCD is the host-neutral continuity and governance kernel for AI coding.

It keeps the parts that should survive host churn, model churn, and session resets:

• project truth in the repo
• operator policy and durable memory in ~/.ccd
• clone-local handoff and session state in workspace-local runtime state

Core Separation

repo/
  project truth
  AGENTS.md, README.md, specs, tests, source

~/.ccd/
  operator state
  policy, durable memory, project-local overlays

workspace-local state
  clone-local handoff and active session state

That separation is the product. CCD is not trying to be the best agent host, the best IDE, or the best memory database.

• Project overlay: project-specific policy and durable memory under ~/.ccd/profiles/{profile}/repos/{project_id}/...
• Workspace state: clone-local handoff and active session state for the current checkout

If a workspace loses its binding, use ccd repo relink to reconnect it to the right project overlay instead of rebuilding state from scratch.

Try It In 5 Minutes

Install the CLI and shipped skills:

git clone https://github.com/dusk-network/ccd.git /tmp/ccd
cargo install --path /tmp/ccd
ccd skills install

Bootstrap one workspace:

ccd attach --path .
ccd start --activate --path .

ccd start --activate is the supported one-command raw CLI fast path. This is narrower than the old #386 coalescing idea: startup can collapse into one call, but close-out still stays explicit.

Work normally. Use the two checkpoint surfaces intentionally:

ccd checkpoint --path .    # lightweight mid-session pulse
ccd radar-state --path .   # full wrap-up and continuity evaluation

If you prefer the shipped skills, the core loop is:

/ccd-attach
/ccd-start
/ccd-checkpoint
/ccd-radar

What CCD Owns

• Continuity across sessions through clone-local handoff and session state
• Governance through layered policy, fail-closed writes, and explicit mutation boundaries
• Durable operator memory with promotion and compaction rules
• Host-neutral skill and CLI surfaces that survive IDE/runtime churn

What CCD Does Not Own

• Agent orchestration UX: your host or IDE owns that
• Semantic recall quality: providers like MemPalace, Mem0/OpenMemory, and Graphiti own that
• Shared project facts: the repo remains the source of truth

CCD integrates with those systems, but it is not trying to replace them.

Command Tiers

Core

• ccd attach
• ccd start
• ccd status
• ccd checkpoint
• ccd radar-state
• ccd doctor
• ccd sync

Advanced

• ccd describe
• ccd scaffold
• ccd check
• ccd hooks *
• ccd handoff *
• ccd memory *
• ccd remember
• ccd repo *
• ccd session open
• ccd skills install

Git-backed ccd session open belongs to /ccd-git-workflow when you need worktree or branch isolation. It is intentionally outside the default day-1 kernel loop.

Platform

• ccd backlog *
• ccd codemap *
• ccd context-check
• ccd escalation-state *
• ccd pod *
• ccd policy-check
• ccd runtime-state *
• ccd session-state gates *

Read Next

• Why CCD
• Quickstart
• Cheatsheet
• Memory Architecture
• Memory Recall Providers
• Skills
• Kernel Contracts
• Implementation Matrix
• Runtime Builders

Safety

CCD's shipped skills and host integrations follow one contract:

• inspect read-only state first
• obey preview/apply or confirm-write metadata instead of guessing
• keep machine-readable stdout clean
• treat external queue snapshots as external context, not project truth
• keep Git workflow follow-through separate from startup and continuity loading

See docs/reference/agent-safety-contract.md for the full contract.