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.

Supported Install Paths

CCD supports two installation paths today:

If you need backlog commands in the installed binary, add --features extension-backlog to either install command.

Homebrew, curl installers, and OS packages are not supported distribution channels yet.

Try It In 5 Minutes

Install the published CLI:

cargo install ccd-cli

If you want the shipped skills:

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.

In JSON output, extension_dispatch is extension-owned context. Treat it as an opaque extension payload rather than a kernel-owned backlog or assignment contract.

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
ccd checkpoint --since-session current --path .  # delta-only output (unchanged surfaces collapsed)
ccd consistency --path .                      # targeted artifact-consistency audit

ccd checkpoint is a distinct lightweight command that skips the expensive evaluation, candidate, and approval phases while still computing session boundary, context health, and surface digests. ccd radar-state remains the full evaluation path for wrap-up.

The --since-session flag compares surface digests against the session-start baseline and collapses unchanged surfaces to {"status": "unchanged"}, reducing token cost for mid-session checks. JSON output also reports session_delta.skip_stats, projection_telemetry.delta, estimated token counts by surface and projection format, and narrative/symbolic/bundle cache cadence so hosts can see what was actually refreshed.

If you want repo-local host integration assets, scaffold them explicitly:

ccd init --path . --host claude
ccd host install claude --path .

Host posture is now tiered deliberately:

• Codex: human-driven /ccd-start or ccd start --activate remains the supported baseline; the launcher wrapper is optional convenience/eval harness only
• Claude Code: native project hooks are the preferred path; manual /ccd-start or ccd start --activate is fallback only when those hooks are not installed
• OpenClaw and Hermes: use explicit reference-adapter configs that call ccd host-hook at lifecycle boundaries

Use --diagnostics or ccd telemetry report --output json --path . only when you need payload analysis, projection-cache cadence, provider-cache correlation, or prompt-cost diagnostics.

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 Mem0/OpenMemory and Graphiti own that
• Shared project facts: the repo remains the source of truth

CCD integrates with those systems through its read-only recall provider seam. External providers can use the optional command-session transport to amortize cold-start cost across sequential recall operations within a single command. See the Recall Provider Setup Guide for configuration.

Command Tiers

Implementation note: src/main.rs remains the canonical top-level CLI schema and command table, while domain-specific routing now lives in focused modules under src/commands/dispatch/. That keeps the public surface stable without leaving unrelated command wiring in one file.

Core

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

Advanced

• ccd describe
• ccd scaffold
• ccd check
• ccd consistency
• ccd hooks *
• ccd host install
• ccd handoff *
• ccd memory *
• ccd remember
• ccd repo *
• ccd session open
• ccd skills install
• ccd telemetry report

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 * (requires a build with --features extension-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
• Host Startup Wrappers
• Session Liveness Contract
• Memory Architecture
• Memory Recall Providers
• Recall Provider Setup Guide
• 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.