change-boot

Overview

One of the five class boots surfaced by team-boot's Class Boots catalog. team-boot injects the always-relevant team context (constitution, CDR index, skills registry) at session start; this skill loads the change history layer on demand — the published ChDR index mined from git history — and pairs it with a capture suggestion so change rationale is recovered (/change-init for mined history, /change-specify for decisions made this session) rather than living only in commit messages. The boot never writes files: it suggests the capture skill, and the user runs it.

Reading past rationale and recording new rationale are one loop: published ChDRs explain why the code looks the way it does; rationale discovered during the work flows back into the same record system through the capture skills.

When to Use

Invoke at the START of a matching task — before planning the todo list and before implementation — so the ChDR context informs planning. Never defer to session end.

Invoke when:

• Refactoring or modifying unfamiliar code — check whether a ChDR explains the current shape before changing it.
• Analyzing reverts, hotfixes, or fix chains ("why was this reverted?").
• The session authors git changes with human-authored messages (commit/merge/ revert/rebase/cherry-pick/tag with an authored message, authored PR title/body, CHANGELOG edit) — evaluate at session end whether the rationale is non-obvious enough for a ChDR; routine ops with generated or empty messages are not ChDRs (proportionality gate).
• The session produces change rationale: a revert/hotfix explanation, or a commit that links to an issue tracker (the /change-init mining signal).

Core Process

Step 1: Locate the ChDR Index

From the current working directory (do NOT walk up parent directories):

• Primary: docs/adlc/memory/chdr/chdr.md (generated by /change-publish, inside the class dir like adr/adr.md and pdr/pdr.md; rows start with | ChDR)
• Fallback: docs/adlc/memory/chdr.md (older root-level placement)
• Fallback: .adlc/memory/chdr.md (legacy layout, legacy)

If the index is missing but docs/adlc/memory/chdr/ChDR-*.md or legacy .adlc/memory/chdr/ChDR-*.md files exist, synthesize a lean table from each file (ID from filename; Title/Status from frontmatter or first heading). If nothing exists, report 0 ChDRs — never fabricate rows.

When no local memory index exists in the current working directory and the directory sits inside a workspace (detected via a .gitmodules marker in an ancestor), read the workspace root's docs/adlc/memory/ index instead (the dual-read order applies: docs/adlc/memory first, legacy .adlc/memory fallback).

Step 1b: Read the ChDR Drafts Index

Check .adlc/drafts/chdr/ for ChDR-*.md files with status: proposed or status: discovered in frontmatter. These are draft ChDRs pending clarification — frontmatter proposed/discovered maps to ledger Status captured, and both feed the Unclarified count. Collect ID / Title / Type / Status / Date from each file. If the directory is empty or absent, report 0 pending drafts.

Absent Context

If team-boot injected no team context this session (no Team Context & Decisions section in the first user message — unconfigured project or hook failure): say so in one line, emit the section heading with a 0 ChDRs matched (no team context injected — run /team-setup) source line, and continue the task on the directly-read ChDR index. Never treat a missing injection as an empty record set. Recovery: run /team-diagnose.

Step 2: Inject ChDR Context (Output Contract)

Emit before the task answer:

## ChDR Context

| ID | Title | Status | Date |
|--|--|--|--|
| ChDR-001 | Why payments retries are capped at 3 | stable | 2026-08-16 |

_Searched N ChDRs, K matched._

## Drafts Pending Review

| ID | Title | Type | Status | Date |
|----|-------|------|--------|------|
| (from .adlc/drafts/chdr/) |

_Unclarified: N ChDR drafts — run /change-clarify to review._

• Render ID / Title / Status / Date from the index (the full index also carries Issue, Commit, Note — read the individual ChDR-*.md when a task matches a row).
• N = total index rows; K = rows relevant to the current task. K MUST equal the table rows shown. 0 rows matched → emit the section heading + the _Searched N ChDRs, K matched._ line only — no table. A 0-row table header collapses into unrendered single-line markdown; never emit one. Emit the section as markdown blocks — heading, table rows, and counts line each on their own lines.

Step 3: Suggest Change Rationale Capture

Emit one line per detected decision, in the visible response:

_Suggested capture: <decision name> → run /change-specify._

Never write a draft (or any file) yourself — /change-specify writes the .adlc/drafts/chdr/ draft when the user runs it, and /change-clarify gates it afterwards.

Add/refresh rows in Team Context & Decisions (ID | Name | Type | Rel | Status | Clarify) for every ChDR-class decision detected this session — including ones from before this boot was invoked. Mirror each decision as a task-list todo (suggest /change-specify → matching clarify skill at session end for drafts that exist); after code-modifying tasks, add a trailing todo to sweep Team Context & Decisions until Unrecorded: 0 pending · Unclarified: 0 drafts (a draft leaves Unclarified only via its clarify skill or an explicit user handoff to a named clarify or execute skill). At session end, deliver the clarify prompt naming each uncaptured decision (ID + capture skill) and each captured ChDR draft in .adlc/drafts/chdr/ (ID + clarify skill), covering post-merge issue-linked commits too; if the user defers clarify, mark those rows handed off.

Failure Handling

• Missing index + missing records → emit the section heading + _Searched 0 ChDRs, 0 matched._ only — no table — and continue the user's task; never block.
• Unparseable index rows → skip malformed rows, note the skip count.

Red Flags

• Fabricating ChDR rows or inflating K beyond the table shown.
• Injecting the index but ignoring the capture suggestion — the pairing is the point.
• Writing a draft (or any file) yourself — the boot only suggests; /change-specify writes.
• Walking up parent directories to find .adlc/.
• Mining rationale without SHA/URL provenance — /change-clarify will reject Decision claims that lack it.

Verification

• ChDR Context table emitted with _Searched N ChDRs, K matched._ (K = table rows).
• Detected ChDR-class decisions added as Team Context & Decisions rows.
• No files written; each detected ChDR-class decision carries a _Suggested capture: … → run /change-specify._ line (mined-history signals name /change-init).