| # Toolbox overview
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| A **toolbox** is a named bundle of skills and agents that runs at a defined
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| moment in your workflow: at session start, on file save, before a commit, at
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| session end, or when you invoke its slash command.
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|
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| Toolboxes let you declare the *council* you want reviewing your work
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| without hand-loading skills each session.
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|
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| ## Lifecycle
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| ```mermaid
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| flowchart LR
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| A[Declare toolbox] --> B[Trigger fires]
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| B --> C[Council runner<br/>builds plan]
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| C --> D[Agents run<br/>scoped to plan.files]
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| D --> E[Findings recorded<br/>as Verdict]
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| E -->|HIGH / CRITICAL| F[Guardrail blocks<br/>pre-commit]
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| E -->|LOW / MEDIUM| G[Logged,<br/>session continues]
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| ```
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| Each arrow is a concrete module:
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|
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| - **Declare**: [`toolbox_config.py`](https://github.com/stevesolun/ctx/blob/main/src/toolbox_config.py)
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| loads `~/.claude/toolboxes.json` and merges per-repo `.toolbox.yaml` on top.
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| - **Trigger**: [`toolbox_hooks.py`](https://github.com/stevesolun/ctx/blob/main/src/toolbox_hooks.py)
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| listens for `session-start`, `file-save`, `pre-commit`, `session-end`, and
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| the `/toolbox run` slash command.
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| - **Plan**: [`council_runner.py`](https://github.com/stevesolun/ctx/blob/main/src/council_runner.py)
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| assembles a `RunPlan` honoring scope, dedup, and graph-blast expansion.
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| - **Verdict**: [`toolbox_verdict.py`](https://github.com/stevesolun/ctx/blob/main/src/toolbox_verdict.py)
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| merges findings by id and escalates level to max(findings).
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|
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| ## Minimal declaration
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|
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| ```yaml
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| # .toolbox.yaml (per-repo)
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| version: 1
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| toolboxes:
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| review:
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| description: "Post-feature code review"
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| post:
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| - code-reviewer
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| - security-reviewer
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| scope:
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| analysis: diff
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| trigger:
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| slash: true
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| pre_commit: true
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| guardrail: true
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| ```
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|
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| Run it manually: |
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|
| ```bash |
| ctx-toolbox run --event pre-commit |
| ``` |
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| Or let the `pre-commit` hook fire it automatically — see
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| [Hooks & triggers](hooks.md).
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|
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| ## Scope modes
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| | Mode | What gets reviewed | Best for |
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| |---|---|---|
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| | `diff` | Files in the current uncommitted diff | Pre-commit, real-time review |
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| | `dynamic` | Diff + graph blast radius (imports of modified files) | Refactor safety |
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| | `full` | Entire repo | Security sweeps, docs audits |
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|
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| ## Related
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|
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| - [Configuration schema](configuration.md) — full field reference.
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| - [Starter toolboxes](starters.md) — 5 shipping presets.
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| - [Intent interview](intent-interview.md) — `toolbox init` walkthrough.
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| - [Verdicts & guardrails](verdicts.md) — how blocking works.
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|
