Context Engine

The universal context orchestrator for AI coding agents.

Manage skills, memory, rules, and modes across 22 AI tools from a single local dashboard. Write your instructions once — deploy everywhere.

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What is Context Engine?

AI coding agents read instruction files at startup — CLAUDE.md, .cursorrules, GEMINI.md, .windsurfrules, and more. Context Engine is a local dashboard that lets you manage all of them from one place.

• Write modular skills (reusable instruction files)
• Toggle them on/off per task with modes
• Compile and deploy to 22 AI tools simultaneously
• Track your context budget in real-time

No cloud. No accounts. No API keys required. Runs entirely on your machine.

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Supported Tools

Tool	Format	Global	Project
Claude Code	CLAUDE.md	Yes	Yes
Cursor	.cursorrules	—	Yes
GitHub Copilot	.github/copilot-instructions.md	—	Yes
Windsurf	.windsurfrules	Yes	Yes
Antigravity (Gemini)	GEMINI.md	Yes	Yes
Codex (OpenAI)	.codex/instructions.md	Yes	Yes
Cline / Roo	.clinerules/	Yes	Yes
Continue.dev	.continue/rules/	Yes	Yes
Junie (JetBrains)	.junie/guidelines.md	Yes	Yes
Trae (ByteDance)	.trae/rules/	Yes	Yes
Kiro (AWS)	.kiro/steering.md	—	Yes
Aider	CONVENTIONS.md	—	Yes
Zed	.rules	—	Yes
AGENTS.md (AAIF)	AGENTS.md	—	Yes
Amp (Sourcegraph)	.ampcoderc	—	Yes
Devin	devin.md	—	Yes
Goose (Block)	.goosehints	Yes	Yes
Void	.void/rules.md	—	Yes
Augment	.augment/instructions.md	Yes	Yes
PearAI	.pearai/rules.md	—	Yes
Ollama	Modelfile.context	—	Yes
Kimi K2	.kimi-system-prompt.md	—	Yes

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Features

Skills Management

• Auto-discovers SKILL.md files from your filesystem
• Parses YAML frontmatter for descriptions and trigger phrases
• Toggle active/inactive per skill with instant context regeneration
• Import skill packs from GitHub repos (Anthropic, OpenAI, community)
• Group by source — see Custom, Anthropic, OpenAI skills separately

Modes

• Save curated stacks of skills for specific workflows
• Switch between "Heavy Coding", "Creative", "Lean Mode" in one click
• Create, edit, and delete modes from the dashboard

Cross-Tool Compiler

• Auto-detects which AI tools are installed on your system
• Compiles your context to each tool's native format
• Deploy globally or per-project
• One source of truth, 22 outputs

Memory & Rules

• Persistent memory entries with categories (identity, preference, project, general)
• Editable coding rules, general rules, and personality/soul configuration
• All stored as JSON — version-controllable, portable

Context Budgeting

• Real-time token estimates for your active context
• See exactly what gets loaded into each agent session
• Stats dashboard: active skills, connections, modes, token counts

Security

• Encrypted API key storage (AES-256-GCM) for optional LLM features
• Keys derived from machine-specific data — not portable, not plain text
• Environment variables take precedence over stored keys
• No telemetry, no cloud calls unless you opt in

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Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js v18+

Install

git clone https://github.com/Jeremy8776/context-engine.git
cd context-engine

Launch

Windows:

Launch Context Engine.bat

macOS / Linux:

chmod +x launch.sh
./launch.sh

Manual:

npm start

Open http://localhost:3847 in your browser.

Point at your data

Set CE_ROOT to your AI configuration directory:

CE_ROOT=/path/to/your/ai-config npm start

The server expects data/, skills/, and CONTEXT.md inside that root.

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Adding Skills

Create a directory under skills/ with a SKILL.md file:

skills/
  my-custom-skill/
    SKILL.md

Use YAML frontmatter for best results:

---
name: my-custom-skill
description: What this skill does and when an agent should use it.
---

# My Custom Skill

Instructions for the AI agent go here.

Import from GitHub

Paste any GitHub repo URL into the ingest input on the Skills tab. The server clones it into skills/ingested/ and discovers all SKILL.md files inside.

Pre-configured quick-add buttons for:

• Anthropic Skills
• OpenAI Skills

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Architecture

context-engine/
  server/
    server.js       # Zero-dependency Node.js HTTP server (port 3847)
    compiler.js     # Cross-tool compiler with 22 adapters
  ui/
    index.html      # Single-page dashboard
    styles.css      # Design system (CSS custom properties)
    skills.js       # Skills tab logic
    modes.js        # Modes tab logic
    memory.js       # Memory tab logic
    compile.js      # Compiler tab logic
    config.js       # Soul & Rules tab logic
    dashboard.js    # Dashboard tab logic
    panel.js        # Reusable side panel component
    store.js        # API client and state management
    data.js         # Data layer
  data/
    memory.json     # Persistent memory entries
    rules.json      # Coding rules, general rules, soul
    skill-states.json # Active/inactive state per skill
    modes.json      # Saved mode configurations

Zero external dependencies. No React, no build step, no npm install. Just Node.js serving vanilla HTML/CSS/JS.

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API

The server exposes a REST API on port 3847:

Method	Path	Description
GET	/api/skills	List all discovered skills
GET	/api/memory	Get memory entries
POST	/api/memory	Save memory entries
GET	/api/rules	Get rules and soul
POST	/api/rules	Save rules and soul
GET	/api/states	Get skill active/inactive states
POST	/api/states	Save skill states
GET	/api/modes	Get saved modes
POST	/api/modes	Save modes
POST	/api/modes/apply	Apply a mode
POST	/api/skills/ingest	Clone a GitHub skill repo
POST	/api/skills/parse	LLM-parse skill descriptions
GET	/api/health	Skill health check + context budget
POST	/api/compile	Compile to project directory
POST	/api/compile/global	Compile to global/home paths
GET	/api/detect-tools	Detect installed AI tools
GET	/api/keys/status	Check if API keys are configured
POST	/api/keys	Save an encrypted API key
DELETE	/api/keys	Remove an API key

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License

MIT