Skill

onboard

Get up to speed on an existing project by pulling all stored decisions, learnings, and patterns from EC. Use at the start of a new session, when joining a project, or when user says "catch me up", "what do I need to know", "onboard me".

npx claudepluginhub merewhiplash/engram-cogitator --plugin cogitation

Tool Access

This skill uses the workspace's default tool permissions.

Preview

Pull institutional knowledge from EC to get context on an existing project.

SKILL.md

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Parent Repo Stars4

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Last CommitJan 23, 2026

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Onboard to Project

Pull institutional knowledge from EC to get context on an existing project.

Announce: "I'm using the onboard skill to pull project context from EC."

The Flow

Verify EC → Load Config → Pull Memories → Summarize → Ready

Step 1: Verify EC Connection

ec_search: test connection

If EC unavailable: Stop. Cannot onboard without EC.

Step 2: Load Project Configuration

ec_search: project config

Extract:

Test command
Lint command
Build command
Branch convention

If no config found:

"This project hasn't been initialized for cogitation. Want me to set it up?"

If yes → Use @init

Step 3: Pull All Memories

Search each memory type:

ec_search: type:decision
ec_search: type:learning
ec_search: type:pattern

Step 4: Categorize and Summarize

Organize findings by area:

Architectural Decisions

List decisions with their rationale. Group by component/area.

Learnings (Gotchas & Workarounds)

List discovered issues and their solutions. Highlight anything that would be costly to rediscover.

Patterns (Conventions)

List established patterns and conventions specific to this project.

Step 5: Present Summary

Format as a briefing:

Project Context Loaded

Configuration:

Test: <command>

Lint: <command>

Build: <command>

Key Decisions (N):

[Area]: [Decision summary]

...

Gotchas to Know (N):

[Area]: [Learning summary]

...

Conventions (N):

[Pattern summary]

...

Ready to work. What would you like to do?

Step 6: Offer Next Steps

{
  "questions": [{
    "question": "What would you like to do?",
    "header": "Next",
    "options": [
      { "label": "Start a feature", "description": "Use @brainstorming" },
      { "label": "Fix a bug", "description": "Use @debugging" },
      { "label": "Review memories", "description": "Use @audit" },
      { "label": "Just exploring", "description": "I'll ask when ready" }
    ],
    "multiSelect": false
  }]
}

When to Use

New session - At start of conversation to load context
After break - Returning to project after time away
New team member - Onboarding someone unfamiliar with decisions
Context refresh - When you need to remember what was decided

What Makes Good Onboarding

Do	Don't
Summarize, don't dump	List every memory verbatim
Highlight gotchas prominently	Bury important warnings
Group by area/component	Random ordering
Note what's missing	Assume completeness