# Architecture & Design Decisions

## Knowledge Pipeline: Separate /reflect-logs from /reflect

`/reflect-logs` handles continuous log processing; `/reflect` handles milestone reflections. Different purpose, different cadence — combining them would overcomplicate the milestone skill.

## Knowledge Pipeline: MD5 for reflection state, git SHAs for distill state

Log files may not be committed when reflected on, so MD5 of file content is the right identity. `/distill-best-practices` works across committed repos, so git SHAs are appropriate there.

## Knowledge Pipeline: Pruning happens in /log, not /reflect-logs

`/log` runs most frequently (every session end), so it naturally keeps the log directory clean as a side effect.

## Knowledge Pipeline: /distill-best-practices is interactive

Cross-project convention changes need human judgment. The skill proposes updates and waits for approval before writing.

## Session Logs: Timestamp-based IDs (HHMMSS)

Human-readable, naturally sorted, no external dependencies. Format: `YYYY-MM-DD.HHMMSS.md`.

## Linting: Formatter exit codes vs hook exit codes

Formatter scripts exit 1 on lint errors. The dispatcher hook decides the final exit code (exit 2 for PostToolUse feedback). This separates formatter logic from hook semantics — same scripts work for both PostToolUse and pre-commit.

## Linting: Checkpoint via git hash-object with .pre-lint sidecar

Fast (~1ms), no commits or stash needed, orphan blobs auto-GC'd. Falls back to `cp` outside git repos.

## Linting: Project opt-in via formatter symlinks

Projects opt in by having a `formatters/` directory with symlinks back to canonical scripts. Zero-config, visible in `ls`, no parsing needed. The hook walks up the directory tree to find `formatters/`.

## Skills: Use CLAUDE_PROJECT_ROOT for cross-project path resolution

Skills that reference files outside their own project (e.g., `/distill-best-practices` reading settings.yaml) use `CLAUDE_PROJECT_ROOT` env var instead of hardcoded `~/dev/claude/` or relative `../` paths. Makes skills portable across users. Env var exported in `~/.bashrc`, with runtime fallback (walk up directory tree to find highest CLAUDE.md).

## Skills: settings.yaml paths relative to project root

`settings.yaml` uses relative paths (`projects_dir: projects`) rather than absolute paths. Combined with `CLAUDE_PROJECT_ROOT`, this keeps config portable. The `extra_projects` section handles projects outside the standard `projects_dir` (e.g., `small-scripts` at root level).

## CLAUDE.md: Remove technology-specific sections from root

Ansible and Helm sections removed from root CLAUDE.md — already covered with more detail in `best-practices/ansible.md` and `best-practices/helm.md`. Technology-specific practices belong in best-practices, not root guidelines.

## context-load: Walk upward collecting context files

Walks from cwd upward collecting CLAUDE.md, CONTEXT.md, MEMORY.md, BESTPRACTICES.md at each level. Gives hierarchical context inheritance — highest ancestor provides global guidelines, project dir provides specifics.

## context-load: Dedup via readlink -f

Root CLAUDE.md is a symlink to claude-foundations. Without dedup it would load twice. `readlink -f` resolves all symlinks before comparison.

## context-load: Tree depth 3

Deep enough to show project structure without overwhelming output. Applied at every CLAUDE.md location.

## CONTEXT.md follows MEMORY.md pattern

Thin index + `context/` folder. Consistency with MEMORY.md. CONTEXT.md focuses on active work for agent orientation; MEMORY.md on accumulated learnings.