---
name: change-boot
description: Use when past-change rationale matters (refactoring unfamiliar code, revert or hotfix analysis, issue-linked commit archaeology, session authors git changes with human-authored messages) — injects the published ChDR index (docs/adlc/memory/chdr.md, legacy .adlc/memory/chdr.md fallback) as session context; pairs history mining (/change-init) with routine capture (direct-write drafts clarified via /change-clarify); invoked from team-boot's Class Boots catalog.
---

# 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 decision capture so change rationale is
recovered (`/change-init`) rather than living only in commit messages.

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.

## 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.md` (generated by `/change-publish`; rows
  start with `| ChDR`)
- Fallback: `.adlc/memory/chdr.md` (legacy layout, pre-ADR-401)

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
(ADR-401 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:

```markdown
## 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: Capture Change Rationale

| Trigger | Action |
|---------|--------|
| Revert or hotfix performed/analyzed with rationale | ChDR → direct write to `.adlc/drafts/chdr/` |
| Commit authored that links to an issue tracker | ChDR → direct write to `.adlc/drafts/chdr/` post-merge |
| Git command authored in-session with a human-authored message, authored PR title/body, or CHANGELOG edit | evaluate at session end: non-obvious rationale → ChDR direct write to `.adlc/drafts/chdr/`; routine ops skipped (proportionality gate) |
| Fix chain discovered in history | ChDR → direct write to `.adlc/drafts/chdr/` |
| ChDR-class decision already in the ledger | verify capture happened; if not, re-surface |

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 (draft → `/change-clarify` at session end); 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 captured ChDR draft in
`.adlc/drafts/chdr/` (ID + 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 capture — the pairing is the point.
- 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.