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Context

RepoContext discovers and loads a repo’s accumulated coding-assistant context engineering (CE): the instruction files (CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md) scattered across the tree and the assets under .claude/.agents/.codex/.grok (skills, sub-agents, hooks).

Source

The API may change between releases. Where practical, breaking changes ship with a deprecation warning.

The problem

A repo accumulates CE for whatever coding assistant worked in it: instruction files (CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md) scattered across the tree, and assets under .claude/.agents/.codex/.grok (skills, sub-agents, hooks). An agent that loads only the top-level instruction file misses the ancestor context and has no idea the rest of the setup exists, so it can neither honor it nor translate it.

The solution

RepoContext bundles three strategies, each independently toggleable. Construct it with RepoContext(...) in an Agent’s capabilities, anchored at the deepest directory the agent works in:

from pathlib import Path

from pydantic_ai import Agent
from pydantic_ai_harness.context import RepoContext

agent = Agent(
    'anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-6',
    capabilities=[RepoContext(workspace_dir=Path('.'), home_dir=Path.home())],
)

result = agent.run_sync('Summarize the coding-assistant setup in this repo.')
print(result.output)

1. Walk-up instruction autoload (on by default)

Loads CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md from workspace_dir and every ancestor up to home_dir (inclusive). Precedence is ancestor-first, workspace-last: broadest context first, most specific last. Files are deduped by resolved real path and by content hash, so a symlinked AGENTS.md -> CLAUDE.md or two ancestors sharing identical content load once.

When home_dir is None (the default), only workspace_dir is scanned — no walk-up. Pass home_dir=Path.home() to walk up to your home directory.

2. Asset inventory (on by default)

Exposes one tool, inventory_agent_context(), that reports where the repo’s CE assets live — the .claude/.agents/.codex/.grok roots and, within each, the skills/ (SKILL.md), agents/ (.md), and settings.json (hooks) it contains. It returns a structured AgentContextInventory; it locates assets and does not parse them, leaving translation to the orchestrator.

Rename the tool with inventory_tool_name, or scope which roots it scans with asset_roots.

3. Nested-on-traversal (off by default)

When the model lists or reads a directory, surface that directory’s CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md. This couples to the host’s list/read tools, so it is opt-in and configurable:

from pathlib import Path

from pydantic_ai import Agent
from pydantic_ai_harness import FileSystem
from pydantic_ai_harness.context import RepoContext

agent = Agent(
    'anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-6',
    capabilities=[
        FileSystem(root_dir='.'),
        RepoContext(
            workspace_dir=Path('.'),
            nested_traversal=True,
            traversal_tool_names=frozenset({'list_directory', 'read_file'}),  # the FileSystem tool names to hook
            traversal_path_arg='path',                                   # the path arg key
            nested_inject='pointer',                                     # or 'contents'
        )
    ],
)

nested_inject='pointer' (default) appends a one-line note pointing at the file; 'contents' inlines the file body. Each directory is surfaced at most once per run.

Cache cost

Injecting file contents into the system prompt costs prompt-cache stability: a changed prefix re-bills the whole cached region. RepoContext keeps the two cache-relevant paths separate:

  • Strategy 1 reads its files once at run start and injects them as static system instructions, so the cached prefix stays byte-identical across turns.
  • Strategy 3 is volatile (it depends on which directory was just touched), so its note is appended to the tool result in the message tail — never to the system prompt — and cannot invalidate the cached prefix.

Configuration

RepoContext(
    workspace_dir,                  # Path -- the deepest dir the agent works in (required)
    home_dir=None,                  # Path | None -- shallowest dir to stop walk-up at, inclusive
    filenames=('CLAUDE.md', 'AGENTS.md'),
    autoload_instructions=True,     # Strategy 1
    expose_inventory_tool=True,     # Strategy 2
    inventory_tool_name='inventory_agent_context',
    nested_traversal=False,         # Strategy 3
    nested_inject='pointer',        # 'pointer' | 'contents'
    traversal_tool_names=frozenset({'list_directory', 'read_file'}),
    traversal_path_arg='path',
    asset_roots=('.claude', '.agents', '.codex', '.grok'),
)

Scope

RepoContext locates and loads CE; it does not parse skill/sub-agent frontmatter or hook bodies, and it does not rewrite or translate assets. Strategy 1 reads its files once per run, so mid-run edits to those files are not reloaded.

Further reading

API reference

RepoContext

Bases: AbstractCapability[AgentDepsT]

Discover and load a repo’s accumulated coding-assistant context engineering.

Three strategies, each independently toggleable:

  1. Walk-up instruction autoload (autoload_instructions, on by default): load CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md from workspace_dir and every ancestor up to home_dir, deduped, ancestor-first. These are read once at run start and injected as static system instructions via get_instructions, so they stay in the cached prefix and never re-read per turn.

  2. Asset inventory (expose_inventory_tool, on by default): a tool that reports where the repo’s CE assets live (.claude/.agents/.codex/ .grok and their skills/, agents/, settings.json). It locates assets; it does not parse them.

  3. Nested-on-traversal (nested_traversal, off by default): when the model lists or reads a directory (via a tool named in traversal_tool_names), surface that directory’s CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md. The note is appended to the tool result (message tail), not to system instructions, so it does not invalidate the cached prefix. nested_inject='pointer' (default) appends a one-line pointer; 'contents' inlines the file body.

Cache note: injecting file contents into the system prompt costs prompt-cache stability. Strategy 1 is safe because its files are static; the volatile Strategy 3 content rides in the message tail instead.

from pathlib import Path

from pydantic_ai import Agent
from pydantic_ai_harness.context import RepoContext

agent = Agent(
    'anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-6',
    capabilities=[RepoContext(workspace_dir=Path('.'), home_dir=Path.home())],
)

Attributes

workspace_dir

The deepest directory the agent works in. The walk-up and asset scan are anchored here.

Type: Path

home_dir

The shallowest directory to stop the walk-up at, inclusive. None (the default) scans only workspace_dir — no walk-up.

Type: Path | None Default: None

filenames

Instruction filenames to look for, in within-directory precedence order.

Type: Sequence[str] Default: ('CLAUDE.md', 'AGENTS.md')

autoload_instructions

Strategy 1: load instruction files into the system prompt.

Type: bool Default: True

expose_inventory_tool

Strategy 2: expose the asset-inventory tool.

Type: bool Default: True

inventory_tool_name

Name of the inventory tool exposed to the model.

Type: str Default: 'inventory_agent_context'

nested_traversal

Strategy 3: surface a directory’s instruction file when the model lists or reads that directory. Off by default — it couples to the list/read tools.

Type: bool Default: False

nested_inject

For Strategy 3: append a one-line pointer, or inline the file contents.

Type: Literal[‘pointer’, ‘contents’] Default: 'pointer'

traversal_tool_names

Tool names that trigger Strategy 3. Override to match the host’s list/read tools (e.g. frozenset({'list_dir', 'read_file'})).

Type: frozenset[str] Default: frozenset({'list_directory', 'read_file'})

traversal_path_arg

The tool argument key holding the listed/read path.

Type: str Default: 'path'

asset_roots

Root directories the inventory tool scans, relative to workspace_dir.

Type: Sequence[str] Default: ('.claude', '.agents', '.codex', '.grok')

Methods

for_run

@async

def for_run(ctx: RunContext[AgentDepsT]) -> RepoContext[AgentDepsT]

Return a fresh per-run instance with isolated traversal/cache state.

Returns

RepoContext[AgentDepsT]

get_instructions 
def get_instructions() -> AgentInstructions[AgentDepsT] | None

Static, cache-stable instructions: loaded files plus the inventory hint.

Returns

AgentInstructions[AgentDepsT] | None

get_toolset 
def get_toolset() -> AgentToolset[AgentDepsT] | None

The asset-inventory toolset, or None when the tool is disabled.

Returns

AgentToolset[AgentDepsT] | None

after_tool_execute

@async

def after_tool_execute(
    ctx: RunContext[AgentDepsT],
    *,
    call: ToolCallPart,
    tool_def: ToolDefinition,
    args: dict[str, Any],
    result: Any,
) -> Any

Strategy 3: append a directory’s instruction file to a list/read result.

Returns

Any

get_serialization_name

@classmethod

def get_serialization_name(cls) -> str | None

Serialization name for agent-spec support.

Returns

str | None

AgentContextInventory

Bases: BaseModel

A map of where a repo’s CE assets live, for an orchestrator to read or translate.

AssetRoot

Bases: BaseModel

Where CE assets live under a single root directory (e.g. .claude).