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 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.

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.

Step 2: Inject ChDR Context (Output Contract)

Emit before the task answer:

## 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 matched → empty table, never inflate.

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 the Session Decision Ledger (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 the ledger 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 empty table with _Searched 0 ChDRs, 0 matched._ 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).
• Session Decision Ledger updated with detected ChDR-class decisions.