# Core Concepts



<a id="section-map"></a>

## How the concepts relate

```mermaid
flowchart LR
  subgraph ws["Context knowledge workspace"]
    direction LR
    src["Sources"] --> idx["Indexers"]
    req["Requirements"] --> idx
    idx --> cand["Candidates"]
    cand -->|Review| kn["Approved knowledge"]
  end
  kn --> pkg["Packages and sites"]
  facts["Facts"] -.-> route["Route and Gate"]
  route -.->|next action| idx
```

Everything lives in one **Context knowledge workspace**. **Sources** and **requirements** go in; **Indexers** turn them into **Candidates**; **Review** admits Candidates into **approved knowledge**; builds turn that knowledge into **packages and sites**. Throughout, the workflow reads **Facts** about the knowledge workspace and selects the next **Route**, pausing at **Gates** for human decisions.


<a id="section-workspace"></a>

## Context knowledge workspace

A local directory, usually committed to Git, that holds everything about one body of knowledge:

| Directory | Holds |
| --- | --- |
| `src/` | Source, phase and package declarations, plus `indexers.yaml` requirements |
| `sources/` | Registered sources and captured evidence |
| `knowledge/` | Approved knowledge and durable decisions |
| `dist/` | Built packages (reproducible, ignored by Git) |
| `.tmp/` | Disposable runtime state and reports (ignored) |

The CLI owns writes under `sources/`, `knowledge/`, `dist/` and the runtime state; the Agent edits project configuration only when the current Route asks for it. Every directory and file is described in [The Context Knowledge Workspace](</context/llms/pages/cdf9148eedbd9888212333ab91eb1b42.txt>).


<a id="section-sources"></a>

## Sources, capture, notes and sessions

A **source** is a registered boundary: a repository module, a local document directory or an online document. Registering a source records its identity and permission boundary; it does not decide what knowledge to write and does not grant permission to read beyond it. **Capture** preserves document bodies and resources as auditable snapshots; repositories are read at a pinned commit and need no capture.

**Notes** are curated excerpts and observations; **sessions** are saved conversation summaries. Both are imported directly with `context source import` and become evidence like any other source.


<a id="section-indexers"></a>

## Requirements and Indexers

**Requirements** in `src/indexers.yaml` record who the knowledge is for, the questions it must answer and which sources are authorized. **Indexers** are Agent skills that read one kind of source and write source-grounded articles: Code, Markdown, Note and Sessions Indexers are built in, and teams can create their own. The Agent picks the relevant Indexers for each task during planning. See [Community Indexers](</context/llms/pages/00a7aadc3fbf4dfcf516eb65a16fd711.txt>) and [The Indexer System](</context/llms/pages/3dab13da1f7192b75a2be5938cc815e2.txt>).


<a id="section-candidates"></a>

## Candidates, Review and approved knowledge

Articles the Agent writes are submitted as **Candidates**: drafts bound to source evidence and checked for coverage and stale inputs. **Review** shows readable titles, paths, summaries and content; approval applies the pages to `knowledge/` as durable Markdown, while rejection sends them back to writing. A rejected Candidate's status lives only in the temporary lifecycle ledger; `knowledge/` holds approved pages alone.

Each section of approved knowledge keeps its **evidence**: references to exact source locations. Together they form the [evidence chain](</context/llms/pages/d2f41bdf9360d05ff944e1b475267498.txt>) that lets readers and Agents verify a statement. The **knowledge map** (`knowledge/structure.yaml`) is the closed projection of collections, articles and sections that sites and packages navigate by.



<a id="section-packages"></a>

## Packages and sites

A **build** turns approved knowledge into an output: an Agent knowledge package, a documentation site or LLM documents. Every build emits an inventory that maps distributed files back to the knowledge workspace. See [Packages and Sites](</context/llms/pages/ce9e41427dd90d455e46b189170398e7.txt>).



<a id="section-route"></a>

## Route, Gate and Facts

**Facts** are what the CLI observes in the knowledge workspace and records as outcomes; conversation claims are not completion evidence. From the Facts, the workflow selects one **Route**: the current action, the resources to read for it and its completion contract. A **Gate** pauses a Route for a decision that needs a person or additional authority, such as approving the work-start report or the review. See [Workflow Execution](</context/llms/pages/6c0213d0f56d7a7b8fc1a5724b8fc6b1.txt>).

---

## Sources

- [context/README.md L80–L92 · 3b0ce0a](<https://github.com/context4ai/context/blob/3b0ce0a0a1761f5fceb3bb48fb9dc29b54c0786b/README.md#L80-L92>)
- [context/packages/context-cli/docs/quickstart.md L67–L75 · 3b0ce0a](<https://github.com/context4ai/context/blob/3b0ce0a0a1761f5fceb3bb48fb9dc29b54c0786b/packages/context-cli/docs/quickstart.md#L67-L75>)
- [context/packages/context-cli/README.md L159–L178 · 3b0ce0a](<https://github.com/context4ai/context/blob/3b0ce0a0a1761f5fceb3bb48fb9dc29b54c0786b/packages/context-cli/README.md#L159-L178>)
- [context/packages/context/docs/getting-started.md L47–L74 · 3b0ce0a](<https://github.com/context4ai/context/blob/3b0ce0a0a1761f5fceb3bb48fb9dc29b54c0786b/packages/context/docs/getting-started.md#L47-L74>)
- [context/packages/context-cli/README.md L115–L118 · 3b0ce0a](<https://github.com/context4ai/context/blob/3b0ce0a0a1761f5fceb3bb48fb9dc29b54c0786b/packages/context-cli/README.md#L115-L118>)
- [context/packages/context-cli/README.md L182–L184 · 3b0ce0a](<https://github.com/context4ai/context/blob/3b0ce0a0a1761f5fceb3bb48fb9dc29b54c0786b/packages/context-cli/README.md#L182-L184>)
- [context/packages/context/docs/getting-started.md L114–L118 · 3b0ce0a](<https://github.com/context4ai/context/blob/3b0ce0a0a1761f5fceb3bb48fb9dc29b54c0786b/packages/context/docs/getting-started.md#L114-L118>)
- [context/plugins/context/README.md L5–L7 · 3b0ce0a](<https://github.com/context4ai/context/blob/3b0ce0a0a1761f5fceb3bb48fb9dc29b54c0786b/plugins/context/README.md#L5-L7>)
- [context/README.md L87–L90 · 3b0ce0a](<https://github.com/context4ai/context/blob/3b0ce0a0a1761f5fceb3bb48fb9dc29b54c0786b/README.md#L87-L90>)
- [context/packages/context/docs/getting-started.md L133–L136 · 3b0ce0a](<https://github.com/context4ai/context/blob/3b0ce0a0a1761f5fceb3bb48fb9dc29b54c0786b/packages/context/docs/getting-started.md#L133-L136>)
- [context/ARCHITECTURE.md L158–L158 · 3b0ce0a](<https://github.com/context4ai/context/blob/3b0ce0a0a1761f5fceb3bb48fb9dc29b54c0786b/ARCHITECTURE.md#L158-L158>)
- [context/README.md L106–L114 · 3b0ce0a](<https://github.com/context4ai/context/blob/3b0ce0a0a1761f5fceb3bb48fb9dc29b54c0786b/README.md#L106-L114>)
- [context/docs/en/case-studies/agent-graph-workflow.md L44–L53 · 3b0ce0a](<https://github.com/context4ai/context/blob/3b0ce0a0a1761f5fceb3bb48fb9dc29b54c0786b/docs/en/case-studies/agent-graph-workflow.md#L44-L53>)
- [context/packages/context-cli/README.md L99–L107 · 3b0ce0a](<https://github.com/context4ai/context/blob/3b0ce0a0a1761f5fceb3bb48fb9dc29b54c0786b/packages/context-cli/README.md#L99-L107>)