CTO Toolkit
Context Pack Specification
The machine-readable environment a repository gives to every engineer and agent before work begins.
How to use this
Assemble one per repository or team, keep it beside the code, and give it a named owner. Review it whenever an incident traces back to something a contributor could not reasonably have known.
Intent and domain
- Product intent — what this system is for, in language a new joiner understands
- Domain glossary — the terms the business uses and what they mean here
- Critical user journeys and the failure modes that matter most
- Non-goals — what this system deliberately does not do
Architecture and standards
- Architecture map with ownership boundaries marked
- Decision records for choices that are expensive to reverse
- Coding standards and the approved library list
- Patterns to follow, and named anti-patterns to avoid
Constraints
- Security constraints and data classification
- Performance, availability and compatibility requirements
- Regulatory or contractual obligations that shape design
- Production constraints a change must respect
Operational entry points
- How to build, test and run the system locally
- Test commands and what each suite actually covers
- Definition of Ready and Definition of Done
- Repository instructions for AI contributors
- Tool and integration permissions available to agents
Quality bar
- It paints a picture of what good looks like — not merely a description of what exists
- A capable stranger could start work without booking a meeting
- The pack is version-controlled beside the code, not in a distant wiki
- Someone is accountable for keeping it true
- It is short enough that people actually read it
This is an original, generic framework for reuse. It is not proprietary employer material.