2026-02-20 - Integrate universal context retrieval and bridge wiring

Timeline

(Context) Continued from prior session work to evolve ai_detective into a universal cross-AI context seeker.
(Action) Added an integrated query engine and CLI surface for seek-context and list-tools.
(Action) Implemented first-use intake protocol output and default broad OR matching behavior.
(Action) Added custom root ingestion support with known parser pattern scanning.
(Action) Added and ran TDD coverage for engine behavior, CLI behavior, and protocol output.
(Action) Added bridge contract docs and a portable conv-retriev skill artifact.
(Action) Wired conv-retriev into the canonical shared skills index and adapter stubs.
(Observation) Validation passed for all targeted test suites after implementation.
(Open Thread) Package-level invocation ergonomics still depend on runtime install path conventions.

This entry captures the implementation delta after approving an integrated approach inside ai_detective rather than splitting into a separate tool.
No existing same-date dev diary entry was found in the working directory, so this entry records the full session delta.

Implemented query.py with seek_context, run_seek_context, default_intake_protocol, and list_known_tools.
Extended __main__.py with seek-context and list-tools commands, JSON output, explain mode, and intake behavior.
Added best-effort --include-root scanning for known artifact patterns and merged custom-root results into retrieval.
Added bridge docs: docs/bridge/conv-retriev-skill.md and docs/bridge/conv-retriev-invocation.json.
Added portable skill artifact: skills/conv-retriev/SKILL.md.
Added implementation plan document: docs/plans/2026-02-20-seek-context-integrated-implementation-plan.md.
Added and iterated tests in tests/test_seek_context.py following red-green cycles.
Ran verification suites and confirmed pass status for seek-context, CLI smoke, scan, and parser coverage.
Published canonical skill wiring by adding conv-retriev to shared skill index/markdown and creating codex/claude adapter stubs.

The metadata-first integrated model gives high recall while preserving a stable bridge-facing JSON contract.
Auto-intake when no query/filters are provided improves first-use reliability for agent-mediated sessions.
Custom-root support is now operational in v1 and can be expanded further without changing the command contract.
Implemented outcomes were validated through tests; runtime package invocation still varies by environment setup.

Add richer snippet extraction controls and confidence heuristics tuned per adapter.
Add stronger taxonomy/schema discovery for diary topics if a formal content schema is introduced in this repo.
Consider optional cached indexing mode for high-volume repeated retrieval workflows.
Add bridge installer automation to propagate conv-retriev to additional runtime-specific skill roots.

Boundary Reminder:
Seeds. No maintenance. No roadmap.