domain

Domain: Terminology Capture, Query, and Audit

You are running the domain skill — managing project-specific terminology in .claude/tackline/memory/project/domain.md. Input: $ARGUMENTS

When to Use

• A term has a project-specific meaning that differs from its common use
• The same word means different things in different contexts and you need a canonical reference
• A concept recurs across sessions and needs a stable, shared definition
• You want to look up how this project uses a specific term (query: prefix)
• You suspect the glossary has stale entries that no longer match the codebase (audit)
• Another skill or agent referenced an ambiguous term — canonicalize it before proceeding

Don't Use When

• The term is universally understood with no ambiguity in this project
• You want to store general project notes — use .claude/tackline/memory/project/ directly instead
• The definition is speculative — only capture what is confirmed and stable

Overview

$ARGUMENTS
    |
    v
Phase 0: Mode Detection
    |
    +---> capture --> Phase 1C: Resolve entry --> Phase 2C: Write + verify
    |
    +---> query   --> Phase 1Q: Look up term  --> emit result
    |
    +---> audit   --> Phase 1A: Scan + cross-check --> Phase 2A: Remove stale --> pipe-format output

---

Phase 0: Mode Detection (Gate)

Parse $ARGUMENTS and determine mode. Stop here if mode cannot be determined.

Signal in $ARGUMENTS	Mode
Starts with query: or query	query
Is exactly audit or starts with audit	audit
Contains =, means, is, or refers to	capture
Any other non-empty input	capture (default — treat as term definition)
Empty	Ask: "Did you want to capture a term, query an existing one, or run an audit?" then stop

State the detected mode before proceeding: "Mode: capture / query / audit"

---

Phase 1C: Resolve Entry (Capture Mode)

Step 1 — Parse the input

Extract:

• Term: The word or phrase being defined
• Definition: The canonical meaning for this project
• Disambiguation (optional): When this meaning applies vs. alternate meanings

If the input is too vague to extract a clear term and definition, ask one clarifying question before continuing.

Step 2 — Read domain.md

Read .claude/tackline/memory/project/domain.md if it exists.

• If the file does not exist, proceed to Phase 2C (you will create it).
• If the file exists, scan for an existing ## <Term> heading (case-insensitive).

Step 3 — Check for existing entry (Gate)

If the term already exists:

• Display the current entry.
• State: "Entry exists. Updating definition." then proceed to Phase 2C with update intent.

If the term is new:

• Proceed to Phase 2C with create intent.

Step 4 — Gather codebase examples (optional but preferred)

Use Grep to search the codebase for the term (case-insensitive). Collect up to 3 file:line references where the term appears in a meaningful context (not just comments or string literals).

If examples are found, include them under **Examples** in the entry. If none found, omit the **Examples** line.

---

Phase 2C: Write and Verify (Capture Mode)

Write the entry

Entry format:

## <Term>
**Definition**: <one sentence>
**Disambiguation**: <when ambiguous, clarify which meaning is canonical here>
**Examples**: <file:line, file:line> (omit this line if no examples)
**Added**: YYYY-MM-DD

If creating the file for the first time, write the header first:

# Project Domain Terminology

Terms and disambiguation rules for this project. Maintained by `/domain`.

---

Then append the entry below the separator.

If the term exists, use Edit to replace the existing entry block (from its ## <Term> heading to the blank line before the next heading or end of file). Update **Added** only if the definition changed.

If the term is new, append using Edit (or Write if creating the file).

Verify

After writing, read .claude/tackline/memory/project/domain.md and confirm the term appears under a ## <Term> heading. State: "Verified: is present in domain.md."

If the read does not find the term, report the failure and do not claim success.

Completion

Emit a one-line summary: "Captured: — ."

---

Phase 1Q: Look Up Term (Query Mode)

Strip the query: prefix and trim whitespace to get the lookup term.

Read .claude/tackline/memory/project/domain.md.

• If the file does not exist: "No domain terminology has been captured yet."
• Search for ## <Term> heading (case-insensitive).
  • Found: Display the full entry verbatim. No extra commentary.
  • Not found: "Term not found: ." Then list all ## headings from the file as available terms.

---

Phase 1A: Scan for Stale Entries (Audit Mode)

Goal: Find entries in domain.md that are no longer referenced in the codebase — potential orphans or stale definitions.

Step 1 — Read domain.md

If .claude/tackline/memory/project/domain.md does not exist: "No domain file found. Nothing to audit." Exit.

Extract all terms from ## headings. State: "N terms found in domain.md."

Step 2 — Cross-check each term against codebase

For each term, run Grep (case-insensitive) across the codebase (excluding .claude/tackline/memory/). Record:

• Active: 1 or more matches found outside .claude/tackline/memory/
• Stale: 0 matches found (term does not appear in any source file)

Step 3 — Emit audit findings in pipe format

## Domain Audit: Stale Entry Report

**Source**: /domain (audit)
**Input**: audit of .claude/tackline/memory/project/domain.md
**Pipeline**: (none — working from direct input)

### Items (N)

1. **<Term>** — stale: no codebase references found
   - source: .claude/tackline/memory/project/domain.md
   - confidence: LIKELY

2. **<Term>** — active: found in <file:line>
   - source: <file:line>
   - confidence: CONFIRMED

### Summary

<N-stale> of <N-total> terms appear to have no codebase references and may be stale or obsolete. <N-active> terms are actively used.

Use LIKELY (not CONFIRMED) for stale entries — absence of grep hits does not guarantee the term is truly unused (it may appear in non-text assets or external docs).

---

Phase 2A: Remove Stale Entries (Audit Mode, only if stale entries found)

Gate: Only proceed if stale entries were found AND the user confirms removal.

After emitting the audit findings, ask: "Remove N stale entries? (yes / no / list which ones)"

On confirmation:

For each confirmed stale entry, use Edit to remove the ## <Term> block (heading through the blank line before the next heading). Preserve all active entries exactly.

Verify removal:

After editing, read .claude/tackline/memory/project/domain.md and confirm none of the removed terms appear as ## headings. State: "Verified: removed terms are no longer present."

If any removed term still appears, report the failure explicitly.

---

Guidelines

• Keep definitions to one sentence. Disambiguation can be a second sentence or short clause.
• Do not infer or fabricate definitions — only write what the user provides or what is confirmed in code.
• Preserve all existing entries when appending or editing.
• The canonical file path is .claude/tackline/memory/project/domain.md. Do not write to any other location.
• Use today's date for **Added** fields.
• Verification is not optional — always confirm writes succeeded by re-reading the file.
• In audit mode, LIKELY confidence is correct for stale entries — grep absence is strong evidence but not proof.