Context Verifier

Know the file you're editing is the file you think it is — verify integrity before you act

context-verifier (検証)

Unified skill for file hash computation, integrity verification, severity tagging, and context packet creation. Consolidates 3 granular skills into a single verification system.

Trigger: 明示呼出 (explicit invocation)

Source skills: context-packet, file-verifier, severity-tagger

Installation

bash

openclaw install leegitw/context-verifier

Dependencies: None (foundational skill)

Standalone usage: This skill is fully functional standalone. It provides file integrity verification that other skills in the suite depend on. Install this first when adopting the Neon Agentic Suite.

Data handling: This skill performs local-only operations. Hash computation uses standard SHA256 algorithms locally — no file contents are sent to any model, API, or external service. Results are written to output/context-packets/ in your workspace. The skill reads config from .openclaw/context-verifier.yaml or .claude/context-verifier.yaml only.

File access scope: This skill reads user-specified files for hash computation. The metadata declares config and output paths only — the skill will read ANY file path you provide to /cv hash, /cv verify, or /cv packet. Use caution with sensitive files.

What This Solves

AI agents sometimes operate on stale data — editing a file that changed since it was read, or trusting cached content that's now outdated. This skill prevents that by:

1. Computing hashes of files before and after operations
2. Detecting changes between read and write
3. Generating context packets with verifiable checksums for review workflows

The insight: Trust but verify. The file you read might not be the file you're about to edit. Check first.

Usage

text

/cv <sub-command> [arguments]

Sub-Commands

Command	CJK	Logic	Trigger
/cv hash	哈希	file→SHA256(content)	Explicit
/cv verify	検証	file×hash→match✓∨mismatch✗	Explicit
/cv tag	標記	file→severity∈{critical,important,minor}	Explicit
/cv packet	包装	files[]→{path,hash,severity,timestamp}[]	Explicit

Arguments

/cv hash

Argument	Required	Description
file	Yes	File path to hash
--algorithm	No	Hash algorithm: sha256 only (MD5/SHA-1 removed - cryptographically broken)

/cv verify

Argument	Required	Description
file	Yes	File path to verify
hash	Yes	Expected hash value
--algorithm	No	Hash algorithm: sha256 only

/cv tag

Argument	Required	Description
file	Yes	File path to tag
severity	No	Severity level: critical, important, minor (auto-detected if omitted)

/cv packet

Argument	Required	Description
files	Yes	Comma-separated file paths or glob pattern
--name	No	Packet name (default: auto-generated)
--include-content	No	Include file content in packet (default: false) - see Security section

⚠️ Security Warning: The --include-content flag stores file contents to disk. Never use this flag with sensitive files (.env, credentials, secrets). See the Security Considerations section below.

Configuration

Configuration is loaded from (in order of precedence):

1. .openclaw/context-verifier.yaml (OpenClaw standard)
2. .claude/context-verifier.yaml (Claude Code compatibility)
3. Defaults (built-in patterns)

Security Considerations

Local-only processing: All hash computation uses standard SHA256 algorithms executed locally. No file contents are ever sent to any LLM, API, or external service. The "agent's model" is only used to interpret your commands — not to process file contents.

What this skill does NOT do:

• Send file contents to any model or API (hashing is local)
• Call external APIs or third-party services
• Modify source files (only writes to output/context-packets/)

What this skill accesses:

• Configuration files in .openclaw/context-verifier.yaml and .claude/context-verifier.yaml
• Any user-specified files for hash computation (read-only) — the skill reads whatever paths you provide
• Its own output directory output/context-packets/ (write)

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Unlike other skills in this suite, context-verifier reads arbitrary files that you specify. The metadata only declares config/output paths. When you run /cv hash myfile.go, the skill reads myfile.go even though it's not in the metadata. This is by design — verification requires reading the files you want to verify.

This skill handles file metadata and optionally file contents. Follow these guidelines:

Sensitive File Detection (Not Reading)

The critical_patterns (e.g., *.env, *credentials*, *secret*) are used for:

• Detection: Identifying files that should trigger warnings
• Severity tagging: Marking files as critical for change-blocking behavior

By default, /cv hash and /cv packet compute hashes without reading file contents into output. The hash is computed but the file content is not stored.

--include-content Flag

⚠️ WARNING: The --include-content flag writes actual file contents to disk.

Risk	Mitigation
Secrets written to disk	Never use --include-content with .env, credentials, or secret files
Sensitive data in git	Add output/context-packets/ to .gitignore (see below)
Data retention	Packets are stored indefinitely; manually delete when no longer needed

Recommended usage:

bash

# Safe: Hash only (default) - no content stored
/cv packet src/*.go --name "pre-refactor"

# Risky: Content included - ensure no sensitive files in glob
/cv packet docs/*.md --name "docs-backup" --include-content

# NEVER do this:
/cv packet .env --include-content  # Stores secrets to disk!

Required .gitignore Entry

Add to your .gitignore to prevent accidental commits:

gitignore

# Context verification packets (may contain sensitive data)
output/context-packets/

Storage and Retention

• Location: Packets stored in output/context-packets/ (workspace-local)
• Format: Unencrypted JSON
• Retention: No automatic deletion; clean up manually
• Access: Standard filesystem permissions (no additional access controls)

For sensitive environments, consider:

1. Restricting output/ directory permissions
2. Using encrypted filesystems
3. Periodic cleanup of old packets

Provenance

This skill is developed by Live Neon (https://github.com/live-neon/skills) and published to ClawHub under the leegitw account. Both refer to the same maintainer.

Core Logic

Hash Computation

Default algorithm: SHA-256

text

hash(file) = SHA256(file.content)

Severity Classification

Files are auto-classified based on configurable patterns:

Severity	Default Patterns	Behavior on Change
critical	*.env, *credentials*, *secret*, project config	Block operation
important	*.go, *.ts, *.md (in docs/)	Warn user
minor	*.log, *.tmp, output/*	Info only

Critical file patterns are configurable via .openclaw/context-verifier.yaml:

yaml

# .openclaw/context-verifier.yaml
critical_patterns:
  - "*.env"
  - "*credentials*"
  - "*secret*"
  - "CLAUDE.md"     # Claude Code projects
  - "AGENTS.md"     # OpenClaw projects
  - "pyproject.toml" # Python projects
  - "Cargo.toml"    # Rust projects

Context Packet Structure

json

{
  "id": "PKT-20260215-001",
  "created": "2026-02-15T10:30:00Z",
  "files": [
    {
      "path": "src/main.go",
      "hash": "abc123...",
      "severity": "important",
      "size": 1234,
      "modified": "2026-02-15T10:00:00Z"
    }
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "purpose": "pre-refactor snapshot",
    "creator": "context-verifier"
  }
}

Output

/cv hash output

text

[HASH] src/main.go
Algorithm: SHA-256
Hash: a1b2c3d4e5f6...
Size: 1,234 bytes
Modified: 2026-02-15 10:00:00

/cv verify output (match)

text

[VERIFY] src/main.go
Status: ✓ MATCH
Expected: a1b2c3d4e5f6...
Actual:   a1b2c3d4e5f6...

/cv verify output (mismatch)

text

[VERIFY] src/main.go
Status: ✗ MISMATCH
Expected: a1b2c3d4e5f6...
Actual:   x9y8z7w6v5u4...

WARNING: File has changed since last read.
Action: Re-read file before making changes.

/cv tag output

text

[TAG] src/main.go
Severity: important
Reason: Go source file
Behavior: Warn on unexpected change

/cv packet output

text

[PACKET CREATED]
ID: PKT-20260215-001
Files: 4
Total size: 10,234 bytes

Files included:
- src/main.go (important) - a1b2c3...
- src/handler.go (important) - d4e5f6...
- docs/README.md (important) - j0k1l2...
- config/settings.yaml (important) - m3n4o5...

Stored: output/context-packets/PKT-20260215-001.json

Note: Avoid including sensitive files (.env, credentials) in packets. Use specific globs like src/*.go rather than * to exclude secrets.

Integration

• Layer: Foundation (no dependencies)
• Depends on: None (foundational verification system)
• Used by: failure-memory (for file change detection), constraint-engine (for pre-action checks)

Failure Modes

Condition	Behavior
File not found	Error: "File not found: {path}"
Permission denied	Error: "Cannot read file: {path}"
Invalid hash format	Error: "Invalid hash format. Expected: {algorithm}"
Glob matches no files	Warning: "No files match pattern: {glob}"

Next Steps

After invoking this skill:

Condition	Action
Hash mismatch	Alert user, suggest re-read of file
Critical file changed	Block operation, require verification
Packet created	Store in output/context-packets/ for audit

Workspace Files

This skill reads/writes:

text

output/
└── context-packets/
    └── PKT-YYYYMMDD-XXX.json

Examples

Verify file before editing

text

/cv hash src/main.go
# Save hash: a1b2c3d4e5f6...

# ... later, before editing ...

/cv verify src/main.go a1b2c3d4e5f6
# ✓ MATCH - safe to edit

Create context packet for refactoring

text

/cv packet src/*.go,internal/**/*.go --name "pre-refactor"
# Creates packet with all Go files

# ... after refactoring ...

# Can compare against packet to see what changed

Tag sensitive files

text

/cv tag .env
# Severity: critical

/cv tag src/handler.go
# Severity: important

Verify database migration before deployment

text

/cv packet db/migrations/*.sql --name "pre-deploy-migrations"
# Creates packet with all migration files

# After staging deployment...
/cv verify db/migrations/001_users.sql abc123...
# ✓ MATCH - migration file unchanged, safe to deploy to production

Create API schema verification packet

text

/cv packet api/schemas/*.json,api/openapi.yaml --name "api-schema-v2"
# Creates packet with all API schema files for version control

Acceptance Criteria

• /cv hash computes SHA-256 hash of file
• /cv verify compares file hash against expected value
• /cv verify clearly indicates match/mismatch
• /cv tag auto-classifies file severity based on patterns
• /cv tag allows manual severity override
• /cv packet creates JSON packet with file metadata
• /cv packet supports glob patterns
• Critical file changes trigger block behavior
• Workspace files stored in documented location

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Consolidated from 3 skills as part of agentic skills consolidation (2026-02-15).