feat(save): connect the session that had nothing to what it just saved

README.md

@@ -99,15 +99,22 @@ Claude:
 Context folder: C:\Users\alex\.neatcontext\contexts\event-partition-investigation
 Profile path: C:\Users\alex\.neatcontext\contexts\event-partition-investigation\profile.md
 Knowledge folder: C:\Users\alex\.neatcontext\contexts\event-partition-investigation\knowledge
-Use command: /neatcontext:use event-partition-investigation
+Connected context: event-partition-investigation
+This session had no context connected, so it is now grounded in the one it just
+saved. Your next messages will use its domain profile and knowledge folder.
 ```
 
 The saved context keeps the investigation approach, system knowledge, findings,
 and verified resolution—not the raw conversation.
 
-After more work on the same subject, run
-`/neatcontext:save event-partition-investigation` again. Because that exact name
-already exists, Claude previews a merged update and asks before applying it.
+This session had nothing connected, so saving also connected it — the work it
+just wrote up is the work it is still doing. A session that already has a
+context connected keeps it, even when you save under a new name; use
+`/neatcontext:use` when you actually want to switch.
+
+After more work on the same subject, run `/neatcontext:save` again. With no
+name it updates the context this session is now connected to, previewing the
+merged result and asking before applying it.
 
 When a similar issue appears later, connect the saved context in a new Claude
 Code session by using `/neatcontext:use`. The NeatContext plugin can also route you to the right context in

codex-marketplace/README.md

@@ -64,15 +64,22 @@ Codex:
 Context folder: C:\Users\alex\.neatcontext\contexts\event-partition-investigation
 Profile path: C:\Users\alex\.neatcontext\contexts\event-partition-investigation\profile.md
 Knowledge folder: C:\Users\alex\.neatcontext\contexts\event-partition-investigation\knowledge
-Use command: $neatcontext:use event-partition-investigation
+Connected context: event-partition-investigation
+This session had no context connected, so it is now grounded in the one it just
+saved. Your next messages will use its domain profile and knowledge folder.
 ```
 
 The saved context keeps the investigation approach, system knowledge, findings,
 and verified resolution—not the raw conversation.
 
-After more work on the same subject, invoke
-`$neatcontext:save event-partition-investigation` again. Because that exact name
-already exists, Codex previews a merged update and asks before applying it.
+This thread had nothing connected, so saving also connected it — the work it
+just wrote up is the work it is still doing. A thread that already has a context
+connected keeps it, even when you save under a new name; use `$neatcontext:use`
+when you actually want to switch.
+
+After more work on the same subject, invoke `$neatcontext:save` again. With no
+name it updates the context this thread is now connected to, previewing the
+merged result and asking before applying it.
 
 When a similar issue appears later, connect the saved context in a new Codex
 thread with `$neatcontext:use`. NeatContext can also route you to the right

codex-marketplace/plugins/neatcontext/skills/save/SKILL.md

@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ Follow the CLI's `Save action`:
 
 For a context made with `$neatcontext:create`, treat its linked knowledge folder as read-only. Read only files relevant to this conversation. Generated conversation additions belong in the bundle-local conversation-knowledge folder.
 
-Updating a named context does not connect or switch to it. Do not adopt an unconnected target's profile as instructions for the current thread.
+A save never switches a thread that already has a context connected. Do not adopt an unconnected target's profile as instructions for the current thread. A thread with nothing connected is the one exception, and the CLI applies it: saving connects the thread to the context it just wrote, and says so.
 
 ## Distill or merge
 
@@ -106,4 +106,4 @@ Relay the preview and wait for confirmation. After confirmation, run:
 node "<plugin-root>/src/codex/neatcontext-cli.mjs" save --from "<capture-path>" --yes --consume
 ```
 
-If the target changed after drafting, resolve it again and rebuild the merge. Relay successful output as printed. Do not connect the saved context automatically.
+If the target changed after drafting, resolve it again and rebuild the merge. Relay successful output as printed, and never connect a context yourself — the CLI decides. A thread that had nothing connected is connected to what the save wrote, and its output says so; ground the rest of this thread in that context. A thread that already had one keeps it, whichever context the save wrote to.

codex-marketplace/plugins/neatcontext/src/codex/neatcontext-cli.mjs

@@ -53,7 +53,12 @@ import {
   renderExtensionsStatus,
   testExtension
 } from "../core/extension-commands.mjs";
-import { applySelection, disconnectSelection, resolveContext } from "../core/selection.mjs";
+import {
+  applySelection,
+  connectAfterSave,
+  disconnectSelection,
+  resolveContext
+} from "../core/selection.mjs";
 
 const CONTEXT_NOTE =
   "A context holds one domain profile, one primary knowledge folder, and optional " +
@@ -630,6 +635,29 @@ function printUpdatePreview(preview) {
   print("Re-run this save with --yes to confirm.");
 }
 
+// Where this session stands once the save has landed. An unconnected session
+// adopts what it just wrote; a connected one is told, in the same breath as the
+// `use` line, that it was left alone on purpose.
+async function printSaveConnection(record) {
+  const outcome = await connectAfterSave(record).catch(() => null);
+  if (outcome?.connected) {
+    print(`Connected context: ${record.name}`);
+    print(
+      "This session had no context connected, so it is now grounded in the one it " +
+        "just saved. Your next messages will use its domain profile and knowledge folder."
+    );
+    await printBridgeDrift();
+    return;
+  }
+  print(`Use command: $neatcontext:use ${record.name}`);
+  if (outcome && outcome.contextId !== record.id) {
+    print(
+      `This session stays connected to "${outcome.contextName}" — a save records work, ` +
+        "it does not switch the context you are working in."
+    );
+  }
+}
+
 async function commandSave(flags) {
   const source = typeof flags.from === "string" ? flags.from : "";
   if (source.trim().length === 0) {
@@ -679,7 +707,7 @@ async function commandSave(flags) {
       if (!result.record.knowledgeManaged) {
         print(`Conversation knowledge folder: ${result.record.conversationKnowledgeFolder}`);
       }
-      print(`Use command: $neatcontext:use ${result.record.name}`);
+      await printSaveConnection(result.record);
       return;
     }
 
@@ -697,7 +725,7 @@ async function commandSave(flags) {
     print(`Context folder: ${result.record.directory}`);
     print(`Profile path: ${result.record.profilePath}`);
     print(`Knowledge folder: ${result.record.knowledgeFolder}`);
-    print(`Use command: $neatcontext:use ${result.record.name}`);
+    await printSaveConnection(result.record);
   } catch (error) {
     if (error instanceof ContextError) {
       print(error.message);

codex-marketplace/plugins/neatcontext/src/core/selection.mjs

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { clearSelection, writeSelection } from "./local-state.mjs";
+import { clearSelection, readSelection, writeSelection } from "./local-state.mjs";
 import { listContexts } from "./context-store.mjs";
 
 export async function listAllContexts() {
@@ -33,4 +33,27 @@ export async function disconnectSelection() {
   await clearSelection();
 }
 
+// Saving is the one command that makes a context out of the conversation in
+// front of it, so it is the one place a connection can be inferred instead of
+// asked for. A session with nothing connected has no grounding to lose and has
+// just written the context that describes it: connect it here, and spare the
+// user the `use` they would have typed next.
+//
+// A session that already has one keeps it, whatever the save wrote to. Saving
+// under another name is Save As — filing this work somewhere else — and moving
+// the session onto that copy would re-ground a conversation the user is still
+// having, without them asking for it.
+export async function connectAfterSave(target) {
+  const selection = await readSelection().catch(() => null);
+  if (selection && selection.available !== false) {
+    return {
+      connected: false,
+      contextId: selection.contextId,
+      contextName: selection.contextName
+    };
+  }
+  await writeSelection({ contextId: target.id, contextName: target.name });
+  return { connected: true, contextId: target.id, contextName: target.name };
+}
+
 export { clearSelection };

codex-marketplace/tests/codex-plugin.test.mjs

@@ -184,7 +184,8 @@ test("Codex saves conversation provenance without touching a transcript", async
 
   const result = await runNode(cli, ["save", "--from", capturePath, "--consume"], { env });
   assert.equal(result.code, 0);
-  assert.match(result.stdout, /Use command: \$neatcontext:use Codex smoke context/);
+  // Nothing was connected to this thread, so the save is also the connection.
+  assert.match(result.stdout, /Connected context: Codex smoke context/);
 
   const contextEntries = await readdir(path.join(home, "contexts"));
   assert.equal(contextEntries.length, 1);
@@ -195,6 +196,33 @@ test("Codex saves conversation provenance without touching a transcript", async
   assert.equal(manifest.kind, undefined);
   assert.equal(manifest.capturedFrom, "codex-conversation");
 
+  // Updating the context this thread is on leaves the connection where it is.
+  const target = await runNode(cli, ["save-target", "Codex smoke context"], { env });
+  const field = (label) => new RegExp(`^${label}: (.+)$`, "m").exec(target.stdout)?.[1].trim();
+  await writeFile(
+    capturePath,
+    JSON.stringify({
+      schema: 1,
+      name: "Codex smoke context",
+      targetId: field("Context id"),
+      baseHash: field("Base hash"),
+      profile:
+        "# Codex smoke context\n\n## Purpose\nTest Codex capture.\n\n## What to do\nUse the saved facts.\n\n## What to avoid\nDo not invent facts.\n\n## Behavior\nBe concise.",
+      routingDescription: "Use for Codex plugin smoke-test requests.",
+      knowledge: [
+        {
+          path: "session-summary.md",
+          content: "# Session summary\n\nThe Codex update path works too."
+        }
+      ]
+    }),
+    "utf8"
+  );
+  const updated = await runNode(cli, ["save", "--from", capturePath, "--yes", "--consume"], { env });
+  assert.match(updated.stdout, /Updated context: Codex smoke context/);
+  assert.match(updated.stdout, /Use command: \$neatcontext:use Codex smoke context/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(updated.stdout, /stays connected to/);
+
   const connected = await runNode(cli, ["use", "Codex smoke context"], { env });
   assert.match(connected.stdout, /Connected the "Codex smoke context" context/);
 
@@ -294,7 +322,16 @@ test("selected contexts advertise one-shot grounding guidance", async () => {
     }),
     "utf8"
   );
-  assert.equal((await runNode(cli, ["save", "--from", capturePath, "--consume"], { env })).code, 0);
+  // Saved from another thread on purpose: a save connects the thread it ran in,
+  // and this test needs "selected-thread" to start with nothing selected.
+  assert.equal(
+    (
+      await runNode(cli, ["save", "--from", capturePath, "--consume"], {
+        env: { ...env, CODEX_THREAD_ID: "authoring-thread" }
+      })
+    ).code,
+    0
+  );
 
   const hookInput = JSON.stringify({
     session_id: "selected-thread",

plugins/claude-code/neatcontext/commands/save.md

@@ -55,9 +55,12 @@ Follow the `Save action` from `save-target`:
 - `unavailable` — relay why the destination cannot be updated and ask for a new
   context name.
 
-Updating a named context does not connect or switch to it. When it is not the
-connected context, treat its profile as source material for this save only; do
-not adopt its instructions or re-ground the current session.
+A save never switches a session that already has a context connected. When the
+target is not the connected context, treat its profile as source material for
+this save only; do not adopt its instructions or re-ground the current session.
+
+A session with nothing connected is the one exception, and the CLI applies it:
+saving connects the session to the context it just wrote, and says so.
 
 ## Build an ephemeral evidence view
 
@@ -248,6 +251,8 @@ leave it available for repair. If the context changed after drafting, resolve
 the target again and rebuild the merge from its new contents rather than
 reusing the stale capture.
 
-Relay successful output as printed. Do not connect a new or named context
-automatically. An updated connected context remains connected and is available
-immediately.
+Relay successful output as printed, and never connect a context yourself — the
+CLI decides. A session that had nothing connected is connected to what the save
+wrote, and its output says so; ground the rest of this session in that context.
+A session that already had one keeps it, whichever context the save wrote to.
+An updated connected context remains connected and is available immediately.

plugins/claude-code/neatcontext/src/claude/neatcontext-cli.mjs

@@ -61,7 +61,12 @@ import {
   renderEvidenceOverview,
   renderEvidenceSearch
 } from "../core/conversation-evidence.mjs";
-import { applySelection, disconnectSelection, resolveContext } from "../core/selection.mjs";
+import {
+  applySelection,
+  connectAfterSave,
+  disconnectSelection,
+  resolveContext
+} from "../core/selection.mjs";
 import { readClaudeTranscriptEvidence } from "./conversation-evidence.mjs";
 
 const CONTEXT_NOTE =
@@ -706,6 +711,29 @@ function printUpdatePreview(preview) {
   print("Re-run this save with --yes to confirm.");
 }
 
+// Where this session stands once the save has landed. An unconnected session
+// adopts what it just wrote; a connected one is told, in the same breath as the
+// `use` line, that it was left alone on purpose.
+async function printSaveConnection(record) {
+  const outcome = await connectAfterSave(record).catch(() => null);
+  if (outcome?.connected) {
+    print(`Connected context: ${record.name}`);
+    print(
+      "This session had no context connected, so it is now grounded in the one it " +
+        "just saved. Your next messages will use its domain profile and knowledge folder."
+    );
+    await printBridgeDrift();
+    return;
+  }
+  print(`Use command: /neatcontext:use ${record.name}`);
+  if (outcome && outcome.contextId !== record.id) {
+    print(
+      `This session stays connected to "${outcome.contextName}" — a save records work, ` +
+        "it does not switch the context you are working in."
+    );
+  }
+}
+
 async function commandSave(flags) {
   const source = typeof flags.from === "string" ? flags.from : "";
   if (source.trim().length === 0) {
@@ -753,7 +781,7 @@ async function commandSave(flags) {
       if (!result.record.knowledgeManaged) {
         print(`Conversation knowledge folder: ${result.record.conversationKnowledgeFolder}`);
       }
-      print(`Use command: /neatcontext:use ${result.record.name}`);
+      await printSaveConnection(result.record);
       return;
     }
 
@@ -769,7 +797,7 @@ async function commandSave(flags) {
     print(`Context folder: ${result.record.directory}`);
     print(`Profile path: ${result.record.profilePath}`);
     print(`Knowledge folder: ${result.record.knowledgeFolder}`);
-    print(`Use command: /neatcontext:use ${result.record.name}`);
+    await printSaveConnection(result.record);
   } catch (error) {
     if (error instanceof ContextError) {
       print(error.message);

plugins/claude-code/neatcontext/src/core/selection.mjs

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { clearSelection, writeSelection } from "./local-state.mjs";
+import { clearSelection, readSelection, writeSelection } from "./local-state.mjs";
 import { listContexts } from "./context-store.mjs";
 
 export async function listAllContexts() {
@@ -33,4 +33,27 @@ export async function disconnectSelection() {
   await clearSelection();
 }
 
+// Saving is the one command that makes a context out of the conversation in
+// front of it, so it is the one place a connection can be inferred instead of
+// asked for. A session with nothing connected has no grounding to lose and has
+// just written the context that describes it: connect it here, and spare the
+// user the `use` they would have typed next.
+//
+// A session that already has one keeps it, whatever the save wrote to. Saving
+// under another name is Save As — filing this work somewhere else — and moving
+// the session onto that copy would re-ground a conversation the user is still
+// having, without them asking for it.
+export async function connectAfterSave(target) {
+  const selection = await readSelection().catch(() => null);
+  if (selection && selection.available !== false) {
+    return {
+      connected: false,
+      contextId: selection.contextId,
+      contextName: selection.contextName
+    };
+  }
+  await writeSelection({ contextId: target.id, contextName: target.name });
+  return { connected: true, contextId: target.id, contextName: target.name };
+}
+
 export { clearSelection };

plugins/copilot/neatcontext/commands/save.md

@@ -55,9 +55,12 @@ Follow the `Save action` from `save-target`:
 - `unavailable` — relay why the destination cannot be updated and ask for a new
   context name.
 
-Updating a named context does not connect or switch to it. When it is not the
-connected context, treat its profile as source material for this save only; do
-not adopt its instructions or re-ground the current session.
+A save never switches a session that already has a context connected. When the
+target is not the connected context, treat its profile as source material for
+this save only; do not adopt its instructions or re-ground the current session.
+
+A session with nothing connected is the one exception, and the CLI applies it:
+saving connects the session to the context it just wrote, and says so.
 
 ## Distill or merge the conversation
 
@@ -213,6 +216,8 @@ concurrency, and other failures leave it available for repair. If the context
 changed after drafting, resolve the target again and rebuild the merge from its
 new contents rather than reusing the stale capture.
 
-Relay successful output as printed. Do not connect a new or named context
-automatically. An updated connected context remains connected and is available
-immediately.
+Relay successful output as printed, and never connect a context yourself — the
+CLI decides. A session that had nothing connected is connected to what the save
+wrote, and its output says so; ground the rest of this session in that context.
+A session that already had one keeps it, whichever context the save wrote to.
+An updated connected context remains connected and is available immediately.