project-context-engine

An OpenClaw plugin that dynamically injects relevant PROJECT.md context into the system prompt whenever the user mentions a project by name.

Problem

When an AI assistant starts a conversation it has no knowledge of your internal projects unless that context is explicitly provided. Loading every project file upfront wastes tokens; loading none leaves the model guessing.

Solution

This plugin reads a lightweight project registry from MEMORY.md, watches for project-name mentions in each message, and injects only the matching PROJECT.md files — nothing more.

How it works

User message arrives
        │
        ▼
[hook: message:preprocessed]
  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │ 1. Parse MEMORY.md → project registry  (TTL-cached 5 min)│
  │ 2. Scan message for project-name mentions (case-insens.)  │
  │ 3. Write matched names to ctx.meta["pce:matched"]         │
  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
        │
        ▼
[assemble phase: context-engine "project-context"]
  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  │ 4. Read ctx.meta["pce:matched"] (empty → return null)     │
  │ 5. Load PROJECT.md for each match  (TTL-cached 5 min)     │
  │ 6. Return formatted markdown → systemPromptAddition       │
  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
        │
        ▼
  Model sees project context only for mentioned projects

Installation

# In your OpenClaw workspace directory
openclaw plugin install project-context-engine

Or manually:

npm install project-context-engine

Then add the plugin to your OpenClaw workspace config (.openclaw/config.json or openclaw.config.json at the workspace root):

{
  "plugins": ["project-context-engine"]
}

Setup

1. Add a project table to MEMORY.md

Create or edit MEMORY.md at your workspace root and add a markdown table with Project and File columns anywhere in the file:

| Project       | File                               |
|---------------|------------------------------------|
| my-app        | projects/my-app/PROJECT.md         |
| infra         | projects/infra/PROJECT.md          |
| data-pipeline | docs/data-pipeline/PROJECT.md      |

Note: All paths are relative to the workspace root. Absolute paths are rejected for security reasons. "Progetto" is accepted as a legacy alias for "Project".

2. Create each PROJECT.md

Use the included _TEMPLATE.md as a starting point:

cp node_modules/project-context-engine/_TEMPLATE.md projects/my-app/PROJECT.md
# Edit to fill in your project details

3. Use it

Just mention a project name in your message:

"Can you help me debug the my-app authentication flow?"

The plugin will automatically inject projects/my-app/PROJECT.md into the system prompt for that turn.

Token efficiency

Error handling and graceful degradation

Cache behavior

Both the registry (from MEMORY.md) and individual PROJECT.md files are cached in-memory with a 5-minute TTL.

• Changes to MEMORY.md take effect within 5 minutes (or on next OpenClaw process start).
• Changes to a PROJECT.md file take effect within 5 minutes.
• To pick up changes immediately, restart the OpenClaw process (e.g. openclaw restart).

PROJECT.md format

See _TEMPLATE.md for the recommended structure. The engine imposes no format requirements — any markdown content is valid.

Contributing

1. Fork the repo
2. npm install
3. npm run typecheck — must pass with zero errors
4. Submit a PR with a description of the change

License

MIT