# PromptOwl + ContextNest Docs > Documentation for ContextNest, the open protocol and CLI for structured, versioned, governed context for AI agents, and for PromptOwl, the hosted platform built on it. Every page is available as Markdown at its URL + `.md`. The full text is at https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/llms-full.txt. Agents can also query this documentation over MCP (Streamable HTTP, read-only): https://nest.promptowl.ai/nests/ad8fe978-0686-43bd-97dd-65973e6dcb2f/mcp - [PromptOwl Documentation](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/index.md): Welcome to the documentation for PromptOwl and Context Nest — the open protocol and hosted platform for giving AI agents structured, versioned, governed… ## Platform - [Connect ContextNest to Claude](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/connect-contextnest-to-claude.md): Your nest is a governed, cited knowledge graph. This page shows how to connect it to Claude on every surface, and — just as important — how to prove the… - [What is PromptOwl?](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/what-is-promptowl.md): PromptOwl is an enterprise-grade platform for building, testing, and deploying AI agents. Go beyond simple prompts to create context-engineered AI… ## Platform / Connectors - [Agent Framework Connectors](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/connectors/connectors.md): Connectors are Apache-2.0, arm's-length outbound clients that let agent frameworks read governed context from a hosted Community Nest over its public REST… - [Supported Agent Frameworks](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/connectors/supported-frameworks.md): ContextNest ships connector packages for eight agent frameworks. Every package is an outbound, retrieval-only client that reads approved context from a… ## Platform / Enterprise - [Enterprise Guides](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/overview.md): Comprehensive guides for enterprise administrators and users managing AI prompt workflows on the PromptOwl platform. - [Adding & Managing Users](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/adding-managing-users.md): This guide explains how enterprise administrators can add, manage, and organize users within your PromptOwl organization. - [Adding & Organizing Documents](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/adding-organizing-documents.md): This guide explains how to upload, organize, and manage documents in PromptOwl's Data Room for use with your AI prompts. - [Analytics Dashboard](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/analytics-dashboard.md): This guide explains how to use the Analytics Dashboard in PromptOwl to create custom visualizations, track metrics, and gain insights from your AI… - [API Keys & Model Config](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/api-keys-model-config.md): This guide explains how to configure AI model providers, manage API keys, and customize model settings in PromptOwl. - [API Publishing and Embedding](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/api-publishing-and-embedding.md): This guide explains how to publish prompts as APIs, generate API keys, embed chatbots in external applications, and integrate PromptOwl with your systems. - [Artifacts & Saved Responses](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/artifacts-saved-responses.md): This guide explains how to create, manage, and use artifacts in PromptOwl's Data Room, including saving AI responses for future reference. - [Conversations & Chat History](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/conversations-chat-history.md): This guide explains how to manage conversations in PromptOwl, including chat history, memory settings, sharing, and feedback. - [Editing & Maintaining Prompts](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/editing-maintaining-prompts.md): This guide explains how to create, edit, version, and maintain prompts in PromptOwl for enterprise users. - [Enterprise Setup & White-Label](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/enterprise-setup-white-label.md): A self-hosted ContextNest Community server can be run as your organization's own governed knowledge surface: your sign-in, your domain, your logo, and… - [Monitoring & Evaluation](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/monitoring-evaluation.md): This guide explains how to monitor your agents' performance in PromptOwl, collect and analyze feedback, run systematic evaluations, and use AI to… - [PromptOwl Troubleshooting Guide](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/troubleshooting.md): This guide helps you diagnose and resolve common issues in PromptOwl. Find your problem below and follow the recommended solutions. - [Reviewing & Managing Annotations](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/reviewing-managing-annotations.md): This guide explains how to collect user feedback through annotations and use that feedback to improve your AI prompts in PromptOwl. - [Security & Compliance](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/security-compliance.md): This guide explains the security features, data protection measures, and compliance capabilities built into PromptOwl for enterprise users. - [Sharing & Collaboration](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/sharing-collaboration.md): This guide explains how to share prompts, artifacts, and conversations with team members and collaborate effectively in PromptOwl. - [Tool Integration & MCP](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/tool-integration-mcp.md): This guide explains how to configure and use AI tools in PromptOwl, including built-in tools and external MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers. - [Understanding Agents & RAG](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/understanding-agents-rag.md): This comprehensive guide explains how to build AI agents in PromptOwl, including the different agent types, how knowledge retrieval (RAG) works, version… - [Variables & Dynamic Content](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/enterprise/variables-dynamic-content.md): This guide explains how to use variables in PromptOwl to create dynamic, reusable prompts that adapt to different contexts and inputs. ## Platform / Folders - [Folders in a Hosted Nest](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/folders/folders.md): Folders give a hosted nest a nested, hierarchical structure. You can organize documents into folders at any depth, list a folder tree with per-folder… ## Platform / Governance - [Governance & Stewardship](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/governance/governance-stewardship.md): Governance is how a nest keeps its AI-readable surface trustworthy. Every document moves through a review lifecycle, and only approved content is ever… ## Platform / Hosted Nest - [Hosted Nest](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/hosted-nest/hosted-nest.md): A local vault is a folder of markdown files on your disk. A hosted nest is that same markdown vault, running on a ContextNest Community server — which… - [Connect an Agent (MCP)](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/hosted-nest/connect-an-agent-mcp.md): A hosted nest speaks the Model Context Protocol (MCP), so any MCP-capable AI agent — Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, and others — can connect and… - [Live Dashboards with View Nodes](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/hosted-nest/live-dashboards-with-view-nodes.md): Draft in progress. ## Platform / Plugins - [Nest Plugins](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/plugins/plugins.md): A plugin connects an outside source to a nest — a Google Drive folder, a GitHub repository, call transcripts, a mailbox, your own systems — and does three… - [Building a Plugin](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/plugins/building-a-plugin.md): A Nest Plugin is a small package written against @promptowl/contextnest-plugin-sdk — an Apache-2.0 package of types and schemas with no dependency on the… - [Google Drive Plugin](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/plugins/google-drive.md): Bring a Google Drive folder into a nest — Google Docs as markdown, Sheets as tables, text files verbatim — and search Drive live from the nest. Two ways… ## Platform / Publishing - [Publishing a Nest](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/publishing/publishing-a-nest.md): Publishing makes a nest readable — to people, to agents, and to external systems that mirror it. You control read access with a public/private visibility… ## Platform / Tutorials - [PromptOwl Tutorials](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/tutorials/overview.md): Hands-on walkthroughs for building with PromptOwl. - [Build an AI Support Chatbot](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/tutorials/build-an-ai-support-chatbot.md): Build a production-ready AI customer support chatbot that answers questions from your documentation, handles common inquiries, and escalates when needed… - [Choosing Your AI Model](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/tutorials/choosing-your-ai-model.md): One of PromptOwl's key advantages is multi-LLM support. But with five providers and dozens of models, how do you choose? This guide helps you pick the… - [Prompt Engineering Best Practices](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/tutorials/prompt-engineering-best-practices.md): Master the art of writing effective prompts that produce consistent, high-quality AI responses. This guide covers techniques used by AI engineers to build… - [Version Control & Testing](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/tutorials/version-control-testing.md): This guide is being written — content coming soon. ## Platform / Workflows - [Workflows (Beta)](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/platform/workflows/workflows-beta.md): Workflows add a governed, replayable execution plane — codenamed "turing" — on top of a nest's node graph. Runs are deterministic walks over a typed-edge… ## Protocol - [Authentication & API Keys](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/authentication-api-keys.md): ContextNest Community distinguishes two kinds of key, and it is worth keeping them straight: - [CLI Reference](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/cli-reference.md): The Context Nest CLI (ctx) is a structured, versioned knowledge base your AI agents can query. It provides commands for setting up vaults, creating and… - [Compatibility: Git, Obsidian & AI Agents](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/compatibility.md): Context Nest is designed to work with existing tools and workflows. Context Nest vaults are git-friendly by design. All files are plain text (Markdown… - [Context Nest Specification](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/specification.md): The Context Nest Specification is the canonical reference for the protocol. It defines the complete format, rules, and behavior that implementations must… - [MCP Server](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/mcp-server.md): The ContextNest (Community) server exposes vault operations as MCP tools that any MCP-compatible AI client can call. Every tool is named context (with a… - [REST API Reference](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/rest-api-reference.md): A concise reference to the ContextNest Community (hosted-nest) REST API. It is faithful to the server's API.md; only endpoints that actually exist are… - [Self-Hosting (Community Edition)](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/self-hosting-community-edition.md): ContextNest Community Edition is a self-hosted context governance server for AI workflows, part of the PromptOwl platform. It stores, versions, and… - [Validation Rules](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/validation.md): Context Nest defines validation rules for documents, source nodes, and cross-references. Run validation with: - [Vault & Registry Configuration](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/configuration.md): Context Nest reads configuration from two places: The central registry holds a vaults: map (alias → local vault), an optional remotes: map (alias → hosted… ## Protocol / Addressing - [Addressing Overview](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/addressing/overview.md): Context Nest uses the contextnest:// URI scheme to address documents, sections, tags, and folders within a vault. - [Cross-Vault Federation](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/addressing/federation.md): Federation enables cross-namespace URI resolution — referencing documents in other vaults. - [URI Format](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/addressing/uri-format.md): The contextnest:// URI scheme follows RFC 3986 conventions. Implementations must normalize URIs before resolution: - [URI Resolution](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/addressing/resolution.md): Resolution is the process of converting a contextnest:// URI into a document or set of documents. ## Protocol / Concepts - [Core Concepts](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/concepts/overview.md): Context Nest is built on a small set of composable concepts. Understanding these gives you the full picture of how vaults work. - [Context Index](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/concepts/context-index.md): The context.yaml file is the machine-readable manifest of a Context Nest vault. It is auto-generated by the CLI and serves as the primary entry point for… - [Frontmatter](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/concepts/frontmatter.md): Every Context Nest document begins with a YAML frontmatter block delimited by ---. The frontmatter contains structured metadata that the resolver… - [Node Types](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/concepts/node-types.md): Every document in a Context Nest vault has a type field in its frontmatter. The type tells agents how to interpret the content. - [Status Lifecycle](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/concepts/status-lifecycle.md): Every document in a nest carries a status that governs where it is in its life and whether retrieval can see it. ContextNest uses a five-state lifecycle —… - [Vault Structure](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/concepts/vault-structure.md): A Context Nest vault is a directory containing Markdown documents, configuration, and version history. ## Protocol / Context Packs - [Context Packs Overview](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/context-packs/overview.md): Context packs are curated bundles of documents with agent instructions. They let you define named collections of context that agents can request by name. - [Cloud Packs](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/context-packs/cloud-packs.md): Cloud packs will be hosted on the PromptOwl platform and queryable without downloading source files. - [Pack Format](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/context-packs/pack-format.md): Context packs are YAML files stored in the packs/ directory. Static packs use includes to list specific documents: ## Protocol / Distillation - [Distillation](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/distillation/distillation.md): Distillation is the one-pass operation at the heart of ContextNest: point the engine at a folder — a codebase, a docs tree, or an existing vault — and it… ## Protocol / Injection - [Querying & Tracing](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/injection/overview.md): Agents request context by address (URI) or by selector query. The resolver returns only published content, with full tracing of what was accessed. - [Query Tracing](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/injection/tracing.md): Every context query produces trace entries that record what was accessed, when, and by what version. Traces provide a provenance chain from knowledge… ## Protocol / Quickstart - [Quick Start](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/quickstart/overview.md): Get a Context Nest vault running in under 2 minutes. By the end, you'll have a versioned, queryable knowledge vault that any AI agent can read. - [Add Documents](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/quickstart/add-documents.md): This creates nodes/api-design.md from a frontmatter template as version 1, and regenerates the index. Tags accept a comma- or space-separated list; you… - [Create a Vault](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/quickstart/create-a-vault.md): Starter recipes scaffold a vault with documents, packs, and agent instructions tailored to a role: - [Install the ctx CLI](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/quickstart/installation.md): The package installs with a flattened dependency tree — its runtime dependencies are bundled/flattened so a global install pulls a self-contained CLI… - [Query Context](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/quickstart/query-context.md): Context Nest gives you two ways to pull from your vault: ctx resolve for a metadata list of matches, and ctx query for full, graph-aware context retrieval. ## Protocol / Remote Nests - [Remote & Governed Nests](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/remote-nests/remote-governed-nests.md): A nest does not have to live on your local disk. ContextNest can register remote nests and route reads and writes to them over MCP — the same ctx commands… ## Protocol / Selectors - [Selectors Overview](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/selectors/overview.md): Selectors are the composable query grammar for Context Nest. They let you precisely describe which documents you want — by tag, type, status, pack, node… - [Selector Atoms](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/selectors/atoms.md): Atoms are the building blocks of selector expressions. Each atom matches documents based on a single criterion. - [Selector Examples](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/selectors/examples.md): Real-world selector patterns for common use cases. - [Selector Operators](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/selectors/operators.md): Operators combine atoms into compound expressions. Parentheses control evaluation order. Use them whenever you mix operators, rather than relying on… ## Protocol / Skills - [Vault-Hosted Skills](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/skills/vault-hosted-skills.md): ContextNest lets a vault host reusable skills — governed procedures an agent runs when a matching situation comes up. A skill is not a separate kind of… ## Protocol / Source Nodes - [Source Nodes Overview](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/source-nodes/overview.md): Source nodes are documents whose body contains instructions for fetching live data from external services. They are first-class nodes in the context graph… - [Dependencies & Ordering](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/source-nodes/dependencies-ordering.md): Source nodes can depend on other source nodes. The resolver uses these dependencies to determine hydration order — ensuring upstream data is available… - [Source Frontmatter](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/source-nodes/source-frontmatter.md): Source nodes include a source block in their frontmatter with structured metadata for the resolver and runtime. - [Writing Source Nodes](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/source-nodes/writing-source-nodes.md): The markdown body of a source node is an instruction set for agents. Write it as a clear, step-by-step runbook. ## Protocol / Vault Registry - [Vault Registry & Multi-Vault](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/vault-registry/vault-registry-multi-vault.md): ContextNest keeps a central vault registry so you can work with many nests from any directory. The registry maps a short alias to a nest — a local path or… ## Protocol / Versioning - [Versioning & Integrity](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/versioning/overview.md): Context Nest provides a tamper-evident version history for every document, with cryptographic hash chains and vault-level checkpoints. - [Integrity Verification](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/versioning/integrity-verification.md): Context Nest uses SHA-256 hash chains to make version history tamper-evident. Each version's chain hash depends on all previous versions. Changing any… - [Nest Checkpoints](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/versioning/checkpoints.md): A nest checkpoint is an atomic, immutable snapshot of the entire vault — the Context Nest equivalent of a git commit. - [Storage Model](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/versioning/storage-model.md): Version history uses a keyframe + change-log model for storage efficiency. Keyframes are full snapshots stored as separate vN.md files; every intermediate…