Show HN: CtxGov – see what instructions your AI agent inherits before it runs

CtxGov, a new open-source developer tool, launched v0.9.0 to diagnose and govern AI agent context and memory-state influence before execution. The tool provides local-first CLI commands for change-gate checks, continuity validation, and forensics, ensuring agents act on verified context without network calls or external writes.

CtxGov is a local-first research and developer tool for diagnosing and governing agent context and memory-state influence before an agent acts. - Public product/package version: 0.9.0 . - Public evidence artifact: release/v0.9.0/ . - Real OSS semantic inventory: release/v0.9.0/state-of-agent-context/ . - Historical release packs are archive material, not the current product narrative. The v0.9.0 public package supports local governance evaluation CLI surfaces: Run on your own repository. This is read-only and writes no .ctxvault state. ctxgov change-gate-check --root . --format summary Diff two explicit local trees and print a semantic Change Gate report. ctxgov change-gate-check --baseline-root examples/change-gate-public-preview/baseline --head-root examples/change-gate-public-preview/head --format summary Additional local checks: ctxgov continuity compile examples/session-continuity-public-preview/saved-goal-trace.synthetic.json ctxgov continuity render examples/session-continuity-public-preview/saved-goal-trace.synthetic.json ctxgov continuity apply --mode dry-run examples/session-continuity-public-preview/saved-goal-trace.synthetic.json ctxgov memory-xray validate release/v0.7.0/memory-xray-l1-public-preview/memory-xray-l1-examples-pack.json ctxgov change-gate-federate --base-path examples/federation-public-preview --no-git-required ctxgov oss-case-study-preview --target-name mem0 --repo-url https://github.com/mem0ai/mem0 --pinned-ref 366945965df43aa7084be98d1b5073b62a20b431 --source-path examples/oss-case-study-public-preview/mem0-source.md ctxgov oss-efficiency evaluate --manifest release/v0.8.0/oss-efficiency-raw-telemetry-manifest.json ctxgov governance-replay --trace examples/governance-replay-public-preview/governance-replay-trace.synthetic.json ctxgov forensics-timeline --fixture release/v0.8.0/forensics-public-preview-fixture.json ctxgov forensics-trace --fixture release/v0.8.0/forensics-public-preview-fixture.json --finding-id finding-public-authority-001 ctxgov forensics-gaps --fixture release/v0.8.0/forensics-public-preview-fixture.json Other development surfaces are outside this public package boundary and are not included in the source distribution. Input: - one explicit local saved trace file; - optional Memory X-Ray JSON report-shape examples. - explicit local repository paths for Change Gate and Federation; - an explicit saved local public-source excerpt for OSS Case Study Preview; - explicit saved raw telemetry for OSS Efficiency methodology receipts; - pathless State Of Agent Context receipts for selected public OSS repositories; - an explicit saved local Governance Replay trace; - explicit local fixture JSON for Forensics preview. Output: - a ctxvault.session-continuity-sidecar/v0 JSON object; - a human-readable next-session continuity packet; - a dry-run or sandbox-only apply result; - a Memory X-Ray validation receipt. - a read-only semantic Change Gate report; - a read-only Federation report; - an OSS case-study decision preview; - an OSS raw telemetry methodology receipt; - a pathless real-OSS semantic inventory report; - a Governance Replay result with bounded coverage counts; - a Forensics timeline, trace, or gap report. Before: the next agent session may inherit a long transcript, stale summary, or ambiguous handoff with unclear source support. After: CtxGov turns the explicit saved trace into source-backed continuity evidence with blocked effects, side-effect boundaries, and rollback-by-discard semantics before the next session uses it. Run the local public package gate: python3 scripts/run public package checks.py The gate performs no network calls, provider/model calls, public writes, schedulers, daemons, or target repository writes. It may create a temporary local Evidence Core store to verify CAS/SQLite commit and replay behavior. The inherited ctxgov continuity apply --mode sandbox command may write one local sandbox file. Evidence Core library calls write only explicit local evidence-store paths chosen by the caller. Supported public commands: ctxgov continuity compile ctxgov continuity render ctxgov continuity apply --mode dry-run|sandbox ctxgov memory-xray validate ctxgov change-gate-check ctxgov change-gate-federate ctxgov oss-case-study-preview ctxgov oss-efficiency evaluate|validate ctxgov governance-replay ctxgov forensics-timeline ctxgov forensics-trace ctxgov forensics-gaps No other commands are included in the public package. Real target writes, network/API calls, publication automation, schedulers, daemons, runtime adapter execution, and provider/model execution are outside this release. Not claimed: - public benchmark result; - comparative runtime or workflow outcome; - external uptake or community traction; - certification or risk assurance; - model/vendor coverage; - hosted runtime; - automated publication pipeline; - stable protocol or stable MGP; - stable external Python API; - autonomous remediation. The checked-in ctxvault. schema identifiers are stable legacy contract strings, not a current branding claim. Apache-2.0. See LICENSE .