⚠️ DEPRECATED IN v2.0

This skill is no longer needed in Track Plugin v2.0.

Why deprecated:

• v1.x used skill-based tracking (Claude invoked this skill to track)

• v2.0 uses hooks-based tracking (hooks run automatically)

• Hooks are more reliable and require no skill activation

Migration:

• Remove any manual invocations of this skill

• Use /track:init to enable hooks-based tracking

• Hooks track automatically - no skill needed

See: /track:help for v2.0 documentation

Quick Example (v1.x behavior - deprecated)

After auto-tracking is enabled, when you search for PostgreSQL documentation:

WebSearch("PostgreSQL JSON query functions") triggered → skill detects .ref-autotrack exists → appends to CLAUDE_SOURCES.md: [Claude] WebSearch("PostgreSQL JSON query functions"): https://postgresql.org/docs/current/functions-json.html

Reference Tracker Skill

Automatically track research sources and major prompts for academic and project documentation.

When to Activate

This skill activates automatically when:

• User runs /track:init command

• You notice CLAUDE_SOURCES.md or CLAUDE_PROMPTS.md files in the project

Claude autonomously decides when to use this skill based on the description and context.

Once activated, check ./.claude/.ref-autotrack to determine if auto-tracking is enabled.

Activation Check

Before any tracking operation:

Check if ./.claude/.ref-autotrack exists

• If exists → auto-tracking enabled, proceed with tracking

• If missing → auto-tracking disabled, skip tracking

Read ./.claude/.ref-config for verbosity settings:

PROMPTS_VERBOSITY=major|all|minimal|off SOURCES_VERBOSITY=all|off

About the .ref-autotrack File

Location: ./.claude/.ref-autotrack

Purpose: Marker file that enables/disables automatic tracking

Contents: Contains explanatory comments for other Claude sessions:

Auto-tracking marker for ref-tracker plugin

Presence = enabled | Absence = disabled

Managed by: /track:auto command

See: /track:help for details

Created by: /track:auto or /track:auto on command

Managed by: /track:auto command (toggles on/off, or explicit on/off)

NOT created by: /track:init

• tracking starts disabled

If you find this file: The project has reference tracking initialized. Use the ref-tracker skill to automatically log research sources and major prompts according to the verbosity configuration in ./.claude/.ref-config .

Tracking Rules

When auto-tracking is enabled (.ref-autotrack exists), automatically track:

CLAUDE_SOURCES.md

Track after every:

• WebSearch operation

• WebFetch operation

• Local documentation search (Grep/Read for docs, API references)

Respect SOURCES_VERBOSITY:

• all (default) → Track all operations

• off → Skip source tracking

CLAUDE_PROMPTS.md

Track after completing:

• Feature implementations

• Complex debugging/refactoring

• Multi-step workflows

• Non-trivial research questions

Respect PROMPTS_VERBOSITY:

• major (default) → Only significant multi-step academic/development work

• all → Every user request

• minimal → Only explicit user requests to track

• off → Skip prompt tracking

Format Specifications

CLAUDE_SOURCES.md

Pattern: [Attribution] Tool("Query"): Result

Rules:

• [User] if user explicitly requested search ("search the web for...")

• [Claude] if you autonomously searched for missing information (renamed from [Auto])

• Tool name in PascalCase (WebSearch, WebFetch, Grep, Read)

• Query in double quotes (exact query used)

• Result is URL or brief key concept (1-2 sentences max)

• Single line per entry, no blank lines between entries

• No headers or markdown formatting (pure KV file)

Examples:

[User] WebSearch("PostgreSQL foreign keys documentation"): https://postgresql.org/docs/current/ddl-constraints.html [Claude] WebFetch("https://go.dev/doc/", "embed.FS usage"): Use embed.FS to embed static files at compile time [Claude] Grep("CORS middleware", "*.go"): Found in api/routes.go:23-45

CLAUDE_PROMPTS.md

Pattern: Two-line entry with blank separator

Rules:

• Line 1: Prompt: "<user request verbatim or paraphrased>"

• Line 2: Outcome: <concise result in present tense, 1-2 sentences>

• Blank line after each entry

• Header included if creating new file

Example:

CLAUDE_PROMPTS.md

This file tracks significant prompts and development decisions.

Prompt: "Implement JWT authentication" Outcome: Created auth middleware, login/logout endpoints, JWT token generation and verification, integrated with user model

Prompt: "Debug slow database queries" Outcome: Added query logging, identified N+1 problem, implemented eager loading, reduced query time from 2.3s to 0.15s

Tracking Workflow

For CLAUDE_SOURCES.md

• After operation completes (WebSearch/WebFetch/doc search)

• Check activation: Look for ./.claude/.ref-autotrack

• Read config: Check SOURCES_VERBOSITY in ./.claude/.ref-config

• If enabled and verbosity allows:

• Check if ./CLAUDE_SOURCES.md exists

• If missing: Create empty file

• Append entry: [User|Claude] Tool("query"): result

• Be silent: Never announce tracking to user

For CLAUDE_PROMPTS.md

• After completing major request

• Check activation: Look for ./.claude/.ref-autotrack

• Read config: Check PROMPTS_VERBOSITY in ./.claude/.ref-config

• If enabled and verbosity allows:

• Check if ./CLAUDE_PROMPTS.md exists

• If missing: Create with header

• Append two-line entry + blank line

• Be silent: Never announce tracking to user

File Locations

• Tracking files: Project root (./CLAUDE_SOURCES.md , ./CLAUDE_PROMPTS.md )

• Configuration: ./.claude/.ref-config

• Activation marker: ./.claude/.ref-autotrack

Never create tracking files in subdirectories or ~/.claude/ .

Error Handling

If Edit fails (file locked, permissions):

• Read current contents

• Write with contents + new entry appended

Attribution Decision Guide

[User] - User explicitly requested:

• "Search for X"

• "Look up Y documentation"

• "Find examples of Z"

• "Check the docs for..."

[Claude] - You decided to search (renamed from [Auto]):

• Verifying current syntax/API

• Checking best practices

• Looking up error messages

• Researching to complete a task

• Missing information to answer question

Verbosity Handling

PROMPTS_VERBOSITY=major (default)

Track only:

• Multi-step feature implementations

• Complex debugging sessions

• Significant refactoring

• Academic research questions requiring substantial work

Skip:

• Simple questions ("What is X?")

• Typo fixes

• Trivial changes

PROMPTS_VERBOSITY=all

Track every user interaction and request.

PROMPTS_VERBOSITY=minimal

Track only when user explicitly says "track this" or similar.

PROMPTS_VERBOSITY=off

Skip all prompt tracking.

SOURCES_VERBOSITY=all (default)

Track every WebSearch/WebFetch operation.

SOURCES_VERBOSITY=off

Skip all source tracking.

Best Practices

• Check activation first - Always look for ./.claude/.ref-autotrack before tracking

• Read configuration - Respect verbosity settings in ./.claude/.ref-config

• Be immediate - Track right after triggering action completes

• Be silent - Never announce "Tracking to CLAUDE_SOURCES.md"

• Be accurate - Use exact queries and URLs

• Be concise - Keep results brief (1-2 sentences)

• Be selective - Respect verbosity settings for what to track

Detailed Examples

For edge cases, multi-line results, concurrent tracking, and comprehensive examples, see references/examples.md .