---
slug: "ContextFirst"
name: "ContextFirst"
type: "Inference"
layer: "Mind"
ref: "ContextFirst#f157"
sema_id: "sema:ContextFirst#mh:SHA-256:f157ec66ccb7e55eabe7179aeefb0dc4b36bc45e3bbea3073e50d97dab86138b"
tags: ["Mind","Inference"]
updated: 2026-11-11
mindscape: "bootstrap"
index_url: https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/index.json
url: https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/ContextFirst/
related: ["Agent","Context","Prioritize","SolverNode","State","Warmup","OODA","RequestFraming","RetrievalAugment","ToolDiscovery"]
---

# ContextFirst

Load state before acting

Layer: Mind · Category: Inference

## Mechanism

[Prioritize](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Prioritize.md) the [Context](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Context.md). Before generating tokens or taking action, [Agent](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Agent.md) MUST execute a Read operation (e.g., graph_skeleton, search) on the shared state. Blind action is forbidden. It is a mandate for [SolverNode](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/SolverNode.md) to execute a [Warmup](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Warmup.md) or read-cycle before attempting any write-action.

## Invariants

- Read-Before-Write: Action timestamp > Context_Refresh timestamp.

## Failure modes

- [Context](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Context.md) Blindness: [Agent](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Agent.md) acts on stale cached data.
- Hallucinated [State](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/State.md): [Agent](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Agent.md) guesses the state instead of looking it up.

## Signature

- `Prioritize(Context)`

## Builds on

- [Agent](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Agent.md) (Mind; References)
- [Context](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Context.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [Prioritize](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Prioritize.md) (Mind; References)
- [SolverNode](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/SolverNode.md) (Society; References)
- [State](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/State.md) (Infrastructure; References)
- [Warmup](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Warmup.md) (Infrastructure; References)

## Used by

- [OODA](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/OODA.md) (Mind; References)
- [RequestFraming](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/RequestFraming.md) (Mind; References)
- [RetrievalAugment](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/RetrievalAugment.md) (Mind; References)
- [ToolDiscovery](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/ToolDiscovery.md) (Society; References)

## Identity

- Sema ID: `sema:ContextFirst#mh:SHA-256:f157ec66ccb7e55eabe7179aeefb0dc4b36bc45e3bbea3073e50d97dab86138b`
- Ref: `ContextFirst#f157`
- Supersedes:
  - `sema:ContextFirst#mh:SHA-256:2878bfc9402ba18d174040bc9614113e01c7a6f2bb775fe22fdccba6aca3dbe1`
  - `sema:ContextFirst#mh:SHA-256:ae7291d52b10df950c13034c25ca108b41c8e436e9b6711e16a0907db37c512f`
  - `sema:ContextFirst#mh:SHA-256:75505829fde04a5838eecbcc83757f2e96bdd064f0aab6eabeccc6e69ce2725a`
  - `sema:ContextFirst#mh:SHA-256:a0b6432a809a0c73841202d1802a83018f3db9d5938893415218a383ce151d6a`
  - `sema:ContextFirst#mh:SHA-256:9b48f9c973c2cac1a00e7f2d23a97f43e6df3a35caf90294856114633a7a596e`
  - `sema:ContextFirst#mh:SHA-256:76b5d12c19215ed42206f9fb6e2fac0e8a6b820f7d159bcc6a8b32aa9892cafa`

## Links

- [Pattern page](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/ContextFirst/)
- [View in the interactive graph](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/#ContextFirst)
- [JSON](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/ContextFirst.json)
- [Index of all patterns](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/index.json)