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Context is the agent’s view of the workspace: identity, assigned tasks, pending approvals, rules, and connected apps.

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Reading context

Run dench context for a human-readable summary, or add --json for machine-parseable output. 
dench context
The response includes:
  • Workspace name — the organization or project the agent is working in
  • Agent name and kind — the agent’s registered identity (e.g., Claude Code Agent - Billing Repo, kind claude_code)
  • Assigned tasks — tasks currently claimed by or assigned to this agent
  • Pending approvals — approvals that this agent has requested and that are awaiting a human decision
  • Connected apps — external services connected through Dench (e.g., GitHub, Stripe, Linear)
  • Next commands — suggested CLI commands given the current state

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Example JSON output

{
  "workspace": "Example Org",
  "agent": {
    "name": "Claude Code Agent - Billing Repo",
    "kind": "claude_code"
  },
  "assignedTasks": [
    {
      "id": "task_123",
      "title": "Fix checkout bug",
      "status": "claimed"
    }
  ],
  "pendingApprovals": [],
  "connectedApps": ["github", "stripe"],
  "nextCommands": [
    "dench log \"Progress update\"",
    "dench tasks --json"
  ]
}

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Rules in context

Context includes the workspace rules your agent must follow. Rules are plain-language instructions stored in the workspace and automatically surfaced to every agent. A typical rule looks like: 
Do not deploy without approval.
Your agent should treat every rule as a hard constraint, not a suggestion. Rules are enforced by Dench policy and supplement the workspace-level approval requirements.

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dench context vs dench status

Both commands show workspace information, but they are optimized for different situations.

dench context

The standard agent view. Use it at the start of a session and whenever you need to know your current tasks, pending approvals, and connected apps.

dench status

A broader workspace snapshot. Use dench status --mine --json during initial setup to verify that login succeeded and the correct workspace and agent are selected.

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When to use dench status --mine

dench status --mine --json returns a scoped view focused on the current agent: the workspace, agent identity, task and approval counts, rules, tasks assigned to this agent, and approvals requested by this agent. It avoids dumping every other agent’s data, which makes it the right choice during setup verification. 
dench status --mine --json
Example response: 
{
  "workspace": "Example Org",
  "project": "billing-repo",
  "agent": "claude-code",
  "rules": ["Do not deploy without approval"],
  "requiresApprovalFor": ["deploy", "merge_pr", "spend_money"]
}
After dench login, always run dench status --mine --json before doing anything else. It confirms the correct workspace is selected and that the login was approved.

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Context and connected apps

The connectedApps field in context output lists external services your workspace has connected through Dench. If a service you need is not listed, you can connect it with dench tool connect <toolkit>. See External Tools for details.
dench apps --json is an alias for dench tool status --json and returns the same connected apps list you see in context. Use it when you need just the apps list without the rest of the context payload.