PHEWSH is not another chatbot, agent, or wrapper around one model. It is the user-owned continuity and collaboration layer above the AI tools you already use.
The durable asset is not a hidden memory service or a chat transcript. It is the project record you can inspect, version, and keep when tools change.
One truth, many adapters
phewsh init creates one project-owned .intent/ directory. It holds Project, Next, and Record in plain Markdown and JSON; Work is a derived view over current evidence. Together they form the complete model: Project · Next · Work · Record.
Skills, hooks, generated AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md/GEMINI.md blocks, packs, MCP, and future connectors are adapters around that record. They use each harness's native discovery mechanism, preserve user-owned configuration, and remain removable. None becomes a second project truth.
One loop, three doors
Intent makes Project and Next explicit. CLI connects local tools and produces bounded handoffs. Ion coordinates people and local agents through human-initiated claims, isolated branches, pull requests, evidence, review, and Record.
You can stop at .intent/; it remains useful without an account or even without Phewsh installed. CLI adds local native integration. An account adds explicit cloud sync and team sharing. Ion's same-machine execution additionally requires a deliberately registered repository and a human click or claim command.
What continuity does—and does not—mean
A bounded handoff records file and Git fingerprints, routes, verification criteria, and explicit losses. The next tool can start from the same recorded project state and see whether it moved.
Transcripts, private model reasoning, editor buffers, harness-local memory, and decisions nobody recorded do not transfer. Phewsh coordinates capability-different tools; it does not pretend they are identical or that one model's mind can be copied into another.