v2.0 - Smart Context Cards - May 2026

Your AI tools don't
share memory. Now they do.

What Next is a persistent memory engine for developers. It learns from every session you run, every commit you push, and every decision you make - then surfaces it instantly to Claude, Copilot, Cursor, or Codex. One memory. Every tool. Always current.

0s
Cold-start exploration time
7
AI tools connected
Local
Your machine, your data
Auto
Updates on every commit
scroll
The problem

Your AI tools have no
memory of each other

Spend the morning in Copilot, switch to Claude in the afternoon - it has no idea what you were doing. Start a new session tomorrow and the first 10 minutes are the same exploration you ran yesterday. Every tool starts cold, every time.

Copilot switched to usage-based billing in 2026. That exploration phase you keep repeating is the most expensive part of every session - and it gets billed every single time.

What Next runs in the background, learning from every session and every commit. It maintains a structured memory for every project and surfaces it to whichever AI tool you pick up next. The memory is shared. The cold start is gone.

session cost breakdown
WITHOUT What Next
🔍
Exploring file structure
Reading dirs, inferring project layout
wasted
Discovering your stack
Reading package.json, config files...
wasted
📋
Relearning conventions
Inferring patterns you explained last week
wasted
Actual work begins
Finally
useful
WITH What Next
Shared memory loaded (0.1s)
Stack, structure, conventions, last session
instant
🔗
Same memory as yesterday's Copilot session
Claude, Copilot, Codex - all see the same context
shared
Actual work begins
Immediately
useful
What's new in v2

Four layers of
persistent intelligence

What Next v2 goes beyond session notes. It builds a living knowledge base about every project - automatically maintained, readable by any AI tool, updated on every git commit.

Smart Context Cards

What Next generates and maintains these for you - you never write them by hand. Every session dump, every git commit, every saved decision feeds into them automatically. They're the readable output of a memory engine, not files you maintain yourself.

auto-generated, never manually written

Git-native memory

A background daemon watches your project folders. Every git commit is captured automatically - message, changed files, timestamp. Your context stays current even when you forget to save a session.

auto-updates on every commit

Instant orientation

The new get_orientation tool returns everything an AI needs to know about a project in under 2000 tokens. Stack, structure, last three sessions, open tasks. No exploration, no warm-up.

replaces cold-start exploration

Universal file layer

Context cards are plain markdown files on your machine. Copilot reads them directly from its instructions file. Claude reads them via MCP. Cursor reads them as rules. Works with every tool, no API needed.

works without MCP
How it works

One save. Every future
session is better informed.

Your AI explores your project once, saves what it learned, and never has to explore again. Each session builds on the last. The more you use it, the sharper every session gets.

VS Code Copilot - session start - project already known
Architecture

Built on three
hard principles

Local-first

Context cards live on your machine as plain files. SQLite caches everything locally. Cloud sync to Railway is optional. Works completely offline. Your data never leaves unless you choose it to.

Private by design

Your context cards are local files, never committed, never visible to your employer or colleagues. Work and personal projects are fully isolated. Copilot's built-in memory lives on GitHub servers - yours doesn't.

Open protocol

Built on MCP. Any MCP-compatible tool gets full memory automatically. And for tools without MCP, the markdown files work directly. No proprietary plugins, no locked-in extensions.

Integrations

Everywhere you
already work

What Next works with every major AI coding tool. MCP-compatible surfaces get the full experience. Others read the markdown files directly. Either way, your AI starts informed.

Claude Desktop
Live
VS Code Copilot
Live
GitHub Copilot
Live
OpenAI Codex
Live
Cursor / Windsurf
Via context cards
Telegram
Via Hermes
Claude Code CLI
Live
ChatGPT
Soon
Setup

Two minutes to
permanent AI memory

One command to install, one to configure. The installer patches your AI tool's config file automatically - no JSON editing. Your first session after setup starts fully oriented with everything What Next already knows about your projects.

Install + configure (2 commands)
# 1. install
npm install -g whatnext-ai
 
# 2. wire up your AI tool
install-what-next --client claude \
  --key bak_your_api_key
 
# also works with:
# --client vscode
# --client codex
# --client cursor
Auto-generated context card
# my-app | What Next
_Updated 2026-05-01_
 
## Project Map
Stack: React + Vite + Supabase
Deploy: Netlify + Railway
 
## Open Tasks
- Fix RLS on profiles table
- Add rate limiting to /api
 
## Recent Commits
- a3f12b feat: add auth flow
Why What Next

Static instruction files
are a start. This is further.

A lot of developers already keep a markdown file to give their AI context. It works. What Next is what that idea grows into - memory that learns from every session automatically, works across every tool you use, and never needs you to maintain it manually.

Feature What Next Static instruction files
Learns from every session automatically Yes - structured session history No - you write and maintain it
Auto-updates from git commits Every commit, background watcher Manual only
Works with Claude, Copilot, Cursor, Codex All of them, same memory Whichever tool you point at it
Search across all projects and history Full-text + semantic search Not possible
Tracks decisions and why Per-session, structured Whatever you remember to write
Cross-device sync Optional cloud - memory follows you Local only
Private from employer Local files, never committed Local files, never committed
Works offline Always - SQLite local cache Always
Private Beta

Join the first
real cohort.

We're onboarding a small first wave of developers - not a waitlist of 50,000 that goes nowhere. A real group we can support, learn from, and build with.

Beta access gets you an API key, full cloud sync across all your devices, and direct access to us while the product is being shaped.

If you're burning Copilot credits on projects you've worked on for months, What Next is for you.

This is rough around the edges. The core works - context cards, git memory, MCP integration, all of it. But it's a beta. If you're comfortable with that tradeoff, we want you in.

Optional. Helps us tailor your onboarding.

You're in the queue. We'll reach out when we're ready for you. Thanks.