How to Refresh Hallmark's Pre-Flight Scan Findings

Tell Hallmark "refresh pre-flight" to discard cached scan results and trigger a new analysis of your project configuration.

Hallmark begins every design session with an automated pre-flight scan that inspects your project's package.json, Tailwind configuration, and existing CSS to build an accountability summary. According to the Nutlope/hallmark source code, these findings are cached to avoid redundant work across sessions, but you can force a refresh when your project state changes.

Understanding Hallmark's Pre-Flight Caching Mechanism

When Hallmark initializes a design session, it performs a comprehensive inspection of your repository. The scan analyzes key configuration files and existing styles to produce a short "accountability" block summarizing what it discovered about your project setup.

To optimize performance, Hallmark stores these scan results in a cache. On subsequent runs, instead of repeating the full analysis, it displays a concise notification:

Pre-flight cached (last scan: 2026-04-30). Say 'refresh pre-flight' to re-scan.

This caching strategy prevents unnecessary file system operations while maintaining session context.

How to Trigger a Pre-Flight Refresh

To update Hallmark's understanding of your project after making changes—such as adding new files, modifying your Tailwind theme, or updating dependencies—use the specific trigger phrase "refresh pre-flight".

You can invoke this command in your chat or CLI interface:

> design a portfolio website
… (Hallmark prints the pre-flight block)

> refresh pre-flight
… (Hallmark re-scans and prints the updated block)

Hallmark also recognizes equivalent variations including:

• scan again
• re-scan

When triggered, Hallmark immediately discards the cached data, re-runs the full scan, and replaces the previous accountability block with fresh findings that reflect the current repository state.

Recognizing Different Scan States

Hallmark communicates its scan status through specific messaging patterns depending on the project state and cache condition.

First Run or Manual Refresh

Performs a complete scan and outputs the full pre-flight accountability block with detailed findings about your project configuration.

Cached Results

Emits a short one-line note indicating the last scan date and reminding you how to refresh if needed.

No Detectable Signals

For brand-new or empty projects, Hallmark shows a minimal status line: "No pre-flight signals — proceeding with full Hallmark stack."

Source Code Implementation

The pre-flight logic and refresh trigger are defined in skills/hallmark/SKILL.md at line 181, where the skill specifies how to detect project configurations and handle cache invalidation.

Test cases demonstrating various scan states appear in site/_tests/*/brief.md files, including examples of the default "No pre-flight signals" message for minimal projects. The high-level workflow documentation is maintained in README.md, which describes how the pre-flight scan integrates into Hallmark's design session initialization.

Summary

• Hallmark caches pre-flight scan results to avoid redundant inspection of package.json, Tailwind configs, and CSS files across design sessions.
• To refresh Hallmark's pre-flight scan findings, explicitly tell Hallmark "refresh pre-flight" or use accepted alternatives like "scan again" or "re-scan".
• The refresh command clears the cache and forces a complete re-scan, updating the accountability block with current project state.
• Scan status messages indicate whether results are fresh, cached, or if no project signals were detected.

Frequently Asked Questions

What files does Hallmark inspect during a pre-flight scan?

Hallmark examines your project's package.json, Tailwind configuration files, and existing CSS to build its accountability summary. This inspection allows Hallmark to understand your current tech stack and styling approach before generating design recommendations.

Can I disable the pre-flight caching mechanism?

According to the source code in skills/hallmark/SKILL.md, caching is integral to Hallmark's performance optimization. Rather than disabling it, you manually invalidate the cache using the "refresh pre-flight" command whenever you need updated results after changing project files.

What happens if I say "refresh pre-flight" when no cache exists?

If no cached scan results exist—such as during your first interaction or after a system reset—Hallmark simply performs a full fresh scan and outputs the complete accountability block. The command effectively ensures you always get current findings regardless of the previous state.

Where can I see examples of Hallmark's scan output?

The repository contains test cases in site/_tests/*/brief.md that demonstrate various scan outputs, including the "No pre-flight signals" message for empty projects. These files serve as reference implementations showing how Hallmark communicates its findings across different project configurations.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}