# Closing Ritual > Run the end-of-session closing ritual on ANY project so a working session ends clean and verified — all work merged, tests green, the project's living docs matching the code (zero drift), durable state saved to memory, git clean, and a short handoff. Project-agnostic: it locates whatever project you worked in and gathers ITS docs (you don't remember anything between sessions — collect the real artifacts). Use when the user says 'close out', 'closing ritual', 'wrap up', 'wind down', 'end of session', 'let's call it', or is otherwise ending a session. - Skill: `bbrysonelite-max/closing-ritual` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add bbrysonelite-max/closing-ritual` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/bbrysonelite-max/closing-ritual/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: bbrysonelite-max (https://skillmd.com/u/bbrysonelite-max) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/bbrysonelite-max/closing-ritual --- # Closing Ritual Leave the work **clean, verified, and handed off** — so the next session (you or anyone) resumes in one step and nothing rots between now and then. **This is universal.** It is NOT tied to any one project. "Use the closing skill" runs the same on a product repo, a skills folder, a one-off script — because the first move is always: figure out *which* project this was and gather *its* documents. You don't carry memory between sessions; the close re-grounds on the real artifacts every time. Run these in order. **Verify each with a command — never claim done from memory.** If a step can't be satisfied, name the gap explicitly; do not paper over it. ## The checklist Create a Codex task checklist item per step and work them top to bottom. 1. **Locate the project & gather its docs.** Establish what you were working in this session: the git repo root (`git rev-parse --show-toplevel` from where the work happened), or the working dir if it's not a repo. Then **collect that project's living documents** — whatever it actually has: `README`, `CHANGELOG`, `docs/`, a status/handoff doc (e.g. `SOTU`/`NEXT_SESSION`/`PROGRESS`/`TO-DO`), ADRs, a domain index (e.g. `SKILLS-INDEX.md` for the skills folder), punch-lists. Don't assume a doc set — discover it. State the project and the docs you found; this is the ground truth the rest of the close reconciles against. 2. **Merge & branch check.** For every PR opened this session (in *this* repo), confirm state is `MERGED` (`gh pr view --json state`). Delete merged feature branches. List any still-open PRs and say whose call the merge is. No orphan branches. 3. **Tests green.** Detect and run *this project's* test suite (e.g. `npm test`, `pytest`, `make test`, a `scripts/` check). Report the **real** pass count from the output, not a remembered number. If the project has no suite, say so plainly and run whatever verification does exist (scripts, linters, a manual exercise). If anything fails, stop and surface it. 4. **Session snapshot — `context-keeper`.** BEFORE reconciling docs, write the append-only flight recorder for THIS project: invoke **`context-keeper`** (it defaults to the current repo's `.codex/sessions/`; it scaffolds the next-numbered file — fill its five sections from this session's real history). The raw record runs first. 5. **Docs zero-drift.** Reconcile the project's living docs (gathered in step 1) to what the code/state actually is now. Spot-check the claims that changed this session, or spawn a verifier agent for a true zero-drift check; fix any drift. Use the project-agnostic **`doc-keeper`** skill (it discovers and reconciles whatever docs the project has); for the **Tiger Claw** repo use the specialized **`tiger-doc-keeper`** (it knows that repo's SOTU/PROGRESS set + doc-CI guards). Leave evergreen process docs (AGENTS.md / GROUND_TRUTH-style) alone. 6. **Memory — local AND Jumbo, both, always.** **6a. Local:** write the session's durable facts to this project's memory files: what shipped, key decisions and *why*, any new working rule. Convert relative dates to absolute. Add/refresh the one-line pointers in `MEMORY.md`. Don't save what the repo/git already records. **6b. Jumbo (shared memory):** capture the same durable facts to Jumbo using this harness's brent-dev-memory capture tool (MCP `memory_capture`, or the local capture hook if MCP is absent) — one capture per fact-cluster, not one giant blob. Each capture carries: what shipped with its receipt (sha/tx/UTC), decisions in Brent's own words where he ruled, and any lesson worth other agents knowing. If this session proved an existing Jumbo memory WRONG, supersede it (`memory_supersede`) so the stale fact is retracted, never left beside the correction. **Verify:** the capture returns `accepted_ids` — read them and list them in the close report. **If Jumbo is unreachable, say so loudly in the report (RED line) — a silent skip is a quiet state and forbidden.** Never store counts that rot; store the query that produces them. 7. **Git clean.** End on the project's default branch, pulled up to date, no uncommitted changes. Confirm with `git status --short --branch`. (For a skills/library change, "clean" means backed up too — see its own backup flow, never a direct push to main.) 8. **Handoff.** Write a short **Resume here**: where things stand + the single concrete next step. Put it in the project's memory or a NEXT/handoff doc so it's found first. 9. **Report.** Give the operator one scannable close: the project, what shipped, the verified test count, doc/memory/git state, open PRs (and whose call), and the next step. State "done" only for what a command proved. Name any unverified gap plainly. ## Honesty bar This ritual exists to prevent silent rot and false confidence. A green claim without command output is not done. If you didn't verify it, say so. If a step doesn't apply to this project (no PRs, no test suite, no dashboard docs), mark it `N/A` with the reason — don't fabricate an artifact to satisfy the step. ## Scope A wrap-up, not new work. Don't start features here. If the close reveals a real problem (failing test, drift, un-merged work), surface it and let the operator decide — fixing it may be its own task, not part of the close. ## Codex Runtime Write current session snapshots only under `.codex/sessions/`. Treat historical `.claude/sessions/` files as read-only evidence; never write new snapshots there. Never expose or print secret, credential, or token values. Mandatory dependencies: - `target Git repository` - `repository test toolchain` Preflight each dependency using MCP/app capability discovery, CLI availability/version checks, read-only filesystem or Git checks for repositories, and provider auth-status commands without printing secrets, credentials, or tokens. If any mandatory dependency is unavailable, stop and report a concise blocked state naming the missing dependency and the next action needed.