# Archive Cycle

> Use this skill at the end of any TZ closure or series closure to archive completed work and keep specs/ + docs/agent/ from bloating over a 1-2 year project. Trigger automatically when closing series, archiving 30+-day-old TZs, or when changelog exceeds 1000 lines. Critical for projects with 100+ TZ over years.

- Skill: `engsimsoft/archive-cycle` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add engsimsoft/archive-cycle`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/engsimsoft/archive-cycle/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: engsimsoft (https://skillmd.com/u/engsimsoft)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/engsimsoft/archive-cycle

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# Archive-cycle workflow

Long-running projects (100+ ТЗ, 1-2 years) require active archival. Without it `specs/` and `docs/agent/04_changelog.md` become unsearchable swamps. This skill is invoked automatically by lifecycle-cron hook (1×day) and manually during /close-series.

## What gets archived

### 1. Closed ТЗ folders (>30 days, has CHANGELOG.md with closure marker)
- Move `specs/<series>/<TZ_N>/` → `specs/<series>/_archive/<TZ_N>/`
- Series stays open; only individual closed ТЗ archive to series-local archive

### 2. Closed series
- After /close-series passes DoD: move whole `specs/<series>/` → `specs/_archive/<series>/`
- Final commit references series — git log preserves the closure

### 3. CHANGELOG quarter blocks
- When `docs/agent/04_changelog.md` exceeds 1000 lines, lifecycle-cron splits:
  - Keeps last 100 lines inline
  - Older content → `docs/agent/changelog-archive/before-<YYYY>Q<N>.md`
- Quarter naming preserves chronological searchability

### 4. ADRs — never archived, but indexed
- ADR files stay in `docs/agent/decisions/` permanently
- INDEX.md (auto-generated by post-tool-edit hook) is the lookup mechanism
- Superseded ADRs get `Status: Superseded by ADR-NNNN` but file stays

### 5. Postmortems — never archived
- Major incidents must remain searchable forever
- File `08_postmortems.md` may grow but it's high-signal content

### 6. Checkpoint history (>7 days)
- `.claude-data/checkpoint-history/*.md` older than 7 days deleted by lifecycle-cron
- Audit trail purpose only; recent ones (last week) kept for forensic debugging

## What does NOT get archived

- `docs/agent/00_current_state.md` — single snapshot file, always current
- `docs/agent/01_architecture.md` — single document, evolves in place
- `docs/agent/05_module_map.md` — single map, regenerated as code changes
- `docs/agent/decisions/INDEX.md` — auto-generated, regenerated on every ADR change
- `CLAUDE.md` — ≤80 lines, never grows

## Triggers

### Automatic (via lifecycle-cron hook, 1×day from SessionStart)
- ТЗ folders older than 30 days with closure marker → series-local _archive/
- Changelog over 1000 lines → quarter-block archive
- Checkpoint history > 7 days → delete

### Manual (via slash commands)
- `/close-tz` — moves current ТЗ to local archive immediately if closed
- `/close-series` — verifies DoD then moves whole series to specs/_archive/

## What to do if you see series with 16+ ТЗ
- Series HARD LIMIT is 15 ТЗ (R from methodology). User got warned at SessionStart.
- Split: close current series, start new series for remaining work
- Do NOT just keep adding — that's how Simply v1 hit 100+ ТЗ in one infinite series

## Anti-patterns
- ✗ Delete files (always move to archive, never rm)
- ✗ Archive ADRs (never archive — INDEX.md is the navigation)
- ✗ Skip archival because "we'll do it later" (lifecycle-cron does it for you)