Session End

Session End Handoff

You are finalizing a work session to preserve context for future sessions. Follow these steps.

Override note: This is the generic global version. If this project has a project-level session-end skill (in .claude/skills/session-end/), that version runs instead of this one and may include project-specific app shutdown logic.

Step 1: Git-Grounded Reconciliation

Run:

git log --since="6am" --oneline --all
git diff --stat

Cross-reference commits against this Claude session's own work. Flag any commits that THIS session didn't make (other agents, manual commits, or earlier context-cleared sub-sessions). For unfamiliar commits, briefly read the changed files so you can describe them accurately.

Step 2: Detect Today's Session Entry

Read the top of .claude/SESSION_LOG.md.

If the top entry's date matches today's date (stub from session-start, or an already-finalized entry being appended to):

• Continue to Step 3 to finalize / augment it.

If no entry exists for today (user worked informally without running session-start):

• Ask: "No session-start entry exists for today. Options:
  1. Create a retroactive entry for today's work
  2. Skip log creation — just run housekeeping (ROADMAP / DECISIONS / MISTAKES / pruning)
  3. Do nothing"
• If they pick (1): create a new entry at the top with today's date and next session number, then continue to Step 3.
• If they pick (2): jump to Step 5.
• If they pick (3): stop.

Step 3: Finalize Today's Entry

Check today's entry for a <!-- last-update: <hash> --> marker. Its presence signals that session-update has been run during the day and the entry already has substantive content — in that case, session-end is a lightweight finalization. Its absence means you're reconstructing from scratch against git history.

Path A: Entry has been updated during the day (marker present OR sections populated)

Most content is already captured. Focus on:

1. "What title best describes today's session?" (replaces [In Progress])
2. "One-line focus for the session?"
3. Quick cross-check against git reconciliation:
   • Compare the commits from Step 1 against ### Files Modified and ### What Was Accomplished. Anything missing? Ask the user briefly.
4. "Any final decisions, blockers, or notes to add?"
5. Remove the <!-- last-update: ... --> marker — the session is being finalized, marker no longer needed.

Path B: Entry is a bare stub (no marker, no section content)

Full reconstruction. Prompt the user:

1. "What title best describes today's session?" (replaces [In Progress])
2. "One-line focus for the session?"
3. Walk through the git reconciliation output with them:
   • "These commits happened today: [list]. Are all of these reflected in the entry? Anything missing?"
   • Probe for work from other agents or context-cleared sub-sessions that isn't documented.
4. "Any key decisions or discoveries to capture?"
5. "Any blockers or notes for next session?"

Tip for future sessions: if this felt like reconstruction, suggest running /session-update before /clear next time — it captures decisions and WIP while the working Claude still has context.

Expand the entry to the full format. Dates use MM-DD-YYYY format (e.g., 04-13-2026):

## MM-DD-YYYY - Session NNN: [Descriptive Title]

**Focus:** [One-line description of session focus]

### What Was Accomplished

1. **[Feature/Fix Name]** — [Description of what was done]
2. **[Feature/Fix Name]** — [Description]

### Key Decisions
- [Decision] — [Why this approach was chosen]

### Files Modified

| File | Changes |
|------|---------|
| `path/to/file.py` | [Brief description] |

### Notes for Next Session
- [Anything the next session needs to know]

---

Step 4: Prune Oldest Entry (Size Management)

Count the full entries (not one-line summaries) in .claude/SESSION_LOG.md.

If there are more than 10 full entries:

1. Read the oldest full entry (bottom of the full-entry section).
2. Append its complete text to .claude/SESSION_ARCHIVE.md.
3. In .claude/SESSION_LOG.md, replace the full entry with a one-line summary (MM-DD-YYYY format):

   ## MM-DD-YYYY - Session NNN: [Title]
   

Note: older archived entries may use YYYY-MM-DD; treat them as equivalent for matching, but always write new summaries in MM-DD-YYYY.

This keeps SESSION_LOG.md scannable while preserving full history in the archive.

Step 5: Update ROADMAP.md (If Applicable)

Check if any of these apply:

• Major feature completed → move to "Recently Completed"
• Metrics changed significantly → update numbers
• New milestone reached → document
• Completed items → move to COMPLETED_FEATURES.md
• New blockers discovered → add to Blockers section
• Priorities changed → reorganize

Skip if no meaningful changes.

Step 6: Update DECISIONS.md (If Applicable)

If architectural decisions were made this session, add to .claude/DECISIONS.md:

• What decision was made
• Why this approach was chosen
• What alternatives were considered

Determine if a formal ADR is warranted.

Step 7: Update MISTAKES.md (If Applicable)

If something didn't work as expected, add to .claude/MISTAKES.md:

• What was attempted
• Why it failed
• What to try instead

Step 8: Final Verification

Run git status to show any uncommitted documentation changes. Ask the user if they want to commit:

git add .claude/ ROADMAP.md
git commit -m "[session] Session NNN wrap-up"

Step 9: Shut Down Application (Optional)

If the application is running (dev servers, Docker containers, etc.), ask the user:

"Shut down the application, or leave it running?"

If CLAUDE.md documents shutdown commands, follow those. Otherwise, skip this step.

Quick Reference

Key change from older versions: Session-end no longer creates entries from scratch — that's session-start's job. Session-end finalizes / appends to today's existing entry, or (on request) creates one retroactively. When session-update has been run during the day, finalization is quick — just title, focus, gap-check.