jqaisystems Session Handoff
Context dies between sessions. The next session re-reads files, re-discovers decisions, and re-hits the same trap that cost an hour last time. This skill freezes the session's working state into one document built to be read cold.
Step 1: Mine the session
Extract from the current conversation, not from memory of what should have happened:
- What was accomplished: only things actually finished and verified. Half-done work is listed as half-done.
- Decisions made and why: especially decisions that reversed an earlier approach. The "why" is the part the next session cannot reconstruct.
- What is in progress: exact state, which file, which step.
- Next steps: concrete and ordered, with the first one precise enough to start typing immediately.
- Gotchas: everything that failed and how it was fixed, environment quirks, commands that need specific flags, things that look broken but are fine.
- Key paths and commands: the files that matter and the exact commands to run (build, test, deploy, resume).
Step 2: Write the handoff
Default target: START_HERE.md in the project root (or append a dated section to an existing one, newest at the top). Format:
# Start Here: <date>
## TL;DR
Two sentences: where the project is, and the single next action.
## Done this session
## In progress
Exact state, file, and step for each item.
## Next steps (in order)
1. The first one must be executable immediately, with the exact command or file.
## Decisions and why
## Gotchas
What burned time this session, so it does not burn time again.
## Key paths and commands
Step 3: Verify readability cold
Reread the document as someone with zero context: no session shorthand, no "the fix we discussed", no codenames invented mid-conversation. Every reference names its file. If a next step depends on a decision, the decision is in the document too.
On resume
When a new session starts with "where did we leave off": read START_HERE.md, confirm the state still matches reality (files may have changed since), and start on next step 1. Flag divergence instead of following a stale plan.
Rules
- Facts only. If tests were not run, the handoff says so.
- Never include secrets, tokens, or credentials, even ones seen during the session.
- No em dashes in any output.
Output
A START_HERE.md (or dated section) that gets the next session productive in minutes.