# Session Spinup > Read-only session-start briefing of open tasks, git state, journal todos — reports, never edits code. Use when user says spin up, what was I doing, or pick up where I left off. - Skill: `laurigates/session-spinup` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add laurigates/session-spinup` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/laurigates/session-spinup/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: laurigates (https://skillmd.com/u/laurigates) - Updated: 2026-09-09 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/laurigates/session-spinup --- # session-spinup Read-only orientation at session start — the inverse of `session-plugin:session-wrap`: where wrap writes loose threads, spinup reads them back. The failure mode this prevents: the user sits down, doesn't remember what was open, and starts fresh on something else while yesterday's PR sits stale. The deterministic work — project detection, the survey, GitHub-issue dedup against taskwarrior, staleness, journal extraction — is done by `scripts/session-survey.sh` (shared with session-wrap, session-end, and the spinup nudge hook). This skill runs that collector once, then applies **judgment**: filter the digest to what matters and suggest next moves. ## When to Use This Skill | Use this skill when... | Use alternative when... | |------------------------|------------------------| | User says "spin up", "what was I doing", "pick up where I left off" | Resuming a TDD cycle on known state → `project-plugin:project-continue` | | Fresh session opens with open threads (hook-nudged) | Cross-project queue health → `taskwarrior-plugin:task-status` | | Orienting before picking the next move | Unfamiliar codebase orientation → `project-plugin:project-discovery` | ## Configuration Same file as the other session skills: `.claude/session-plugin.local.md` (project) → `~/.claude/session-plugin.local.md` (user-global) → none. When `journal` is configured and the session matches `journal_scopes`, pass the journal flags to the collector so the briefing includes unchecked todos from the most recent dated note. Schema: [session-wrap/REFERENCE.md](../session-wrap/REFERENCE.md). ## The signal filter The collector gathers everything; **you** surface only what the user would otherwise miss — 3-6 item target, 10+ means trim. **SURFACE**: open PR from a recent branch (especially review/CI-stale) · `+ACTIVE` task (work was mid-flight) · unchecked journal todo · real uncommitted edits · unpushed commits · a checkout behind upstream (`BEHIND` ≥ 1 — a caveat on the briefing's basis, not a task) · task whose annotation reads "blocked on X" where X may now be unblocked · GitHub drift issue (the `GITHUB_DRIFT` section — assigned, open, untracked locally) · blueprint tracker state when a tracker exists (ready/blocked counts, in-flight WOs) · undrained closed WOs (`UNDRAINED_COUNT` ≥ 1 — the tracker lags reality; a wind-down `/session-end` reconciles). **DO NOT SURFACE**: completed tasks · merged PRs · closed issues · issues already represented by a surfaced task (the collector already dedups these out of `GITHUB_DRIFT`) · recurring-reminder / dataview machinery · weeks-stale tasks with no recent annotation (that's `task-status`'s job) · `+ACTIVE` tasks from a *different* project (the `STALE_ACTIVE_ELSEWHERE` section — at most one footnote line, never a scope hijack) · the `BLUEPRINT` section when `MANIFEST=false` or `TRACKER=false`. ## Context - Project config: !`find . -maxdepth 2 -path '*/.claude/session-plugin.local.md'` ## Execution Execute this read-only briefing: ### Step 1: Read config, then run the collector once Read `.claude/session-plugin.local.md` (project, then `~/.claude/` fallback) for the taskwarrior project-naming map and journal settings. Then run the shared collector — it does detection, survey, dedup, and staleness in one pass and emits a structured digest: ```sh bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../scripts/session-survey.sh" --with-dedup --with-blueprint ``` Add `--project ` when the config naming map maps the cwd to a project other than the repo basename. When the session is in journal scope, add `--with-journal --journal-path ` (plus `--journal-todo-heading` / `--journal-todo-stop` if the config overrides the defaults). The digest sections: `PROJECT`, `GIT`, `PRS`, `TASKWARRIOR` (each task with its stable UUID + `STALE_DAYS`, plus `TASK_SCOPE` / `PROJECT_CONFIDENCE` / `TASKS_ALL_PROJECTS` and the `RECENT_TASK_*` fallback rows), `GITHUB_DRIFT`, `JOURNAL`, `BLUEPRINT`, `STALE_ACTIVE_ELSEWHERE`. ### Step 1b: If `GH_READY=false`, fetch GitHub state via MCP instead The `PRS` and `GITHUB_DRIFT` sections carry `GH_READY=`. When it is `false` (no `gh` CLI or unauthenticated — the normal state in Claude Code on the web), their zeros mean **not queried**, not "nothing open". Do not present them as a clean state. Instead: 1. If GitHub MCP tools are available (`mcp__github__list_issues`, `mcp__github__list_pull_requests` — load via ToolSearch if needed), fetch the repo's open issues assigned to the user and open PRs authored by them, then apply the same dedup the collector would have: drop issues whose number appears as a task `ghid` UDA or as a `#N` / `issues/N` token in the `TASKWARRIOR` section's descriptions or annotations. Treat what survives as the `GITHUB_DRIFT` set. 2. If no GitHub path exists at all, the briefing's github line must say `github: not queried (gh unavailable)` — never omit it silently. `GH_FAIL_REASON=` says which of these you are in, so retry only where retrying can work: re-run the collector once for `timeout` (raising `SESSION_SURVEY_GH_TIMEOUT`), `api-error`, or `unknown`, quoting `GH_FAIL_DETAIL=` (gh's first stderr line) if it fails again; go straight to MCP for `auth` (`gh auth login` fixes the CLI path) and `no-cli`; and for `no-remote` there is nothing to query at all, so say that rather than reporting a gap. Full remediation table: `session-plugin:session-end`. ### Step 1c: If `PROJECT_CONFIDENCE=low`, do not claim a clean queue The `TASKWARRIOR` section carries `TASK_SCOPE=` and `PROJECT_CONFIDENCE=`. The project slug is detected from the repo **directory basename** — a guess that is wrong for chezmoi source dirs, worktrees, monorepo subdirs, portfolio checkouts, and repos cloned under another name. Only `PROJECT_CONFIDENCE=high` licenses "nothing pending under `project:`". Otherwise: | `TASK_SCOPE` | What to say / do | |---|---| | `remote-name` | The count is real but came from `PROJECT_RESOLVED=` — name **that** slug in the briefing, not the directory basename | | `ancestor-name` | An **ancestor** repo's slug was adopted (`DETECTION=cwd-repo-basename-ancestor`); the count is real but belongs to `PROJECT_RESOLVED=` — name that slug, not the directory | | `all-projects-fallback` | Never say the queue is clean. Present the `RECENT_TASK_*` rows as "recently touched (project scope unresolved)" with `TASKS_ALL_PROJECTS` as the denominator, and offer to re-run with `--project ` | | `unknown` / `none` | State `taskwarrior: not queried` — `jq` or `task` was unavailable, so the zeros are unqueried | `DETECTION=` names how the slug was chosen: `override` (`--project`), `declared` (a `.claude/session.json` `.project` string), `cwd-repo-basename` (the guess), `cwd-repo-basename-ancestor` (an adopted ancestor), or `ambiguous`. Also independently of `TASK_SCOPE`: when `PROJECT_PREFIX_SIBLINGS=` and `PROJECT_PREFIX_SIBLING_TASKS=N` are present, other slugs share the detected slug's **prefix** — which taskwarrior's own CLI filter (`task project:`) would have swept in, making a wrong slug look verified. Say `N under ` alongside the count and offer `--project `; never present the scoped count as the whole picture. `PROJECT_EXACT_TASKS=` is the slug alone, without its `.` subprojects. Independently of `TASK_SCOPE`, when `PROJECT_AMBIGUOUS=` and `PROJECT_AMBIGUOUS_TASKS=N` are present the detected slug owns **zero** tasks while that ancestor slug owns N. Brief it as `0 here, N under ` — never as a clean queue, even at `PROJECT_CONFIDENCE=high` (a user-asserted `--project` or a repo declaration deliberately keeps `high`). A `RECENT_TASK_*` row carries no `ghid` / annotations / `+ACTIVE` flag — it is a pointer, not a full task. Resolve the slug before acting on one. ### Step 2: Apply the signal filter Cut the digest to the 3-6 things that matter, using the filter above. The collector has already done the mechanical drops (dedup, cross-project separation, staleness numbers); your job is the judgment calls — e.g. is a "blocked on X" annotation now unblocked, is an 11-day-stale PR worth a nudge. ### Step 3: Present Compact briefing, one section per source, reflecting **only** the cwd project. Say "git state: clean" / "nothing pending under `project:`" explicitly rather than omitting sections. A `STALE_ACTIVE_ELSEWHERE` entry gets a single footnote line at the very end, never its own scope. When the repo has a feature tracker, add one blueprint line — `blueprint: 14 ready · 2 blocked · in flight: WO-031 · undrained: WO-045` — omitting empty fragments; omit the line entirely when the tracker is absent. Example briefing: [REFERENCE.md](REFERENCE.md). ### Step 4: Offer next moves Suggest 2-4 concrete "next moves" and let the user pick — never auto-resume a task or start a workflow. Spinup makes the open threads visible; the user decides. ## Auto-surfacing A SessionStart hook (`hooks/session-spinup-nudge.sh`) runs the same collector in `--summary` mode and injects a one-time context note when a fresh session opens with open threads. It offers; it never runs the skill. Pre-silence: `touch ~/.cache/claude-session-spinup-nudge/`. ## Agentic Optimizations | Context | Command | |---|---| | Full digest (detection + survey + dedup + staleness + blueprint tracker state) | `bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../scripts/session-survey.sh" --with-dedup --with-blueprint` | | With journal todos | add `--with-journal --journal-path ` | | Override detected project | add `--project ` | | Coarse counts only (hook shape) | add `--summary` |