lmorchard Session Wrap-up
Wrapping a session forks on one question: is this work continuing, or is it done?
- continuing — work is unfinished, a successor session is needed → handoff tail.
- done — the thread is finished or being put down, no successor → closure tail.
Ask when ambiguous; the invoking phrasing usually decides it.
Both modes run the shared spine first.
Shared spine
1 — Gather from commands, not memory
Run them; paste no remembered values. Name the command beside each value.
Usually: git status -sb, git log --oneline <base>..HEAD, gh pr list, gh issue list, gh project item-list, the project's run/state logs, the session directory.
2 — Promote, before drafting
For each thing this session learned, ask: does it outlive the resume?
- Yes → write it to its evergreen home now — findings/lessons doc, design doc, an issue, the project's instructions file — then link it.
- No → it belongs in the handoff (or, in closure, it is transient and dropped).
3 — Adjudicate laurels
List this project's in-session nominations and let Les judge them:
laurels.py pending --cwd "$PWD"
Present the candidates. Les prunes / edits / blesses. Move survivors into the pool and discard the rest:
laurels.py accept <index...>
laurels.py drop <index...>
If there are no pending candidates, this step is silent. Never nominate on Les's behalf here — adjudication is his; capture happened live during the session.
Handoff tail (work continues)
The handoff is a router, not a container. It is read once, at low context, then thrown away. Anything worth keeping was promoted in spine step 2; the handoff carries a link to it. Write to the OS temp directory and report the path. Never the workspace, never committed.
Draft to this contract — each part one paragraph or a short list, in this order:
- Purpose — what the next session is for, in one sentence.
- Corrections to inherit — claims this session made that turned out wrong. Say what was claimed, what is true, and how it was established.
- State — a pointer plus the command that prints it. Branch, tree, PRs, board, spend.
- The task — what to do next, and what done looks like.
- Open decisions — each with the default if nobody decides.
- Opening move — the skill, mode, or command to start with, and files to read first.
- Launcher prompt — a fenced block to paste into the fresh session.
Every part follows the same rule: if it already lives somewhere durable, link it. Redact credentials and personal data.
Example — a Corrections entry
- I said `gh pr checks --watch` closed the review-waiting issue. It does not: that
issue is about waiting for a *review*, and its own body already records `--watch`
as the CI-only survivor. Established by reading the issue body.
Closure tail (work is done)
No successor to prime — so no launcher doc. Instead:
- Journal the outcome — invoke the
journal-noteskill to record what this session accomplished (composes it; does not reimplement journaling). - Confirm promotion — durable lessons were written to their evergreen homes in spine step 2. Verify nothing worth keeping is left only in this conversation.
- Stop. Note the session is closed.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Instead |
|---|---|
| Transcribing state into prose | Name the command that prints it |
| Omitting Corrections because nothing "big" was wrong | The small wrong claims get inherited silently |
| Growing a handoff past ~100 lines | Something wants to be an evergreen doc — promote it |
| Writing a launcher doc in closure | Closure has no successor; skip it |
| Nominating laurels for Les in adjudication | Capture is the agent's; adjudication is Les's |
| Committing a handoff | Temp directory; the durable half was promoted in step 2 |