Session Work Log

Session Work Log

A session ends. The work continues -- but context evaporates. A human note ("picked up from last time, refactored auth") is not enough for an agent that will resume the task cold. This skill produces a structured artifact the next session can read programmatically: what changed, what was blocked, what state the system is in, what comes next.

This is distinct from a delegation brief (which is forward-looking, written before handing off work). The work log is backward-looking, written after work concludes.

When to trigger

• User says "write a work log", "log this session", "session end", "create a handoff artifact"
• User is wrapping up a session and wants context preserved for the next agent or session
• User explicitly says "the next agent should know X"
• Any session where meaningful state changes occurred (files written, tests run, bugs found, decisions made)

Phases

Phase 1 -- Gather Session State

Collect the following from the current session context:

1. What was attempted: the original goal or task as stated
2. What changed: files created or modified, commands run, migrations applied, configs updated
3. What was verified: tests run and their results, manual checks performed
4. What blocked: errors hit, decisions deferred, external dependencies unresolved
5. Current system state: what is running, what is stopped, what is in an intermediate state
6. What comes next: the next concrete action for whoever picks this up

If any field is unclear, ask one short question before writing. Don't leave fields empty -- write "none" or "not determined" explicitly.

Phase 2 -- Write the Artifact

Write the work log to SESSION_WORK_LOG.md at the project root (or $SESSION_LOG_PATH if set).

Format:

# Session Work Log

**Date**: YYYY-MM-DD
**Session goal**: [original task in one sentence]

## Attempted

- [Action 1]
- [Action 2]

## Changed

| File / Resource | Change |
|-----------------|--------|
| path/to/file.ts | Added X, removed Y |
| db/schema.sql   | Added column Z to table T |

## Verified

- [Test suite / check] -- [result: passed / failed / skipped]
- [Manual check] -- [result]

## Blocked

- [Blocker 1]: [brief description of what is stuck and why]
- [Blocker 2]: [what would unblock it]

## System state

- [Service / process]: [running / stopped / in progress]
- [Migration state]: [applied through migration N]

## Next action

[One concrete next step. If multiple paths exist, name the recommended one and why.]

## Context for next session

[Any non-obvious context: env var that must be set, workaround in place, external system in a particular state, decision that was made but not committed.]

Phase 3 -- Confirm and Save

Show the draft to the user. Accept corrections. Write the final version.

State where the file was written.

Storage

Default: SESSION_WORK_LOG.md at project root. Each run appends a new dated section rather than overwriting -- the file accumulates session history.

Override: $SESSION_LOG_PATH environment variable.

Verification

• All 7 sections present (attempted, changed, verified, blocked, system state, next action, context)
• "Changed" table lists specific files or resources, not vague summaries
• "Blocked" section is present -- "none" is a valid value, not a missing section
• "Next action" is one concrete step, not a wish list
• No hardcoded absolute paths in the artifact
• File written and path confirmed to user

Rules

• The artifact is machine-readable first. Prose is for the "context for next session" section only.
• Append, never overwrite. Session history is valuable.
• If the session was trivial (nothing changed, nothing blocked), still write the log -- "no changes" is useful signal.
• Credentials and secrets must never appear in the log. Reference env var names only.

Source

Nate's Newsletter, 2026-05-07 https://natesnewsletter.substack.com/p/openclaw-agent-runtime-model-swapping Pattern: TaskFlow Work Log -- structured session-end artifact that survives model swaps and cross-agent handoffs. The missing machine-readable complement to human-facing handoff notes.