mehdiforoozandeh catchup — back up to speed in one screen
You stepped away from this chat for a while and the details have faded. The full conversation is still in context; you just need a fast re-orientation before continuing. catchup scans the transcript and hands back a tight brief: the thread, the current state, what's blocked on you, and the next moves. Nothing more.
When it fires
/catchup, or natural cues from a returning user: "where were we", "catch me up",
"refresh me", "where are we", "remind me where we left off".
Scope — read only this conversation
Distill only the current chat transcript. Do not read git history, memory files, or project files to build the brief — days may have passed and the repo may have moved, but catchup reports what we discussed, not what the world now looks like. If the user wants the repo state too, that's a separate ask. Staying transcript-only keeps the brief honest about shared memory.
If the conversation is short or barely started, say so in one line instead of padding a four-section brief out of nothing.
The brief — always these four headers, in this order
- Thread — one line: what we're working on.
- Where we are — current state and the decisions already locked in. Pointers, not re-derivation: "we settled on X", not a re-explanation of X.
- Waiting on you — open decisions or items pending your call. Always present: if nothing is blocked on the user, write "nothing — ball's in my court."
- Next — the trajectory: the next 1–3 concrete moves.
Length — it's a brief
The whole thing fits one screen (~8–12 lines). Each section ≤2 lines; Next ≤3 bullets. Lead with signal, no preamble or "welcome back" filler. The user should absorb it in one breath and know exactly where to pick up.
After the brief
End by handing control back in one line — name the move you'd resume with and ask, or ask which thread to pull. Don't start executing; the brief exists so the user can choose.
Example
Thread — Designing
catchup, a session-refresher skill. Where we are — Scope locked: reads only the transcript, human-facing brief, no compaction. Four-section skeleton and a one-screen length budget agreed. Name chosen: catchup. Waiting on you — nothing — ball's in my court. Next — WriteSKILL.md, install it to~/.claude/skills/, smoke-test the trigger.Want me to start with the SKILL.md draft?