Recap
The user just sat down and has no context loaded — they were asleep, in a meeting, or working
elsewhere. Give them a 30-60 second read that lets them decide what to do next, not a replay of the
conversation.
1. Refresh what's actually in flight (read-only)
Check the real current state, not what the conversation last claimed — earlier messages go stale.
Cover only what applies to this session:
- Artifacts / documents produced this session — is the latest version the one described, and is
it finished or mid-edit?
- Project or uploaded files (Cowork, or a chat with a project/repo attached) — read the current
file, don't trust an earlier paste of it. On a filesystem-backed surface (Cowork), that includes
anything written to disk.
- Async or background work — a long-running task, an export, a generation the session kicked
off; if it's still going, report it as in-progress rather than waiting on it.
- Connector state — if the session acted through a connector (Slack, Google, GitHub, etc.),
check whether the action actually landed (message sent, doc saved, issue opened) instead of
assuming it did.
- Nothing to inspect but the thread? Then the conversation itself is the source — reconstruct
from it, and say the status is based on the chat rather than verified state.
This step only reads. Do not finish an artifact, send the message, save the doc, or resume an
unfinished task while refreshing — recap's whole point is a truthful snapshot, and mixing in new
work defeats it, however small the step looks.
2. Reconstruct the goal
State the goal in one line, in the user's terms, not tool or implementation language. Pull it from
the conversation and the artifacts/files in play. If it's genuinely unclear, say so rather than
guessing and presenting the guess as fact.
3. Report — short, plain, structured
Plain language, no jargon, skimmable in under a minute:
- Goal — one line.
- Status — 2-4 short lines max: done vs in-progress vs blocked, from the refreshed state in
step 1, not stale assumptions from earlier in the conversation.
- Needs from you — only when something is genuinely blocked on the user. If there's a real
decision to make, don't dump it as paragraphs: invoke
clarify-request so it arrives as one
clear question at a time with a recommended answer, instead of asking the user to read and parse
it themselves. If nothing's needed, say so plainly — don't invent a question to fill the slot.
- Next steps — a short list, each line tagged
[You] or [Me], so the user can see at a glance
what's on them versus what you'll pick up once they say go.
Don't
- Don't start, resume, or fix anything during a recap — not even something small and obviously
right. Report it and let the user decide; that decision belongs in step 3's "Needs from you" or a
[Me] next step, not something to act on now.
- Don't re-explain things the user already knows from earlier in the session — recap is written for
someone with zero loaded context, but stay terse: state the fact, skip the backstory.
- Don't pad the status with hedging or exhaustive detail. If the user wants more, they'll ask.
1---2name: recap-23description: Catch the user up when they open a session with no context loaded — reconstruct where things actually stand in the Claude app, claude.ai, or Cowork, then give a short, plain-language status report — the goal, where it stands, what's needed from them — plus a next-steps list split into mine/yours. Use when the user asks for a recap, says "catch me up" / "where did we leave off", or returns after being away. Read-only — never resumes or continues the work.4---56# Recap78The user just sat down and has no context loaded — they were asleep, in a meeting, or working9elsewhere. Give them a 30-60 second read that lets them decide what to do next, not a replay of the10conversation.1112## 1. Refresh what's actually in flight (read-only)1314Check the real current state, not what the conversation last claimed — earlier messages go stale.15Cover only what applies to this session:1617- **Artifacts / documents** produced this session — is the latest version the one described, and is18 it finished or mid-edit?19- **Project or uploaded files** (Cowork, or a chat with a project/repo attached) — read the current20 file, don't trust an earlier paste of it. On a filesystem-backed surface (Cowork), that includes21 anything written to disk.22- **Async or background work** — a long-running task, an export, a generation the session kicked23 off; if it's still going, report it as in-progress rather than waiting on it.24- **Connector state** — if the session acted through a connector (Slack, Google, GitHub, etc.),25 check whether the action actually landed (message sent, doc saved, issue opened) instead of26 assuming it did.27- **Nothing to inspect but the thread?** Then the conversation itself is the source — reconstruct28 from it, and say the status is based on the chat rather than verified state.2930This step only **reads**. Do not finish an artifact, send the message, save the doc, or resume an31unfinished task while refreshing — recap's whole point is a truthful snapshot, and mixing in new32work defeats it, however small the step looks.3334## 2. Reconstruct the goal3536State the goal in one line, in the user's terms, not tool or implementation language. Pull it from37the conversation and the artifacts/files in play. If it's genuinely unclear, say so rather than38guessing and presenting the guess as fact.3940## 3. Report — short, plain, structured4142Plain language, no jargon, skimmable in under a minute:4344- **Goal** — one line.45- **Status** — 2-4 short lines max: done vs in-progress vs blocked, from the refreshed state in46 step 1, not stale assumptions from earlier in the conversation.47- **Needs from you** — only when something is genuinely blocked on the user. If there's a real48 decision to make, don't dump it as paragraphs: invoke **`clarify-request`** so it arrives as one49 clear question at a time with a recommended answer, instead of asking the user to read and parse50 it themselves. If nothing's needed, say so plainly — don't invent a question to fill the slot.51- **Next steps** — a short list, each line tagged `[You]` or `[Me]`, so the user can see at a glance52 what's on them versus what you'll pick up once they say go.5354## Don't5556- Don't start, resume, or fix anything during a recap — not even something small and obviously57 right. Report it and let the user decide; that decision belongs in step 3's "Needs from you" or a58 `[Me]` next step, not something to act on now.59- Don't re-explain things the user already knows from earlier in the session — recap is written for60 someone with zero loaded context, but stay terse: state the fact, skip the backstory.61- Don't pad the status with hedging or exhaustive detail. If the user wants more, they'll ask.
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