Rai Session Close

Session Close

Purpose

Close a session by reflecting on outcomes and feeding structured data to the CLI for atomic persistence.

Mastery Levels (ShuHaRi)

• Shu: Detailed handoff with explanations of what was captured
• Ha: Standard handoff, explain only notable items
• Ri: Minimal handoff — next step and open items only

Context

When to use: At the end of every working session.

Quick close: For short sessions, use CLI flags directly instead of a state file:

rai session close --summary "Quick fix session" --type maintenance --project .

Steps

Step 1: Craft Session Title

Generate a descriptive session title (max 80 chars) that captures what was accomplished — not planned, accomplished. Include the epic/story name (not just the number) so the title is self-explanatory without looking up Jira. Use the format: SES-{ID}: {title}.

Good (descriptive, includes context):

• SES-321: E355 Branch Model Evolution cerrado + backlog review y priorización E354
• SES-318: E347 Backlog Automation — epic completo, 7 stories, merge a dev
• SES-316: Backlog sync + Semgrep MCP investigation

Bad (too terse, requires lookup):

• SES-321: E355 complete + backlog review
• SES-318: E347 done

The title will be used in the summary field of the state file AND presented to the human for /rename.

Step 2: Reflect & Produce State File

Use inference to reflect on the session and write a YAML state file.

IMPORTANT: Read .raise/rai/personal/session-output.yaml first if it exists — Claude Code requires reading a file before overwriting it. Same for dev/parking-lot.md when capturing tangents.

State file structure:

# .raise/rai/personal/session-output.yaml
session_id: "{SES-ID}"
summary: "{session_title}"  # The concise title from Step 1
type: feature  # feature | research | maintenance | infrastructure | ideation
outcomes:
  - "Concrete deliverable 1"
patterns:
  - description: "Pattern learned"
    context: "tag1,tag2"
    type: process
corrections:
  - what: "Behavioral observation"
    lesson: "Lesson learned"
coaching:                          # Only include fields that changed
  trust_level: "established"
  strengths: ["structured thinking"]
  growth_edge: "async patterns"
  autonomy: "high within defined scope"
  relationship:
    quality: "productive"
    trajectory: "stable"
current_work:
  release: V3.0
  epic: E15
  story: S15.7
  phase: implement
  branch: story/s15.7/session-protocol
pending:
  decisions: []
  blockers: []
  next_actions: ["Continue with Task 7"]
narrative: |
  ## Decisions
  - Key decisions and WHY
  ## Research
  - Conclusions with file paths
  ## Artifacts
  - Files created/modified
  ## Branch State
  - Branch and commits ahead of base
next_session_prompt: |
  Forward-looking guidance to future Rai. What to prioritize,
  what to watch for, what context will be critical.

Capture tangents: Check conversation for ideas → add to dev/parking-lot.md.

Step 3: Clean Working Tree

Before closing, ensure no uncommitted changes are left behind:

1. Run git status
2. If working tree is clean → proceed to Step 3
3. If there are uncommitted changes → present them to the human with options:
   • Commit: stage and commit with a descriptive message
   • Discard: git restore the files (confirm first)
   • Leave: explicitly acknowledge the leftovers in the handoff
4. Do NOT close the session with a dirty working tree unless the human explicitly chooses "Leave"

Step 4: Feed CLI

rai session close --state-file .raise/rai/personal/session-output.yaml --session {SES-ID} --project .

This atomically: records session in index, appends patterns, updates coaching, writes session state, clears active session.

Present the closing card:

## Session Closed: SES-{ID} {session_title}

**Type:** {type}
**Outcomes:**
- {outcome 1}
- {outcome 2}
**Patterns:** {N new} | **Working tree:** {clean | N files uncommitted}

### Next Session
**Continue:** [next step]
**Open:** [unresolved questions, if any]

Output

Quality Checklist

• Session ID matches the active session from session-start
• Summary reflects actual outcomes (not planned intent)
• Narrative enables next session to resume immediately
• Next session prompt is actionable and specific
• Tangents captured in parking lot (if any)
• Working tree clean (or leftovers explicitly acknowledged)
• CLI close command executed successfully

References

• Complement: /rai-session-start
• Session state: .raise/rai/session-state.yaml
• Parking lot: dev/parking-lot.md