synthesisengineering Project Resume
Version 1.1.0 (2026-09-21): name-addressed invocation — the R1 prompt names the skill and the workspace, never a filesystem path.
Version 1.0.0 (2026-09-20): first release — the R1–R10 resume
contract, the three-way session classification, the one-screen
resumption brief, and scripts/resume_probe.py for machine-readable
project status.
The normative contract is references/requirements.md. This file is the operating protocol. It assumes nothing about the harness beyond a file system and git: no slash commands, no plugin loader, no MCP servers.
1. Invocation
The console emits the resume prompt (R1):
Use the skill synthesis-project-resume to resume the synthesis
project with id <id> in the synthesis project management
workspace <name>.
If your harness loads synthesis skills natively, this skill is
already in your context under that name — invoke it if your
harness needs an explicit call (Codex: $synthesis-project-resume)
and continue at §2. Otherwise (skill-less harnesses such as
Cursor), locate the skill file by searching your installed skills
for synthesis-project-resume/SKILL.md: the Claude, Codex, and
Muse plugin caches first, then ~/.claude/skills and
~/.agents/skills. Read it first and follow it. If no copy
exists anywhere, stop and say to install synthesis-skills.
Resolve the workspace name to its repo checkout: the knowledge
repo is ai-knowledge-{workspace} — exact match first — else the
unique ai-knowledge-{workspace}-* directory under the workspace
roots (~/workspaces/*). If several match or none does, ask once
and remember. Unknown project id means R6 (start): interview
briefly (name, goal, workspace, repo family) and scaffold per the
project-management contract, then continue as a fresh resume.
2. Classify the session (R2)
Compare the requested project against the project your loaded context names — the index entry, CONTEXT, or working files already live in this session:
- Continuing — same project already live. Say so in one line and keep working. Never reload-and-resummarize live context.
- Fresh — no project loaded. Run the fresh-resume load (§3).
- Wrong-project paste — a different project is live here. STOP. Name both projects and what is at stake in the live one, then ask whether to switch, and wait. Never strand live work silently.
When the session's project is ambiguous (fragments of several projects in context), treat it as case 3 and name the candidates. False continuity corrupts; false caution costs one question.
3. Fresh-resume load (R3, R5, R8)
- Pull the knowledge repo (fast-forward only; divergence is reported, never force-resolved).
- Read the index entry,
RESUME_STATE.json(v2; verify the skeleton when present),CURRENT_STATE.json(operational handoff, when present),CONTEXT.md,REFERENCE.md, the two most recent session files, and any handoff queue entries — in that order. - Run
scripts/resume_probe.py(sibling of this SKILL.md) for the machine-readable status (newest session, cross-machine changes, format version). - Check the coordination board for live foreign claims on the project paths (R4). Overlap means read-only until the principal decides — say who, what, since when.
- Check the format version (R9). Older than installed means migrate-verify-resume through the versioned format contract before any other write.
- Deliver the one-screen resumption brief: goal in one line, where it stands, the newest three facts, open loops with owners, the suggested next action. State what was loaded and the newest item's date.
4. Cross-machine surfacing (R5)
git log on the project path since this machine's last touch is
part of every brief: "Mac B moved this yesterday — two session
appends and a REFERENCE update." The principal should feel
continuity, not a cold start. When the probe cannot reach the
remotes, say so once (R10) and resume from local state.
5. What the skill refuses
- Switching projects on a wrong-project paste without confirmation.
- Writing through a live foreign claim.
- Claiming context it did not read.
- Resuming a stale-format project without migrating it first.
- Force-resolving repo divergence to make a resume "clean."