Capture Research State

Capture Research State (Desktop)

Use this skill to turn the current Claude Desktop session into durable, portable research context -- a snapshot another device can pick up later.

The destination is a visible folder at the vault root: 00-Claude-Context/. It contains an append-only session-snapshots/ subfolder plus seven durable Markdown files that summarize the cumulative research state. Obsidian Sync / iCloud / OneDrive / Syncthing replicates the folder; the next device sees it.

This skill does not replace the existing handoff skill (that one writes to the Claude Code memory dir + 00_Inbox/, single-device). Use handoff for a session-end checkpoint visible to the next chat on the same machine; use this skill when you want continuity across devices.

Operating Rules (do not violate)

1. Work only inside the selected research vault and its 00-Claude-Context/ folder.
2. Never write into Claude app data, audit logs, credentials, browser stores, caches, keychains, or operating-system configuration.
3. Treat 00-Claude-Context/session-snapshots/ as append-only. Never overwrite or delete an existing snapshot, even if asked.
4. If the context folder is missing or invalid, run the bundled helper: python "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/bin/research_sync_agent.py" init --vault "{vault path}". If python is not on PATH, fall back to py -3.12 on Windows. If neither is available, build the schema by hand from ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/context-schema.md.
5. Consult ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/context-schema.md before changing any context file.

Capture Procedure

1. Resolve the vault path. Prefer OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH from the environment; if absent, ask the user once and remember for the rest of the session.
2. Confirm 00-Claude-Context/manifest.json exists. If missing, run init (see rule 4) before continuing.
3. Build a snapshot in memory with these sections:
   • Current goal -- one paragraph.
   • Active evidence and files -- papers, vault notes, datasets, code paths.
   • Claims established -- what was settled this session (with citation keys).
   • Decisions made -- including reasoning.
   • Open questions -- unresolved items blocking progress.
   • Task ledger changes -- completed, active, deferred, abandoned.
   • Preferences or corrections learned -- user steering this session.
   • Resume prompt -- a 2-4 sentence imperative for the next session.
4. Write the snapshot to 00-Claude-Context/session-snapshots/{YYYY-MM-DDTHHMMSSZ}-{device-slug}.md. The timestamp is UTC, ISO 8601 with the Z suffix. The device slug comes from the active machine's hostname (lowercased, alphanumerics + dashes). If a file with that exact name somehow exists, append -{pid} for collision avoidance -- never overwrite.
5. Update the seven durable files from the new snapshot. Each update preserves prior content; you are appending or rewriting summary sections, not deleting:
   • current-state.md -- overwrite the "Latest snapshot summary" sections.
   • research-memory.md -- append durable facts.
   • preferences.md -- append/correct user preferences.
   • decision-log.md -- append today's decisions with date.
   • open-questions.md -- add new, mark closed-but-keep-history.
   • task-ledger.md -- move tasks between Active and Done.
   • paper-map.md -- only when papers / claims / tags changed.
6. Bump manifest.json's snapshot_count and last_updated (and last_updated_device to your slug).
7. Report one line to the user: Captured: snapshot {filename}, durable files updated. Resume on another device with "resume research state".

Conflict prevention

• Don't run init if manifest.json already exists -- it's idempotent for files but you don't need to call it.
• If validate (or your inspection) reveals a stale or corrupt durable file, prefer surgical edits to a single key rather than rewriting the file from scratch.

Quality bar

The next device should be able to read current-state.md, task-ledger.md, and the latest snapshot, then continue the research without asking the user to re-explain what happened. If you can't write a snapshot that passes that bar, report the gap honestly rather than fabricating context.