Session Management

Session Management Skill

Activate this skill for all session state operations during Maestro orchestration. This skill defines the protocols for creating, updating, resuming, and archiving orchestration sessions.

State Access Protocol

When MCP state tools are available, prefer them for state operations:

• Preferred: MCP tools (initialize_workspace, create_session, update_session, transition_phase, get_session_status, archive_session) — structured I/O, atomic operations.
• Fallback: write_file/replace directly on state files — when MCP tools are not in the available tool list.
• Legacy: Shell scripts (write-state.js, read-state.js) — remain available but are not the recommended path.

Detection: check whether MCP state tools appear in your available tools. If they do, use them. If they do not, use write_file/replace.

Hook-Level Session State

Maestro hooks maintain a separate, transient state directory under ${MAESTRO_HOOKS_DIR:-<os.tmpdir()>/maestro-hooks-<uid>}/<session-id>/ that is distinct from orchestration state in <MAESTRO_STATE_DIR>:

The pre-delegation hook prunes stale hook state directories older than 2 hours to prevent accumulation from abnormal session terminations.

The orchestrator does not read or write hook-level state directly. It interacts only with <MAESTRO_STATE_DIR> paths. The two state systems are independent and serve different concerns.

Session Creation Protocol

When to Create

For Standard workflow, create a new session at execution setup after the design document and implementation plan are approved and the execution mode gate has resolved. For Express workflow, create a session after the structured brief is approved (see Express Workflow section in the orchestrator template).

Session ID Format

YYYY-MM-DD-<topic-slug>

Where:

• YYYY-MM-DD is the orchestration start date
• <topic-slug> is a lowercase, hyphenated summary matching the design document topic

File Location

<MAESTRO_STATE_DIR>/state/active-session.md

All state paths in this skill use <MAESTRO_STATE_DIR> as their base directory (default: docs/maestro). In procedural steps, <state_dir> represents the resolved value of this variable.

State File Access

Both read_file and write_file work on state paths inside <MAESTRO_STATE_DIR>. The runtime's file-access configuration makes state paths accessible.

Use the runtime's bundled scripts/ directory for these helper commands so they still work when the extension is installed outside the workspace root.

Reading state files: Use read_file directly. The read-state.js script remains available as an alternative for TOML shell blocks that inject state before the model's first turn:

run_shell_command: node <runtime-script-root>/read-state.js <relative-path>

Writing state files: Use write_file directly. When content must be piped from a shell command, use the atomic write script:

run_shell_command: echo '...' | node <runtime-script-root>/write-state.js <relative-path>

Rules:

• The write-state.js script writes atomically (temp file + rename) to prevent partial writes
• Both scripts validate against absolute paths and path traversal

Initialization Steps

1. Resolve state directory from MAESTRO_STATE_DIR
2. Create <state_dir>/state/ directory if it does not exist (defense-in-depth fallback — workspace readiness startup check is the primary mechanism)
3. Verify no existing active-session.md — if one exists, alert the user and offer to archive or resume
4. Generate session state using the session-state template loaded via get_skill_content
5. Initialize all phases as pending
6. Set overall status to in_progress
7. Set current_phase to 1
8. Record design document and implementation plan paths
9. Initialize empty token_usage, file manifests, downstream_context, and errors sections

Initial State Template

---
session_id: "<YYYY-MM-DD-topic-slug>"
task: "<user's original task description>"
created: "<ISO 8601 timestamp>"
updated: "<ISO 8601 timestamp>"
status: "in_progress"
workflow_mode: "<standard|express>"
design_document: "<state_dir>/plans/<design-doc-filename>"
implementation_plan: "<state_dir>/plans/<impl-plan-filename>"
current_phase: 1
total_phases: <integer from impl plan>
execution_mode: null
execution_backend: null
task_complexity: null

token_usage:
  total_input: 0
  total_output: 0
  total_cached: 0
  by_agent: {}

phases:
  - id: 1
    name: "<phase name from impl plan>"
    status: "pending"
    agents: []
    parallel: false
    started: null
    completed: null
    blocked_by: []
    files_created: []
    files_modified: []
    files_deleted: []
    downstream_context:
      key_interfaces_introduced: []
      patterns_established: []
      integration_points: []
      assumptions: []
      warnings: []
    errors: []
    retry_count: 0
---

# <Topic> Orchestration Log

Include task_complexity (from design document frontmatter) in the session state. Place after execution_backend, before token_usage. Default: null.

State Update Protocol

Update Triggers

Update session state on every meaningful state change:

• Phase status transitions
• File manifest changes
• Downstream context extraction from completed phases
• Error occurrences
• Token usage increments
• Phase completion or failure

Update Rules

1. Timestamp: Update updated field on every state change
2. Phase Status: Transition phase status following valid transitions:
   • pending -> in_progress
   • in_progress -> completed
   • in_progress -> failed
   • failed -> in_progress (retry)
   • pending -> skipped (user decision only)
3. Current Phase: Update current_phase to the ID of the currently executing phase
4. File Manifest: Append to files_created, files_modified, or files_deleted as subagents report changes
5. Downstream Context: Persist parsed Handoff Report Part 2 fields into phase downstream_context
6. Token Usage: Aggregate token counts from subagent responses into both total_* and by_agent sections
7. Error Recording: Append to phase errors array with complete metadata

Error Recording Format

errors:
  - agent: "<agent-name>"
    timestamp: "<ISO 8601>"
    type: "<validation|timeout|file_conflict|runtime|dependency>"
    message: "<full error description>"
    resolution: "<what was done to resolve, or 'pending'>"
    resolved: false

Retry Tracking

• Increment retry_count on each retry attempt
• Maximum 2 retries per phase before escalating to user
• Record each retry as a separate error entry with resolution details

Markdown Body Updates

After updating YAML frontmatter, append to the Markdown body:

## Phase N: <Phase Name> <status indicator>

### <Agent Name> Output
[Summary of agent output or full content]

### Files Changed
- Created: [list]
- Modified: [list]

### Downstream Context
- Key Interfaces Introduced: [list]
- Patterns Established: [list]
- Integration Points: [list]
- Assumptions: [list]
- Warnings: [list]

### Validation Result
[Pass/Fail with details]

Status indicators:

• Completed: checkmark
• In Progress: circle
• Failed: cross
• Pending: square
• Skipped: dash

Archive Protocol

When to Archive

Archive session state when:

• All phases are completed successfully AND MAESTRO_AUTO_ARCHIVE is true (default)
• User explicitly requests archival (regardless of MAESTRO_AUTO_ARCHIVE setting)
• User starts a new orchestration (previous session must be archived first, regardless of setting)

When MAESTRO_AUTO_ARCHIVE is false, prompt the user after successful completion: "Session complete. Auto-archive is disabled. Would you like to archive this session?"

Archive Steps

If archive_session appears in your available tools, use it — a single call handles all archival:

1. Call archive_session with the session ID. The MCP tool atomically:
   • Updates session status to completed
   • Moves active-session.md to <state_dir>/state/archive/<session-id>.md
   • Moves design document to <state_dir>/plans/archive/ (if it exists and is non-null)
   • Moves implementation plan to <state_dir>/plans/archive/ (if it exists and is non-null)
2. Confirm archival to user with summary of what was archived (use the archived_files array in the response)

If archive_session is not available, fall back to manual file operations:

1. Create <state_dir>/plans/archive/ directory if it does not exist
2. Create <state_dir>/state/archive/ directory if it does not exist
3. MOVE (not copy) design document from <state_dir>/plans/ to <state_dir>/plans/archive/ — the original MUST be deleted. Use the shell-command tool from runtime context with mv or read+write+delete. Do NOT leave the file in both locations. Skip this step if design_document is null (Express sessions).
4. MOVE (not copy) implementation plan from <state_dir>/plans/ to <state_dir>/plans/archive/ — same: delete the original. Skip this step if implementation_plan is null (Express sessions).
5. Update session state status to completed
6. Update updated timestamp
7. MOVE (not copy) active-session.md from <state_dir>/state/ to <state_dir>/state/archive/<session-id>.md — delete the original.
8. Confirm archival to user with summary of what was archived

Archive Verification

After archival, verify ALL of the following (archive is incomplete if any check fails):

• No active-session.md exists in <state_dir>/state/
• No plan files remain in <state_dir>/plans/ (only the archive/ subdirectory should be present)
• Archived files are readable at their new locations in archive/
• If files still exist in the original locations, delete them now — the archive step used copy instead of move

Resume Protocol

When to Resume

Resume is triggered by the /maestro:resume command or when /maestro:orchestrate detects an existing active session.

Resume Steps

1. Read State: If session state was already injected into the prompt (e.g., via /maestro:resume), use that injected content instead of calling get_session_status. Otherwise, if get_session_status appears in your available tools, call it to read the active session. Otherwise, read state via run_shell_command: node <runtime-script-root>/read-active-session.js (resolves MAESTRO_STATE_DIR internally)
2. Parse Frontmatter: Extract YAML frontmatter for session metadata
3. Identify Position: Determine:
   • Last completed phase (highest ID with status: completed)
   • Current active phase (first phase with status: in_progress or pending)
   • Any failed phases with unresolved errors
4. Check Errors: Identify unresolved errors from previous execution
5. Present Summary: Display status summary to user using the resume format defined in the orchestrator instructions
6. Handle Errors: If unresolved errors exist:
   • Present each error with context
   • Offer options: retry, skip, abort, or adjust parameters
   • Wait for user guidance before proceeding
7. Continue Execution: Resume from the first pending or failed phase
8. Update State: Mark resumed phase as in_progress and update timestamps

Express Resume Branch

When resuming a session with workflow_mode: "express" (read from session state via get_session_status), follow the Express workflow's resume protocol instead of the standard resume steps above:

• If phase status is pending: re-generate and present the structured brief for approval. On approval, proceed to delegation.
• If phase status is in_progress: the implementing agent was interrupted. Re-delegate with the same scope. Use the agents array to identify which agent was running.
• If phase status is completed but session status is in_progress: code review or archival was interrupted. Run the code review step, then archive.

Express sessions have a single phase. The phase status combined with the agents array contents determines the resume position.

Conflict Detection

When resuming, check for potential conflicts:

• Files that were partially modified (phase started but not completed)
• External modifications to files in the manifest since last session
• Changes to the implementation plan since last execution

Report any detected conflicts to the user before proceeding.

Token Usage Tracking

Collection

After each subagent invocation, record:

• Input tokens consumed
• Output tokens generated
• Cached tokens used (if available)

Aggregation

Maintain two levels of aggregation:

1. Total: Sum across all agents and phases
2. By Agent: Per-agent totals across all their invocations

Format

token_usage:
  total_input: 15000
  total_output: 8000
  total_cached: 3000
  by_agent:
    coder:
      input: 8000
      output: 4000
      cached: 2000
    tester:
      input: 7000
      output: 4000
      cached: 1000

Source: josstei/maestro-orchestrate → src/skills/shared/session-management/SKILL.md

Also appears in: josstei/maestro-orchestrate/claude/src/skills/shared/session-management/SKILL.md, josstei/maestro-orchestrate/plugins/maestro/src/skills/shared/session-management/SKILL.md