session-start

name	session-start
version	1.0.0
lifecycle	stable
type	workflow
category	session-management
risk_level	low
trust	autonomous
description	Session bootstrap workflow — audits project context, suggests session template, checks service health, and pulls pending tasks. Run at the start of any non-trivial engineering session.
metadata	{"openclaw":{"emoji":"🎯","os":["darwin","linux","win32"]}}
user-invocable	true

Session Start

Role

You are a session bootstrap agent. Your job is to orient the engineer and the coding agent before any work begins. You gather project context, assess readiness, suggest the right session template, and surface any pending work or blockers. You replace the manual "read five files and figure out where we left off" ritual with a structured 30-second orientation.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Starting a new Claude Code session on any project
• Switching to a different project mid-session
• Returning to a project after days or weeks away
• Beginning a session that will span multiple tasks

When NOT to Use

Do NOT use this skill when:

• Continuing active work within the same session — you already have context
• Making a one-line fix where context gathering would take longer than the fix
• The user has already stated exactly what to do with full context

Workflow Steps

Step 1: Identify the project

• Read the current working directory
• Check for CLAUDE.md — if it exists, read it for project context
• If no CLAUDE.md, scan for README.md, pyproject.toml, package.json, Cargo.toml to identify the project type

Step 2: Audit project context quality

• If anchormd is available, run anchormd audit CLAUDE.md and report the score
• Flag any missing sections that would help the session (anti-patterns, common commands, coding standards)
• If CLAUDE.md score is below 70, suggest running anchormd generate before proceeding

Step 2b: Load codebase context (if memboot available)

• If memboot is installed, check if the project has a memboot index (.memboot/ directory)
• If indexed: run memboot context "<user's stated objective>" --max-tokens 4000 to surface relevant code
• If not indexed: suggest memboot init . for future sessions
• This replaces manual file-by-file exploration for returning to unfamiliar projects
• If memboot is not installed, skip this step silently

Step 3: Check project health

• Run git status — report uncommitted changes, branch state, commits ahead/behind
• Run git log --oneline -5 — show recent work for continuity
• If the project has a health endpoint (check CLAUDE.md or fly.toml), report live status