| name | context-gate |
| description | One-shot context-checkpoint workflow — when the current session is getting cluttered, write a structured handover plan capturing what's done and what's outstanding, then offer to spawn a fresh Claude session that opens already aware of the plan. Use when the user says "context is getting heavy", "let's checkpoint here", "stop, handover, restart", "context-gate", or otherwise signals they want to wrap the current session and continue cleanly in a new one. |
Context Gate
A controlled checkpoint between sessions. When context gets cluttered or you've reached a natural pause, this skill orchestrates the three-step "stop → handover → resume cleanly" workflow as a single action so you don't have to remember each step or which skill to invoke.
Why use this
Long Claude sessions accumulate noise — exploratory tool calls, abandoned approaches, reasoning that's no longer load-bearing. A fresh session reading a tight handover plan starts faster, makes fewer mistakes, and costs less per turn than letting context drift toward the limit. This skill makes the swap a one-step action.
What it does
- Pause the current session. Stop further work. Surface anything in flight that the new session needs to know.
- Write a handover plan by delegating to
handover-with-tasks (in this same plugin). The plan captures: what the user originally asked, what's been done, what's outstanding, any decisions made, any open questions, and any pitfalls discovered. Saved to a known location so the next session can find it.
- Offer to spawn a fresh session that opens with the plan as context. Default form: a new terminal at the current working directory with the plan already passed as the first message. Delegate to
new-claude-here (also in this plugin) with the plan path baked in.
- Confirm the handoff. Show the plan path and the launch command. The user just approves; they're in a clean session in seconds.
The user types /claude-rudder:context-gate once. The orchestration happens behind that one entry point.
Inputs
The skill takes no required arguments. It infers what's relevant from the current conversation. Optional:
--reason <text> — short note explaining why the user is checkpointing (e.g. "context cluttered after long migration debug"). Goes into the plan header.--no-resume — write the plan but don't offer to spawn a new session. User can launch later manually.--plan-path <path> — override where the plan is saved. Default per the resolver below.
Plan path resolver
Default location, in order of preference:
- If
cwd is inside a git repo → <repo-root>/planning/handovers/handover-<YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM>.md. Auto-run scaffold-planning first if planning/ is missing.
- Else →
${CLAUDE_USER_DATA:-${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/claude-plugins}/claude-rudder/handovers/handover-<YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM>.md.
Use ISO-8601 minute resolution so multiple handovers per day sort cleanly.
Plan structure
Delegate authorship to handover-with-tasks but ensure the resulting plan has these sections (the existing skill should already produce most of them):
# Handover — <YYYY-MM-DD HHMM>
## Why this checkpoint
<one or two lines: the reason for stopping>
## Original ask
<what the user originally requested at the top of the session>
## Done
- <bullets of completed work, with file paths or commit hashes where useful>
## Outstanding
- <bullets of remaining tasks, ordered by priority>
## Decisions made
- <key choices: why this approach, what was rejected, any user calls>
## Open questions
- <things the new session should ask the user about, if any>
## Gotchas / pitfalls
- <surprises encountered, dead ends, things the new session shouldn't waste time on>
## Pointers
- Repo: <path>
- Branch: <name>
- Last commit: <sha + msg>
- Relevant files: <list>
Resume command
After writing the plan, print exactly one launch command the user can copy or approve, e.g.:
claude --message "Read $PLAN_PATH and continue from the Outstanding section. Ask me before doing anything destructive."
If the user agrees, delegate to new-claude-here with that message pre-filled. If they decline (--no-resume or "not yet"), just print the path and exit — they can resume any time.
Confirmation flow
After the plan is written, show:
✓ Handover plan written: <absolute path>
Reason: <reason or "(none)">
Outstanding items: <count>
Spawn a new Claude session pre-loaded with this plan? [Y/n]
If Y: launch via new-claude-here.
If n: print the manual resume command and exit.
Hard rules
- Don't summarise speculatively. The handover should reflect what actually happened in this session, not what Claude thinks should happen next. If a decision is uncertain, mark it as an open question rather than committing to it.
- Don't include sensitive output. Strip tokens, API keys, raw credential values from any tool output quoted in the plan. References by env var name or
op:// are fine.
- One plan per gate. Don't append to an existing plan — checkpoints are point-in-time snapshots. If the user wants a multi-day journal, that's a different workflow.
- Don't auto-launch. Always confirm before spawning a new session. The user might want to read the plan first.
