| name | rebar-coldstart |
| description | Use at the start of every session in a REBAR-managed repo, before the first substantive task — and any time you catch yourself working from stale context (post-compaction restart, missing cold-start hook output, QUICKCONTEXT claims that don't match git reality). Runs the session-start ritual that grounds you in current project state. |
rebar-coldstart — the session-start ritual
Canonical practice: rebar:practice/session-lifecycle (Session Start section)
— resolve with scripts/rebar-doc.sh rebar:practice/session-lifecycle --cat
(or rebar doc if the CLI is installed).
This skill is a pointer to the ritual, not a replacement for the practice doc.
Steps
- Read the cold-start quad:
QUICKCONTEXT.md, TODO.md, CLAUDE.md
(or AGENTS.md where that is the agent-facing doc), and recent reality —
git log --oneline -15.
- Look for the hook output. A
SessionStart hook (configured in
.claude/settings.json) runs scripts/cold-start-checks.sh and injects a
<rebar-cold-start>…</rebar-cold-start> block into your first turn. If the
block is present, read it — it is harness ground truth, not prose.
- No block? Run it yourself. On harnesses without hooks (or before the
hook is installed), run
scripts/cold-start-checks.sh manually and read
its output. Missing block = missing hook; say so.
- Cross-check freshness. Compare QUICKCONTEXT claims against
git log;
if its last-synced date is >1 week old, treat all claims as suspect and
verify before acting.
- Coordination seats only: if this repo holds a peer
inbox/, sweep it
first (ls -lat inbox/ | head), then arm scripts/inbox-watch.sh as a
persistent background monitor — see the rebar-inbox-watch skill.
Do not start substantive work until steps 1–4 are done.
