project-pulse

name	project-pulse
description	This skill should be used when the user asks to "end session", "capture state", "session summary", "what changed this session", "summarize repos", "write session notes", or wants to capture multi-repo state at the end of a work session.
model	sonnet
effort	medium
allowed-tools	["Read","Write","Bash"]

project-pulse

Capture branch/commit/PR state across all active repos at session end. Write to both memory files and the Obsidian daily note.

See references/active-repos.md for discovery method, output paths, and session diff format.

Repo Discovery

Scan all subdirectories of $HOME/dev/ that contain a .git/ directory. By default, only include repos that have a GitHub remote (public). Repos with only a Gitea remote are private/employer projects and excluded unless the user explicitly asks for all repos.

for dir in $HOME/dev/*/; do
  [ -d "$dir/.git" ] || continue
  # Check for a github.com remote (origin or github)
  git -C "$dir" remote -v 2>/dev/null | grep -q 'github\.com' && basename "$dir"
done

To include all repos (public + private), the user can say "pulse all" or "include private repos".

State Capture Per Repo

Run for each discovered repo. Skip directories where git -C <path> status fails.

Core state (always collected)

git -C ~/dev/<repo> branch --show-current
git -C ~/dev/<repo> log --oneline -5
git -C ~/dev/<repo> status --short
gh -C ~/dev/<repo> pr list --state open --limit 3 2>/dev/null || true

Extended context (24h and 7d activity)

Collect these for every repo to provide historical context beyond the current session:

# Last commit age (human-readable + ISO)
git -C ~/dev/<repo> log -1 --format="%ar (%ai)"

# Commits in the last 24 hours (all branches)
git -C ~/dev/<repo> log --oneline --since="24 hours ago" --all

# Commits in the last 7 days (all branches, count only)
git -C ~/dev/<repo> log --oneline --since="7 days ago" --all | wc -l

# Recent tags
git -C ~/dev/<repo> tag --sort=-creatordate | head -3

# Stash count
git -C ~/dev/<repo> stash list | wc -l

# Worktree count (>1 means active worktrees beyond the main checkout)
git -C ~/dev/<repo> worktree list | wc -l

# All local branches (cap at 10)
git -C ~/dev/<repo> branch -a | head -10

Session commits

To count commits made this session, use the earliest log entry from the current session as a boundary. If session start time is unknown, use last 4 hours:

git -C ~/dev/<repo> log --oneline --since="4 hours ago"

Writing to Memory

Write session state to the project memory file:

~/.claude/projects/-Users-joe-dev-<repo>/memory/session_YYYY-MM-DD.md

Format:

---
name: session-2026-04-03
description: Session state snapshot for 2026-04-03
type: project
---

## Session State — 2026-04-03

**Branch:** feat/gc-images
**Last commit:** abc1234 fix: clean up GC loop (3 days ago)
**Latest tag:** v0.31.0

### Activity

| Window   | Commits |
| -------- | ------- |
| Session  | 3       |
| 24 hours | 5       |
| 7 days   | 28      |

**Stashes:** 4 | **Worktrees:** 2 | **Local branches:** 8

**Open PRs:**

- #42 feat: image GC (draft)

**Uncommitted changes:** none

Only write memory files for repos where something actually happened — commits (session, 24h, or 7d), open PRs, uncommitted changes, or notable stash/worktree counts. Skip repos that are completely dormant (zero activity across all windows, clean tree, no stashes, single worktree).

Writing to Obsidian

Append under ## Session Pulse in today's daily note:

$HOME/Documents/Obsidian Vault/Daily Notes/YYYY-MM-DD.md

## Session Pulse

| Repo    | Branch         | Session | 24h | 7d  | Last Commit | Stashes | Status |
| ------- | -------------- | ------- | --- | --- | ----------- | ------- | ------ |
| minibox | feat/gc-images | +3      | +5  | 113 | 3d ago      | 12      | clean  |
| doob    | main           | 0       | +3  | 3   | 15h ago     | 4       | clean  |
| devloop | main           | 0       | 0   | 0   | 4w ago      | 3       | clean  |

If the daily note doesn't exist, create it with the pulse section only — do not add other content or headers beyond # YYYY-MM-DD.

If a ## Session Pulse section already exists in the daily note (from an earlier pulse run today), replace it entirely rather than appending a second table.

Sort rows by activity: repos with session commits first, then 24h commits, then 7d commits, then by last commit recency. This puts the most active repos at the top.

Repos with No Activity

Include repos with zero commits across all windows in the table — this confirms the repo was checked, not skipped. Omit repos entirely only if the git command fails.

Using the herald Agent

For narrative synthesis, invoke the herald agent after pulse:

"Synthesize today's session into the Obsidian daily note"

herald produces prose narrative; project-pulse produces structured state tables. Run pulse first to generate the table, then herald to wrap it in context.

Pairing with handoff

After project-pulse, run handoff to write HANDOFF.yaml with actionable next steps. Pulse captures what happened; handoff captures what's next.

Additional Resources

• references/active-repos.md — discovery method, session diff format, output paths.