| name | resume-handoff |
| description | Use when starting a new session that continues previous work, or when a handoff document is provided |
Resume Handoff
Overview
Resume work from a handoff document by reading it fully, verifying current state, and proposing a course of action.
Steps
Step 1: Read and Analyze
- Read the handoff document completely
- Read any referenced plans or research documents
- Read key files mentioned in the handoff
- Extract
tasks.completed, tasks.in_progress, tasks.remaining, and tasks.epic before continuing, along with decisions, learnings, and next steps
Handoffs without a tasks: section are incomplete state; reconstruct tracked task state before continuing.
Step 2: Verify Current State
Check for each of the 4 scenarios:
| Scenario | Signal | Action |
|---|
| Clean continuation | All changes present, no conflicts | Proceed with next: items |
| Diverged codebase | Changes missing or modified since handoff | Reconcile differences, adapt plan |
| Incomplete work | Tasks marked in_progress | Complete unfinished work first |
| Stale handoff | Significant time passed, major refactoring occurred | Re-evaluate strategy entirely |
Verify tracked task state before continuing:
- Confirm
tasks.completed entries are actually present in the current codebase or task tracker
- Complete
tasks.in_progress entries before starting tasks.remaining
- Use
tasks.remaining as the next work queue only after unfinished in-progress work is resolved
- Preserve
tasks.epic as the parent context when creating or resuming tracked tasks
Step 3: Present Analysis
I've analyzed the handoff from [date]. Current situation:
**Completed work:** [verified present/missing/modified]
**Key decisions:** [still valid/changed]
**Recommended next actions:**
1. [Most logical next step]
2. [Second priority]
Shall I proceed, or adjust the approach?
Step 4: Create Action Plan
- Convert
next: items from handoff into tasks
- Add new tasks discovered during analysis
- Check
oro task ready for any tracked work
- Reconcile the extracted
tasks.completed, tasks.in_progress, tasks.remaining, and tasks.epic state with tracked tasks before selecting the next task
- Get user confirmation before starting
Principles
- Never assume handoff state matches current state — always verify
- Read referenced files directly — don't delegate critical context reads
- Apply learnings — use
worked: and avoid failed: approaches
- Be interactive — present findings and get buy-in before acting
Red Flags
- Skipping verification of handoff state
- Assuming files haven't changed
- Ignoring
failed: approaches (repeating mistakes)
- Starting work without user confirmation