| name | session-continuation |
| description | Detect interruption, classify the resumption type, and send a resume packet so the project-lead continues a session without losing context. |
session-continuation
Purpose
When a session is interrupted (crash, timeout, user pause, context overflow),
classify what happened and produce a resume packet so the project-lead — or the
next agent in the chain — can pick up where it left off without re-doing work
or losing state.
When to use
- At the start of every new session (the project-lead checks for a prior session).
- When a delegate times out or crashes mid-task.
- When the project-lead detects an interrupted workflow and needs to resume.
Procedure
- Detect interruption — check for signals of a prior session:
- Active feature pointer with
phase not in terminal state
- Open task packets with
[~] (in-progress) markers in TASKS.md
- Uncommitted changes in
git status that match the active feature's scope
- A REVIEW_NEEDED artifact from a capped delegate
- Classify resumption type:
- Pause — user explicitly paused; work is clean and checkpointed. Resume
from the next task in the sequence.
- Crash — unexpected termination; work may be in an unknown state. Check
git status and last task marker; re-run the gate to assess.
- Timeout — delegate exceeded turn cap; the task packet has a REVIEW_NEEDED
or partial result. Escalate or re-delegate with tighter scope.
- Left — delegate returned but project-lead didn't process the result.
Recontextualize the return and decide the next action.
- Build the resume packet — produce a 5-field packet (INTENT · CONTEXT ·
CONSTRAINTS · REFERENCES · EXPECTED OUTCOME) that:
- States what was in progress (feature, task, phase)
- Summarizes what's known from the last checkpoint
- Identifies what needs to happen next
- Flags any blockers or degraded state
- Set the resume point — update the active feature's phase and the task
markers to reflect the current position so the next session starts clean.
Outputs
- A resume packet ready for the project-lead or the owning lead.
- Classified interruption type with the appropriate action.
- Updated feature/task state so the next session knows where it is.
Anti-patterns
- Restarting from scratch without checking for prior session state — wastes work
and creates duplicate artifacts.
- Assuming a crash didn't corrupt state — always run
aspis preflight and the
gate before resuming after a crash.
- Treating a timeout the same as a crash — a timeout means the delegate hit its
cap, which is a different recovery path (escalate or re-delegate, not just re-run).
- Skipping the resume packet — the next agent needs context; don't expect it to
derive the state from raw project files.
