session-spinup

name	session-spinup
description	Read-only session-start briefing of open tasks, git state, journal todos. Use when user says spin up, what was I doing, or pick up where I left off.
allowed-tools	Bash(bash *), Read, TodoWrite
created	"2026-05-13T00:00:00.000Z"
modified	"2026-06-24T00:00:00.000Z"
reviewed	"2026-06-24T00:00:00.000Z"

session-spinup

Read-only orientation at session start — the inverse of session-plugin:session-wrap: where wrap writes loose threads, spinup reads them back. The failure mode this prevents: the user sits down, doesn't remember what was open, and starts fresh on something else while yesterday's PR sits stale.

The deterministic work — project detection, the survey, GitHub-issue dedup against taskwarrior, staleness, journal extraction — is done by scripts/session-survey.sh (shared with session-wrap, session-end, and the spinup nudge hook). This skill runs that collector once, then applies judgment: filter the digest to what matters and suggest next moves.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when...	Use alternative when...
User says "spin up", "what was I doing", "pick up where I left off"	Resuming a TDD cycle on known state → project-plugin:project-continue
Fresh session opens with open threads (hook-nudged)	Cross-project queue health → taskwarrior-plugin:task-status
Orienting before picking the next move	Unfamiliar codebase orientation → project-plugin:project-discovery

Configuration

Same file as the other session skills: .claude/session-plugin.local.md (project) → ~/.claude/session-plugin.local.md (user-global) → none. When journal is configured and the session matches journal_scopes, pass the journal flags to the collector so the briefing includes unchecked todos from the most recent dated note. Schema: session-wrap/REFERENCE.md.

The signal filter

The collector gathers everything; you surface only what the user would otherwise miss — 3-6 item target, 10+ means trim.

SURFACE: open PR from a recent branch (especially review/CI-stale) · +ACTIVE task (work was mid-flight) · unchecked journal todo · real uncommitted edits · unpushed commits · task whose annotation reads "blocked on X" where X may now be unblocked · GitHub drift issue (the GITHUB_DRIFT section — assigned, open, untracked locally).

DO NOT SURFACE: completed tasks · merged PRs · closed issues · issues already represented by a surfaced task (the collector already dedups these out of GITHUB_DRIFT) · recurring-reminder / dataview machinery · weeks-stale tasks with no recent annotation (that's task-status's job) · +ACTIVE tasks from a different project (the STALE_ACTIVE_ELSEWHERE section — at most one footnote line, never a scope hijack).

Context

• Project config: !find . -maxdepth 2 -path '*/.claude/session-plugin.local.md'

Execution

Execute this read-only briefing:

Step 1: Read config, then run the collector once

Read .claude/session-plugin.local.md (project, then ~/.claude/ fallback) for the taskwarrior project-naming map and journal settings. Then run the shared collector — it does detection, survey, dedup, and staleness in one pass and emits a structured digest:

bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../scripts/session-survey.sh" --with-dedup

Add --project <name> when the config naming map maps the cwd to a project other than the repo basename. When the session is in journal scope, add --with-journal --journal-path <dir> (plus --journal-todo-heading / --journal-todo-stop if the config overrides the defaults). The digest sections: PROJECT, GIT, PRS, TASKWARRIOR (each task with its stable UUID + STALE_DAYS), GITHUB_DRIFT, JOURNAL, STALE_ACTIVE_ELSEWHERE.

Step 2: Apply the signal filter

Cut the digest to the 3-6 things that matter, using the filter above. The collector has already done the mechanical drops (dedup, cross-project separation, staleness numbers); your job is the judgment calls — e.g. is a "blocked on X" annotation now unblocked, is an 11-day-stale PR worth a nudge.

Step 3: Present

Compact briefing, one section per source, reflecting only the cwd project. Say "git state: clean" / "nothing pending under project:<name>" explicitly rather than omitting sections. A STALE_ACTIVE_ELSEWHERE entry gets a single footnote line at the very end, never its own scope. Example briefing: REFERENCE.md.

Step 4: Offer next moves

Suggest 2-4 concrete "next moves" and let the user pick — never auto-resume a task or start a workflow. Spinup makes the open threads visible; the user decides.

Auto-surfacing

A SessionStart hook (hooks/session-spinup-nudge.sh) runs the same collector in --summary mode and injects a one-time context note when a fresh session opens with open threads. It offers; it never runs the skill. Pre-silence: touch ~/.cache/claude-session-spinup-nudge/<session_id>.

Agentic Optimizations

Context	Command
Full digest (detection + survey + dedup + staleness)	bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../scripts/session-survey.sh" --with-dedup
With journal todos	add --with-journal --journal-path <dir>
Override detected project	add --project <name>
Coarse counts only (hook shape)	add --summary