tunnel-state

name	tunnel-state
description	Reconstruct cognitive save-state for a domain. Returns thinking-stage, open-questions, decisions, concepts, emotional-tone — every claim carries a citation. Use when user returns to a topic.
layer	L2
reads	["L2.summaries"]
writes	[]
citations	required
determinism	temporal
allowed-tools	mcp__my-brain__tunnel_state

tunnel-state — L2 domain save-state synthesis

Framework context

Flagship L2 prosthetic skill. Synthesizes across the latest N summaries for a domain into a unified "save state." Every claim MUST carry [conv_id · YYYY-MM-DD] or [summary_id · date] citation — this is not decorative, it is the structural contract that distinguishes L2 from L1.

Purpose rooted in Masicampo & Baumeister: having a plan for an unfulfilled goal eliminates intrusive cognitive nagging, even without executing it. The output is the plan.

When to invoke

• User says "where did I leave off with X" / "what was I doing on the Y project"
• User is about to commit to a domain switch (pair with switching-cost)
• After a break of 3+ days from a domain
• NEVER invoke for "what do I think about X" (that's what-do-i-think)

Input

domain: str
limit: int = 10   # how many latest summaries to synthesize across

Output contract

Markdown with structured sections, every bullet carrying a citation:

## 🧠 Tunnel State: {domain}
**Stage**: executing | refining | crystallizing | exploring
**Emotional tone**: ... [last_summary_id · date]
**Conversations summarized**: N · **Breakthroughs**: M

### Open questions
- {question} [conv_id · date]
...

### Recent decisions
- {decision} [conv_id · date]
...

### Active concepts
{concept}, {concept}, ... (flat list — concepts do not cite individually)

### Key insights
- {insight} [conv_id · date]

### Connected domains
{domain}, {domain}, ... [no individual citation]

Does NOT do

• Cross-domain synthesis (that's L3 switching-cost / alignment-check)
• Recommend what to do next (that's L3 open-threads)
• Fabricate stage/tone when no summaries exist — use fallback path with _SUMMARIES_HINT footer
• Return a single-line summary — the output IS the structure, by design

Fallback (no summaries)

If L2 summaries are missing, degrade to keyword-expand search on L0 via _DOMAIN_KEYWORDS. Output explicitly says "operating from L0 only, citations are conversation-level" and appends _SUMMARIES_HINT.

Verification checklist

• Every bullet has a citation — no uncited claims allowed
• Stage enum is from the valid set (no freeform strings)
• If domain unknown, return "no data for domain X" (do not approximate)
• Re-run within same summaries set → identical output (temporal = depends only on inputs frozen at call time)