resume-handoff

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

1. Read the handoff document completely
2. Read any referenced plans or research documents
3. Read key files mentioned in the handoff
4. 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