| name | session-resume |
| description | Use when starting a session that should continue prior work — phrases like "resume the session", "pick up where we left off", "continue from where we stopped", "where were we", "load the continuation file". Consumes the .claude/CONTINUE.md written by session-save: verifies it against the repo, re-hydrates context, briefs, then acts. Not for mid-session checkpoints (use grounding) or recalling stored facts (use repo-memory).
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Session Resume
Overview
Consume the continuation file written by session-save: verify it against reality, re-hydrate full
context, brief the user, then start on the recorded next action.
Core principle: trust the file's pointers, but verify its claims — the repo may have moved
since the save.
Procedure
- Locate
.claude/CONTINUE.md. Also check the repo root for a legacy CONTINUE.md or
HANDOFF.md. If none exists, say so plainly and fall back to git log plus repo memory —
never invent a prior state.
- Verify against reality. Compare the file's stamp and claims to the actual repo:
- Does the recorded branch still exist? Is it checked out?
- Has HEAD moved past the recorded sha? If so, summarize the intervening commits.
- Are the recorded dirty files still dirty? Stashes still present?
- Were the recorded PRs merged or closed in the interim? (
gh pr view <n>)
- Staleness: warn if the save is more than 7 days old.
Report any drift to the user before acting.
- Re-hydrate fully:
- Load repo memory (
.claude/memory/MEMORY.md and the relevant entries) if present.
- Re-read the 1–3 links under "How to resume".
- Re-run the baseline command recorded under "Environment & commands"; report pass/fail
either way.
- Brief the user in a few lines: where we were · what changed since · the next action.
- Delete the continuation file — only after the brief is delivered and verification passed.
If verification failed or the drift is severe, leave the file in place and explain why.
- Act. Start on the recorded next action.
Common mistakes
- Acting on the next action before reporting drift — the user decides what drift means.
- Deleting the file when verification failed — a failed resume must keep its source.
- Pretending to resume when no continuation file exists.
- Re-reading the whole codebase instead of trusting the file's pointers.
- Skipping the baseline command — "it passed last session" is not evidence it passes now.
