para-summarize

name	para-summarize
description	Generate a post-work summary document for the current PARA session. Triggers on: "summarize work", "write summary", "wrap up session", "para summarize", "create a summary", "summarize this phase", "summarize what we did".

Skill: para-summarize

Generate a summary document from the current work session. Supports both simple and phased plans.

Usage

para-summarize                   # Auto-detect active plan/phase
para-summarize --phase=N         # Summarize specific phase

What to Do

1. Read context/context.md to find the active plan and current phase (if phased)
2. Run git diff and git log to analyze what changed:
   • Files modified, added, deleted
   • Commit messages from this branch
3. Determine the summary filename:
   • Simple plan: context/summaries/YYYY-MM-DD-task-name-summary.md
   • Phased plan: context/summaries/YYYY-MM-DD-task-name-phase-N-summary.md
4. Create the summary file using summary-template.md (co-located in this skill directory) with these sections:
   • Date & Status — when completed, success/failure
   • Changes Made — files modified/created with descriptions
   • Rationale — why these changes were made (reference the plan)
   • MCP Tools Used — any preprocessing tools utilized (or "None")
   • Key Learnings — insights, gotchas, follow-up tasks
   • Test Results — pass/fail status, coverage (or "N/A — documentation only")
5. Update context/context.md:
   • Move plan from active_context to completed_summaries
   • For phased plans, mark the phase status as "complete" in phased_execution
   • Update last_updated timestamp
6. Display: "Summary written to context/summaries/{filename}"

Standalone vs Workflow Invocation

Standalone (invoked manually by the user outside of para-workflow):

• After writing the summary, guide the user on next steps: push the branch, create a PR, run para-review --pr for Staff+ review
• Include push/PR guidance in the output

Workflow (invoked by para-workflow as part of the orchestrated cycle):

• The PR has already been created by the workflow orchestrator (Step 2)
• Skip the push/PR guidance -- para-workflow handles PR creation and review
• Just write the summary and update context/context.md

To detect which mode: check whether context/context.md contains a workflow object in its JSON metadata. If present, this is a workflow invocation.

After Summarizing

Run para-archive to clean up context and start fresh for the next task.

Notes

• Use actual git output to populate "Changes Made" — do not guess file names
• For phased plans, only summarize the current phase's changes (use branch diff from phase start)
• If --phase=N is specified, verify it matches the active phase in context/context.md