start

name	start
description	Start session — load status, DB, CLAUDE.md.
effort	fast
context	inline

/start — Session Start (SENAR-aligned)

Load project context, start session. Token-economy: minimum work, maximum signal.

Algorithm

Phase 0 — Skill profile auto-rebuild (silent, hook-driven)

The SessionStart hook (scripts/hooks/session_start.py::_auto_rebuild_skills) detects current (ide, model) via env > .tausik/config.json > auto-detect, compares with .tausik/.session.json, and runs rebuild_skills (sha256 cache) if anything changed. No agent action required — runs before Phase 1. Manual override: tausik skill rebuild [--force] or tausik config set {ide,model}_profile <slug>. Inspect resolved tuple with tausik config show.

Phase 1 — Open + gather (single compound RPC)

Check .tausik/tausik.db exists. If not — tell user: python .tausik-lib/bootstrap/bootstrap.py --init. Stop.

Run one MCP tool — tausik_session_open (no args). It returns a JSON envelope with all 5 dashboard signals already aggregated server-side:

• session — current session id + started_at (auto-started if absent)
• status — compact JSON identical to tausik_status({"compact": true}), includes exploration + audit_overdue_sessions when relevant
• handoff — last session's handoff dict, or null if none
• tasks.active + tasks.blocked — slim {slug,title,status} entries (planning is in CLAUDE.md already)
• self_check — MCP freshness report; check drift_detected for stale-module warning

Each section is best-effort: a sub-call failure surfaces as an error key inside that section, the other four still render. Drift fallback: if self_check.drift_detected=true, do NOT trust subsequent MCP results in this session — warn the user and fall back to .tausik/tausik CLI (which reloads from disk every call) until IDE restart.

Skip these by default — they bloat context without commensurate signal:

• tausik_metrics — pull only on user request (/metrics)
• tausik_explore_current — tausik_session_open.status already flags open exploration
• tausik_audit_check — tausik_session_open.status already shows audit overdue
• tausik_memory_block — content lives in CLAUDE.md "Current State" via update_claudemd

Phase 2 — Update CLAUDE.md

Call tausik_update_claudemd. This refreshes the dynamic section AND injects compact memory tail (recent decisions + conventions + dead ends, one line each) so memory persists across sessions without a separate re-injection call.

Phase 3 — Present Dashboard (under 800 tokens)

Lite mode (/start --lite or /start lite): skip the full dashboard render. Output ≤ 50 lines: one line per signal — Session #N, counts (active/blocked/planning), MCP Health (only if drift/siblings), one-sentence Suggested Next. Skip handoff body, skip per-task title, skip warnings rendering. Default /start is unchanged. Use Lite when you already know the project state and only want the cheap "session is open, nothing new" confirmation.

Render in this order, omit empty sections silently:

1. MCP Health — only if self_check returned drift_detected=true or sibling_mcp_count > 0: list stale modules + sibling PIDs, recommend IDE restart + CLI fallback. If clean, omit entirely (don't write "OK").
2. Session — number + active-time warning if status flagged it.
3. Handoff highlights — if last_handoff has data: 1-line "done", 1-line "blocked", 1-line "next". Skip if empty.
4. Active tasks — slug + title, one per line. Skip if none.
5. Blocked tasks — slug + blocker reason, one per line. Skip if none.
6. Suggested next action — one sentence:
   • open exploration → "End or continue with /explore"
   • active tasks → "Resume with /task <slug>"
   • blocked → "Investigate blocker on <slug>"
   • clean slate → "/plan to create the first task"

Do not render: planning tasks list (use /next on demand), metrics block, audit reminder (status surfaces it), "Memory block loaded" notice (it's in CLAUDE.md).

Brain primer — opt-in only

Brain primer (cross-project knowledge from tausik-brain) is not in the default /start flow because:

• It costs 2 HTTP round-trips to Notion on local-index shortfall.
• Most session starts don't need cross-project context — only kickoffs of a new feature do.

If user invokes /start --brain or asks "what does the brain say about X", run:

brain_search(query="<stack-tags-or-feature-words>", category="patterns", limit=3)
brain_search(query="<same-query>", category="gotchas", limit=3)

Filter out any page id appearing in tausik_memory_list type=convention with title prefix brain.ignored: — same pattern as /task and /plan. The user already dismissed those suggestions; re-surfacing them costs tokens for no signal.

brain_search already fails fast (5s timeout) and returns local-only results on Notion failure — never blocks.

If tausik-brain MCP is not configured: skip silently, no warning, no fallback. The primer is opt-in by design.

Code search hierarchy

Prefer cheapest tool that fits:

1. mcp__codebase-rag__search_code — first choice for symbols, patterns, "where is X used". Returns ranked chunks, cheapest token-wise.
2. Grep — only when you already know which file(s) to search in.
3. Read — only when you have an exact path.

Gotchas

• Session numbering is auto-incremented. If session start fails, DB might be locked — check .tausik/tausik.db-wal.
• Session duration limit — SENAR Rule 9.2. If compact status flags warning, surface it prominently and suggest /end.
• MCP self_check is bundled into tausik_session_open (Phase 1) — it's the only signal for stale-module hangs (#77/#79/#80). If self_check.drift_detected=true, do NOT trust subsequent MCP results in this session; warn the user and use .tausik/tausik CLI for verify/task_done until IDE restart.