summarize

name	summarize
description	Mid-session context capture and proactive decision/pattern capture. Use when: significant progress made but session continues, approaching context limits, switching topics, checkpoint learnings, significant decisions made, patterns emerge, or session is winding down. Lighter than a full session summary — captures progress and continues.
allowed-tools	["Bash","Read","Write","Edit","Glob","Grep"]

Summarize (Mid-Session)

Capture context, learnings, and progress without ending the session. Write a checkpoint, then continue.

When to Use

• Significant milestone reached but more work ahead
• Switching to a different topic within the same session
• Context getting long (>100k tokens) — checkpoint before compaction
• After completing a multi-step task, before starting the next
• Patterns or decisions have emerged that should be recorded

Not for session-ending summaries — use a full session summary for that.

Proactive Capture Triggers

Fire a capture immediately when any of these occur:

Trigger	Action
Decision made	Record decision + rationale + alternatives considered
Pattern discovered	Note the pattern with "when to use" conditions
Significant work completed	Capture what was done + outcome
Problem solved	Record approach + what worked / what didn't
Session winding down	Offer to run a full session summary or auto-capture key points
Topic switch	Quick checkpoint before context shifts

Session wind-down signals: "thanks", "that's it", "done for now", long pause after significant work, context switch to unrelated topic, time indicators ("gotta go", "wrapping up").

What's Worth Capturing

Always: architectural decisions, technology choices with rationale, bug root causes + fixes, performance optimizations, security considerations, integration patterns.

When significant: refactoring approaches, test strategies, debugging techniques, file organization decisions, naming conventions.

Skip: routine edits, typo fixes, standard boilerplate, obvious patterns already documented.

Key Principles

• Fast > thorough: This is a checkpoint, not a dissertation. 2-5 minutes max.
• File-first: Write to ./notes/checkpoints/ so checkpoints survive context resets.
• Continue after: This skill does NOT end the session.
• Compound: Multiple checkpoints per session is fine — they build a trail.
• Searchable: Use clear prefixes (CHECKPOINT, PATTERN, DECISION, LESSON) for future grep.
• Silent capture: Don't interrupt flow. Capture at natural breaks, not mid-thought.

Anti-Patterns

• Writing a full session summary mid-session (use a full session summary)
• Spending >5 minutes on the checkpoint
• Only commenting in-line without writing a retrievable file
• Generic summaries without specifics ("worked on stuff")
• Over-capturing: not every line of code matters

See checkpoint-format.md for detailed checkpoint template, memory type distinction, decision/pattern/lesson capture templates, and quality guide.

Relevant Source Files

• lionagi/cli/_runs.py — run persistence at ~/.lionagi/runs/{run_id}/
• lionagi/cli/_logging.py — structured logging conventions used in CLI sessions
• lionagi/cli/agent.py — li agent --save for artifact persistence