update-context

Update Context

Refresh an existing checkpoint in .memory/<name>.md by merging preserved content with a new summary from the current session. Current State and Next Steps are always replaced; Goal, Decisions Made, and Notes are preserved and extended.

Steps

1. Extract the filename from the user's prompt. Use the same kebab-case normalization as save-context (e.g., "auth work" → auth-work).

2. If no name was given, list available contexts and ask the user which to update:

   ls .memory/*.md 2>/dev/null
   

   Present the names without the .md extension and without the .memory/ path prefix.

3. If the file doesn't exist (.memory/<name>.md not found), tell the user and suggest creating it with save-context first.

4. Read .memory/<name>.md using the Read tool.

5. Gather fresh git state by running:

   git branch --show-current 2>/dev/null
   git log --oneline -3 2>/dev/null
   

   If either fails (not a git repo), omit the git line.

6. Generate the merged update using the section-by-section rules below.

7. Write the updated content back to .memory/<name>.md. No overwrite prompt is needed — updating is the explicit intent.

8. Confirm with a brief summary of what changed, e.g., "Updated .memory/auth-work.md — Current State and Next Steps refreshed, 2 new decisions added."

Merge Rules

Saved date and git metadata: Always replace with today's date and fresh git state.

Goal: Preserve the original paragraph. If the current session has clearly pivoted to a different objective, update the paragraph and append a parenthetical note, e.g., (updated YYYY-MM-DD: now focused on Y instead of X).

Current State: Always replace entirely — old state is stale by definition.

Key Files: Merge old and new. Keep entries still relevant to the work; add files created or meaningfully modified in this session; remove entries for files no longer relevant.

Decisions Made: Keep all existing decisions (historical context matters). Append any new non-obvious decisions from this session.