session-close

Session Close

Structured end-of-session ritual that prevents knowledge loss by persisting everything worth keeping before the conversation ends. Works on any project.

The goal: when the next session starts (possibly weeks later, possibly by a different Claude instance), it should have full context of what happened, what was learned, and what's left to do.

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Philosophy

Sessions are ephemeral — conversations get cleared, context gets lost. But the work product of a session lives in three places:

1. Git — commits, diffs, branches (already persistent)
2. Task system — TaskNotes, issues, project boards (needs updating)
3. Memory — CLAUDE.md, auto-memory, session briefs (needs capturing)

This skill ensures #2 and #3 are up to date before the session ends.

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Session Journal (Continuous Memory)

Throughout the session, important information should be appended to .claude/session-journal.md in the project root. This file acts as a scratch pad that survives even if the user closes the terminal without running /session-close.

What goes in the journal

Append a timestamped entry whenever:

• A significant decision is made
• A bug is found or fixed (with commit hash)
• A pattern or pitfall is discovered
• A task is completed or created
• An insight worth remembering emerges

Format

## Session [DATE]

- [HH:MM] Started: [goal]
- [HH:MM] Fixed BUG-XXXX: [description] (commit `abc1234`)
- [HH:MM] Learned: [insight]
- [HH:MM] Created TASK-YYYY: [description]
- [HH:MM] Decision: [what was decided and why]

This file is gitignored (it's working state, not deliverable). The /session-close skill reads it and distributes the content to the right persistent locations.

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The Close Sequence

/session-close
     │
     ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│ 1. Reconstruct      │  Read git log, session journal, task changes
│    Session           │  Build narrative of what happened
└──────────┬──────────┘
           │
     ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│ 2. Review Work      │  Validate commits against quality standards
│    (/reviewer lite) │  Flag concerns, not block
└──────────┬──────────┘
           │
     ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│ 3. Close Tasks &    │  Mark completed TaskNotes as done
│    Open Pending     │  TaskCreate for every pending/suggested item
└──────────┬──────────┘
           │
     ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│ 4. Persist Memory   │  Update CLAUDE.md with learnings
│                     │  Update auto-memory topic files
│                     │  Write session brief for next session
└──────────┬──────────┘
           │
     ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│ 5. Commit & Report  │  Auto-commit memory/task changes
│                     │  Print session summary
└─────────────────────┘