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Agent skill

Shift Notes

by Archive228 in Archive228/loopkit

Write and read the between-session handoff file so a fresh agent with no memory can pick up where the last one stopped without re-deriving context.

MITAuto-check passedAgent Workflows

Install Shift Notes

skills CLI
$ npx skills add Archive228/loopkit --skill shift-notes -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install Archive228/loopkit shift-notes --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Archive228/loopkit.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/shift-notes .claude/skills/shift-notes && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
shift-notes
GitHub stars
756
Token cost
~1k tokens
SKILL.md length
497 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
43
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Write and read the between-session handoff file so a fresh agent with no memory can pick up where the last one stopped without re-deriving context.

  • Tasks that involve Session handoff
  • SKILL.md covers The format — write into this…, Writing the notes — at end of…, Reading the notes — at start… and Red flags, plus 2 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Shift Notes is an agent skill from Archive228/loopkit. Write and read the between-session handoff file so a fresh agent with no memory can pick up where the last one stopped without re-deriving context. Structured prose, not JSON — the model writes prose better.

Its SKILL.md is about 1k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Agent Workflows, covering Session handoff. The repository describes itself as: 33 battle-tested skills + minimal .claude harness for any coding agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI). The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Tasks that involve Session handoff

Example prompts

  • “/shift-notes”

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 5ae033e. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Shift Notes loads about 1k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 55 tokens; SKILL.md has 497 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~55
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from Archive228/loopkit at commit 5ae033e, republished under its MIT licence (© Archive228). 497 words, ~1,012 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/shift-notes/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
shift-notes
description
Write and read the between-session handoff file so a fresh agent with no memory can pick up where the last one stopped without re-deriving context. Structured prose, not JSON — the model writes prose better.
when_to_use
end of any session in a multi-session project, start of the next one; pairs with broken-window-check and feature-list state files

Shift Notes

The hard problem in long-running agents is not doing work in one session — it's bridging the context gap between sessions. Every fresh agent starts with zero memory. If it has to reconstruct project state from the code, it burns 5-10 minutes and a chunk of context before writing a line. If it has a well-shaped handoff file, that drops to 30-60 seconds.

That handoff file is claude-progress.txt (or equivalent). Prose, not JSON. The model writes prose more naturally, and the read is cheap.

The format — write into this shape

# Project: <name>
# Last updated: <ISO timestamp> by session <id>

## What's done
- <feature> [feature-list index: N]
- ...

## What's in progress
- <feature> [feature-list index: N]
  Status: <one paragraph — what works, what doesn't>
  Files touched this session: <list>
  Known open issues: <list>

## What's next (recommended)
- <feature> [feature-list index: N]
  Reason: <why this one>

## Notes for the next session
<free-form prose: gotchas, flaky tests, environment quirks>

Enforced softly by the prompt, not by validation. Free text is the point — the notes section is where the previous shift warns the next one about the thing that isn't captured anywhere else.

Writing the notes — at end of session

  • Move the completed feature from "in progress" to "done".
  • Recommend the next feature in "what's next" with a one-line reason (unblocks-N, low-risk, prerequisite-for-M).
  • Notes-for-next-session is the highest-leverage field. Use it for: flaky tests you hit, dependencies that surprised you, spec ambiguities you resolved one way (so the next agent doesn't re-litigate), env vars that need to be set.
  • Do not delete "done" entries. They're audit trail. If the section gets long, that's a signal to compact the whole notes file at v0.2 milestones, not to prune mid-project.

Reading the notes — at start of session

  • Read the whole file. It's small.
  • If shift notes and git log disagree, trust the git log. The notes can be truncated by a crashed session; the log can't. This is a load-bearing rule.
  • Cross-reference "what's done" against the feature list. If the notes claim done but the feature list says not-done, run broken-window-check.
  • Pick work from "what's next" unless it's stale (a new session already picked it).
Show full SKILL.md (204 more words)Show less

Red flags

  • Notes rewritten every session from scratch. Lose history, lose audit trail. Append and edit in place, don't overwrite.
  • "What's done" section grows unboundedly. Fine up to ~40 entries. Past that, compact by feature milestone.
  • Ambiguous "in progress" prose. The next session will misread "the button is wired but the state doesn't refresh" as "done" if you write "button works". Be precise about what fails.
  • Notes drift out of sync with the feature list. Feature list is source of truth for pass/fail state; notes are the prose gloss. When they disagree, the list wins.
  • JSON handoff file. Tried and abandoned — the model wrote shorter, less useful notes when forced into JSON. Prose wins for prose.

What NOT to put in the notes

  • Full file contents. Reference paths, not blobs.
  • Chain-of-thought for the session. Compact it into a status line.
  • Anything that belongs in the feature list (pass/fail state) or in git (what changed).

Pairs with

  • broken-window-check — reads the "what's done" list to know what to smoke-test.
  • spec-first — the spec is the contract; the notes are the ledger against it.
  • context-budget — the notes are the compact recap the context-budget skill wants.

The shift-notes file is the memory of the project. Treat it as load-bearing.

© Archive228, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/shift-notes of Archive228/loopkit.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 5ae033e

Compare with similar skills

Shift Notes next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Shift Notes compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Shift Notes this skillArchive228/loopkit756—~1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Orca CLIstablyai/orca87k2 repos~593Automated safety check: PassMIT
Coding Agent Session Findercode-yeongyu/oh-my-openagent70k1 repos~2.8kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence
Beads Task Memorygastownhall/beads28k—~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Session History Searchslopus/happy24k—~3.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Paseo Agent Handoffgetpaseo/paseo20k1 repos~606Automated safety check: PassCustom licence

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Categories

Questions about Shift Notes

What does Shift Notes do?

Write and read the between-session handoff file so a fresh agent with no memory can pick up where the last one stopped without re-deriving context. Shift Notes is an agent skill from Archive228/loopkit. Write and read the between-session handoff file so a fresh agent with no memory can pick up where the last one stopped without re-deriving context.

When should I use Shift Notes?

Shift Notes fits situations like: tasks that involve Session handoff.

How do I install Shift Notes in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add Archive228/loopkit --skill shift-notes -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/shift-notes in Archive228/loopkit) into .claude/skills/shift-notes in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Shift Notes in Codex?

Run `npx skills add Archive228/loopkit --skill shift-notes -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/shift-notes in Archive228/loopkit) into .agents/skills/shift-notes in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Shift Notes in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add Archive228/loopkit --skill shift-notes -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/shift-notes, .gemini/skills/shift-notes, .github/skills/shift-notes and .opencode/skills/shift-notes in your project.

What does Shift Notes need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Shift Notes is instructions for the agent only.

Does Shift Notes access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Shift Notes safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Shift Notes use?

Shift Notes is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Shift Notes use?

About 1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Shift Notes?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Shift Notes: Orca CLI (stablyai/orca, 87k stars), Coding Agent Session Finder (code-yeongyu/oh-my-openagent, 70k stars), Beads Task Memory (gastownhall/beads, 28k stars) and Session History Search (slopus/happy, 24k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Shift Notes?

Archive228 (a GitHub user) maintains it in Archive228/loopkit, which has 756 GitHub stars. The repository holds 43 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on July 14, 2026.

Source: Archive228/loopkit on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.