Session Catchup and Handoff

What it does

When your agent uses it

• Resuming work on a branch after /clear or starting a fresh session
• Picking up a branch someone else left mid-task
• Writing a handoff note before ending a session for the day
• Checking whether a saved handoff note still matches the latest commit

Example prompts

• “Catch me up on this branch before I start working.”
• “Catch up, but focus on the auth refactor specifically.”
• “Write a handoff note before we stop for today.”

Requirements

• A git repository with commit history
• Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read, Bash(git status), Bash(git log *), Bash(git diff *), Bash(git branch *), Bash(git merge-base *)

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

1. 1Handoff note: if .claude/HANDOFF.md exists, read it first — it's the previous session's intent and beats anything inferable from git. Note…
2. 2Branch state — live snapshot injected below (git output as of this session's start; no need to re-run these three)
3. 3Read the changed files — the diff hunks, not whole files. If more than ~15 files changed, read the 5 with the most churn plus anything…
4. 4Summarize in this shape, terse

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 94b84b9. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

  • Read
  • Bash(git status)
  • Bash(git log *)
  • Bash(git diff *)
  • Bash(git branch *)
  • Bash(git merge-base *)

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

  • git

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

• Network

  No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.

  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

Session Catchup and Handoff loads about 811 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 51 tokens; SKILL.md has 258 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~51

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~811

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

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 poshan0126/dotclaude at commit 94b84b9, republished under its MIT licence (© poshan0126). 258 words, ~811 tokens.

name

catchup

description

Rebuild working context fast after /clear or a fresh session — reads the handoff note and the branch's changes, then summarizes where work stands. Add `handoff` to write the note before stopping.

allowed-tools

Read, Bash(git status), Bash(git log *), Bash(git diff *), Bash(git branch *), Bash(git merge-base *)

argument-hint

[handoff | focus area]

disable-model-invocation

true

BASE=$(git merge-base HEAD origin/HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo HEAD~10)
echo "### git status (uncommitted/staged work in flight)"
git status --short 2>/dev/null || echo "(not a git repo)"
echo
echo "### git log --oneline ${BASE}..HEAD (what this branch did)"
git log --oneline "${BASE}..HEAD" 2>/dev/null || echo "(no divergence from base)"
echo
echo "### git diff --stat ${BASE}..HEAD (where the change mass is)"
git diff --stat "${BASE}..HEAD" 2>/dev/null || echo "(no diff vs base)"

## Catchup: <branch>

**Goal** (from handoff or inferred): <one line>
**Done**: <commits/changes, 2-4 bullets>
**In flight**: <uncommitted work, or "clean">
**Next** (from handoff, or inferred): <one line>
**Watch out**: <gotchas from the handoff, if any>

# Handoff — <date> — <branch>

## Goal
<what this work is trying to achieve, one line>

## State
- Done: <completed + verified>
- In flight: <started, not finished — exact file/function>
- Untouched: <known remaining scope>

## Gotchas
- <what failed and why, dead ends not to repeat, surprising constraints>

## Next step
<the single concrete action to take first>

© poshan0126, 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/catchup of poshan0126/dotclaude.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 94b84b9