Wrap-Up Ritual

Core Principles

1. Sessions are ephemeral, knowledge is permanent — When a session ends, context is lost. But learnings, decisions, and progress don't have to be. The wrap-up ritual bridges the gap between sessions by writing a handoff note.

2. Three captures every time — Every session ending captures exactly three things: what was DONE, what is PENDING, and what was LEARNED. No exceptions. Skipping any of these creates gaps for the next session.

3. Handoff notes are written for a stranger — Write the handoff as if the next person has zero context. Include file paths, decision rationale, and specific next steps. "Continue the refactor" is useless. "Refactor src/Orders/CreateOrder.cs to use the Result pattern — see the Catalog module for the established pattern" is actionable.

4. Consistent location, always overwritten — The handoff file lives at .claude/handoff.md. Each session overwrites the previous one — there's only ever one active handoff. Old handoffs are not valuable; current state is.

5. Learnings flow to permanent memory — The "learned" section of a wrap-up is a trigger for the self-correction-loop skill. Any correction or discovery worth remembering should be captured in MEMORY.md as a permanent rule, not just in the ephemeral handoff.

Patterns

Session Summary Template

The handoff file follows a consistent structure: