Recover Workflow Context Skill

Recover Workflow Context

Restore workflow state and todo items from checkpoint files after context compaction or session loss.

Usage

Use this command when:

Context was compacted and you've lost track of the workflow
Session was interrupted and needs to resume
Todo items need to be restored from a checkpoint
The automatic recovery didn't trigger

Recovery Process

Step 1: Find Latest Checkpoint

Look for checkpoint files in the reports directory:

ls -la plans/reports/memory-checkpoint-*.md | tail -5

Or search for all recent checkpoints:

find plans -name "memory-checkpoint-*.md" -mmin -60 | head -5

Step 2: Read Checkpoint File

Read the most recent checkpoint to understand the saved state:

Read the checkpoint file at: plans/reports/memory-checkpoint-YYMMDD-HHMMSS.md

Step 3: Extract Recovery Metadata

The checkpoint file contains a JSON metadata block at the end:

{
  "sessionId": "...",
  "activePlan": "plans/YYMMDD-slug/",
  "workflowType": "feature",
  "currentStep": "cook",
  "remainingSteps": ["test", "code-review"],
  "pendingTodos": [...]
}

Step 4: Restore Todo Items

IMMEDIATELY call TodoWrite with the pending todos from the checkpoint.

Step 5: Read Active Plan (if exists)

If activePlan is set in the metadata, read the plan file.

Step 6: Continue Workflow

Resume from the currentStep identified in the metadata. Execute the remaining workflow steps in order.

Recovery Checklist

[ ] Located most recent checkpoint file
[ ] Read checkpoint content
[ ] Extracted recovery metadata JSON
[ ] Restored todo items via TodoWrite
[ ] Read active plan (if applicable)
[ ] Identified current workflow step
[ ] Ready to continue from interrupted step

Automatic vs Manual Recovery

| Scenario | Recovery Type | Trigger | | ----------------------------- | ------------- | -------------------------------- | | Session resume after compact | Automatic | session-resume.cjs hook | | New session in same directory | Manual | This /recover command | | Explicit user request | Manual | This /recover command | | No workflow state found | Manual | This /recover command |

Related Commands

/checkpoint - Create a manual checkpoint (before expected loss)
/compact - Manually trigger context compaction
/context - Load project context
/watzup - Generate progress summary

IMPORTANT Task Planning Notes (MUST FOLLOW)

Always plan and break work into many small todo tasks
Always add a final review todo task to verify work quality and identify fixes/enhancements

Agent Skills: Recover Workflow Context

Install this agent skill to your local

Skill Files