Handoff between sessions

You do not need to prepare a summary to continue a project in another session. When you return, open the same repository and ask for /helmit:next. HelmIt checks the project’s current state and suggests the next action.

What carries over

Resumption combines information from two places:

Source	What it provides
Project records	The delivery position, open tasks and changes, Inbox items, last stop, and changes still present in the working tree. HelmIt checks these facts again when resuming.
.helmit/HANDOFF.md	A local note from the previous session. When narrative context has been recorded, it can explain a caveat or why a particular next step matters.

The handoff does not replace the spec, plan, Inbox, or proof. Decisions that apply to the project belong in those files when they are made. HANDOFF.md stays outside Git because it describes one session on this machine, not a commitment shared with the whole team.

When ending a session

If you say “I’ll continue tomorrow” or ask to end the session, the agent should first record decisions in the files that own them. It then records the session end and writes the handoff. The standard close saves only a minimal indication of the current position. An additional explanation will be available next time only if it was recorded as narrative in the handoff; do not assume the entire conversation was summarized there.

A question awaiting your answer is a pause, not the end of a session. It does not, by itself, create an end-of-session handoff.

When starting another session

/helmit:next reads the current position and records before using the previous session’s note. If a later session end made that handoff outdated, its text is not treated as current guidance. This avoids following a suggestion that more recent work has superseded.

If the previous session ended unexpectedly, there may be no new handoff. In that case, HelmIt uses the project records and changes still present to identify interrupted work and guide reconciliation before continuing. A missing note does not erase a task or authorize discarding it.

A useful note is short and adds something the files cannot tell you. For example: “On resumption, check the adapter test first: the core test does not reproduce this case.” Merely repeating “continue phase 6” adds little: HelmIt can already discover the current phase. If a note grows too long, the system warns but does not delete its contents.

See Project artifacts to locate the records used for resumption and Which command should I use? to continue the workflow.