Quick Summary

Goal: Restore workflow state and todo items from checkpoint files after context loss or session interruption.

Workflow:

1. Find Checkpoint — Locate latest memory-checkpoint-*.md in reports directory
2. Read Metadata — Extract JSON block with session ID, active plan, current step, pending todos
3. Restore Todos — Immediately call TaskCreate with pending items from checkpoint
4. Resume Workflow — Continue from the interrupted step using restored context

Key Rules:

• Always restore TaskCreate items before resuming any work
• Check both plans/reports/ and plan-specific report directories
• Use timestamp to find the checkpoint closest to the interruption

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 TaskCreate with the pending todos from the checkpoint:

[
    { "content": "[Workflow] /cook - Implement", "status": "in_progress", "activeForm": "Executing /cook" },
    { "content": "[Workflow] /test - Run tests", "status": "pending", "activeForm": "Executing /test" },
    { "content": "[Workflow] /code-review - Review code", "status": "pending", "activeForm": "Executing /code-review" }
]

Step 5: Read Active Plan (if exists)

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

Read: {activePlan}/plan.md

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 TaskCreate
• Read active plan (if applicable)
• Identified current workflow step
• Ready to continue from interrupted step

Automatic vs Manual Recovery

Checkpoint Locations

Checkpoints are saved to different locations based on context:

1. Active plan exists: {plan-path}/reports/memory-checkpoint-*.md
2. No active plan: plans/reports/memory-checkpoint-*.md

Tips

1. Check multiple locations – Plans may have their own reports directories
2. Use timestamp – Checkpoints are timestamped, find the one closest to when you were working
3. Verify todo status – Compare checkpoint todos with current TaskCreate state
4. Read incrementally – Don’t try to restore everything at once

Related Commands

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

Example Recovery Flow

User: /recover

Claude: Let me find and restore your workflow context.

1. Finding latest checkpoint...
   Found: plans/reports/memory-checkpoint-260110-143025.md

2. Reading checkpoint metadata...
   - Workflow: feature
   - Current step: /cook
   - Remaining: /test, /code-review
   - Active plan: plans/260110-1430-new-feature/

3. Restoring TaskCreate items...
   [Calling TaskCreate with 3 pending items]

4. Reading active plan...
   [Reading plans/260110-1430-new-feature/plan.md]

5. Ready to continue from /cook step.
   Shall I proceed with the implementation?

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