Save Session

Freeze the current state so the next session can pick up exactly where we left off.

Trigger

Activate when: /save-session, "save session", "save state", "save progress", or when the PreCompact hook fires.

Purpose

Captures a complete snapshot of the current session's work, decisions, failures, and next steps into a timestamped file. This is the write half of MAX's session memory system. The goal is zero context loss between sessions.

Procedure

Step 1: Gather State

Read the following to understand current context:

1. Git status -- run git status and git diff --stat in the project root to see what changed
2. Recent tool activity -- review files created/modified during this session
3. .max/state/CURRENT.md -- current system state
4. Conversation context -- what G asked for, what was discussed, what decisions were made

Step 2: Create Session File

Generate a file at .max/sessions/YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM.md using the current timestamp.

The file MUST contain ALL of these sections. Do not skip any, even if empty (write "None" if nothing applies):

# Session: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM

## What Was Built
- [List every file created or significantly modified, with full paths]
- [Include the purpose of each change]

## What Worked
- [List things that succeeded, with evidence]
- [Include test results, successful outputs, confirmed behaviors]

## What FAILED
- [CRITICAL: List every approach that did NOT work]
- [Include WHY it failed so the next session doesn't retry it]
- [Include error messages if relevant]

## Decisions Made
- [Architectural choices and why]
- [Trade-offs considered]
- [Things explicitly ruled out and why]

## Blockers
- [Unresolved issues preventing progress]
- [Dependencies waiting on external input]
- [Questions for G that weren't answered]

## Exact Next Step
[One clear sentence: what the next session should do FIRST before anything else]

## Active Files
- [Full paths to key files being actively worked on]

## Queue State
- [LinkedIn queue: X posts scheduled / Y published]
- [Social media: any pending posts or campaigns]
- [Cron jobs: any pending or recently modified]
- [Write "N/A" if no queue-related work was done]

Step 3: Confirm

After saving, output:

Session saved to .max/sessions/YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM.md
Next session should: [exact next step from above]

Rules

• Never fabricate -- if you're unsure what happened, say so. Don't invent successes or failures.
• Failures are gold -- the "What FAILED" section is the most important. Skipping it means the next session wastes time retrying broken approaches.
• Paths must be absolute -- all file paths in "Active Files" must be absolute from the project root.
• One file per save -- don't append to existing session files. Each save creates a new file.
• Timestamp accuracy -- use the actual current time, not an approximation.

Integration Points

• PreCompact hook triggers this skill automatically before context compaction
• SessionEnd hook may trigger this if significant work was done
• Resume Session (/resume-session) reads the files this skill creates
• Morning Briefing (/morning) reads the latest session file for continuity
• Nightly Evolution (/evolve) prunes old session files (keeps last 5 + any tagged ## KEEP)