Session Close

🌱 ShiningPlague-authored. No upstream version exists. Unified close protocol — every session ends the same way (gate → directors → consistency → /update → git → session reflection).

Unified close protocol. Every session ends the same way.

If an artifact named here is absent: say so plainly in one line, skip that step, and continue. Never invent the file to satisfy a checklist, and never fail a close because an optional artifact was never created.

Triggers

Natural (the assistant initiates)

• Designer says "wrap up" / "we're done" / "good session" / "let's close"
• Last task in a plan completes
• Brainstorm reaches consensus and spec saved
• Designer shifts topic away from current work

Mechanical (safety net)

• After spec archival (→ docs/z-old/)
• After ADR acceptance
• After 5+ commits without an update
• After phase gate passes
• After team-* orchestrator completes

When mechanical trigger fires, prompt: "That's a natural checkpoint — want me to run the close ritual, or keep going?"

Procedure

Step 0: Pre-Close Self-Check — GATE

MUST fire BOTH /goal-check AND /red-flag-scan BEFORE Step 1. Together they form the gate.

0a — /goal-check — validates each primary + minor goal against actual evidence (artifacts shipped, commits made, expected outcomes met). Surfaces unresolved issues from active-goals.json.

0b — /red-flag-scan — broader systemic audit: uncommitted work, doc stack drift, complexity drift (skill count, CLAUDE.md lines, orthogonal state axes), broken hooks/skills, technical debt accumulation, framework inconsistency.

Verdict colors:

• 🟢 GREEN (all PASS) → continue to Step 1
• 🟡 YELLOW (some PARTIAL / DROPPED with carry-over OK) → continue to Step 1 with explicit carry-over commitments written to active.md + sprint-status.yaml
• 🔴 RED (critical fail / unresolved blocker) → CLOSE PAUSES. Surface critical fails to designer. Designer chooses:
  • Fix now (in-chat resolution) → re-run /goal-check after fix
  • Formally DROP with rationale (write to active-goals.json + active.md)
  • Commit as PARTIAL with explicit carry-over destination
  • Defer close entirely (return to work, close later)

Hard-won rule: this step exists because without it, closes march on while critical issues linger — directors return CONCERNS verdicts and the close continues to Step 2 without designer resolution. The gate forces the pause.

Output of Step 0 gets written to the session log (Step 7) as the gate verdict + designer disposition table.

Step 1: Director Bookend Re-dispatch

Fire all 3 Tier 1 directors in parallel via Agent tool with CLOSE-REFLECTION prompts from .claude/docs/director-gates.md:

• creative-director → gate CLOSE-CD
• technical-director → gate CLOSE-TD
• producer → gate CLOSE-PR

Pass each: workstream name + activity, decisions made, scope shipped. Collect all 3 reflections before proceeding.

Step 2: Synthesis — Reflection Record

Compose unified reflection from all 3 director outputs:

• Director key concerns
• Alignment / tensions between departments
• Shipped list
• Carryover items
• Producer's food-for-thought question
• Top risk + top opportunity

Step 3: Close Gate Sequence

Before update ritual:

1. Run python tools/consistency_check.py (12 checks — registry, doc stack, ADRs, specs, links, hooks). Exit 0 = no FAILs; WARNs are advisory and never block.
2. If any design doc changed this session → propose /review-all-gdds
3. Check routine outcomes (architecture-review drift, code-review findings)
4. If the runner exits non-zero → update proceeds but git push blocked until the named FAILs are resolved

Step 4: Unified Update Ritual

Fire /update (project-local skill). It handles:

• git status + recent commits
• consistency_check.py (auto-bumps last_full_audit on PASS)
• devlog.md append
• dev_diary.json (done_major, done_minor, close_note, close_ref)
• active.md full state handoff
• Workstream state file update
• Registry updates for modified systems
• Flag contradictions

Step 5: Git Checkpoint

Draft commit message. Prompt designer for approval. Never push without explicit go.

Step 6: Session Reflection

After git push confirmed, capture a brief close-out reflection:

• Summarise the session — what went well, what was challenging, what to carry forward
• Distil a 2-sentence reflection note for the dev_diary entry
• Fold the director reflections (Step 2) and the reflection note into the session log (Step 7)

Step 7: Session Log Auto-File

Write production/session-logs/YYYY-MM-DD-[workstream]-close.md:

• Full director reflections
• Shipped list + commits
• Consistency check results
• Workstream state snapshot
• Reflection note
• Next session priority

Reference from dev_diary via close_ref field.