Session Start Workflow

Execute the session-management skill's start workflow using this step-by-step process.

Step 1: Generate Project Status Report

First, generate a comprehensive project status report to understand current state:

python ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/project-status-report/scripts/report.py

Or invoke the project-status-report skill if available.

The report will show:

• Health indicators (tests, linting, coverage)
• Git status (current branch, uncommitted changes, active branches)
• Recent session summary
• Open work items (TODOs, FIXMEs, objectives)

Step 2: Gather User Inputs via AskUserQuestion

Use the AskUserQuestion tool to collect session configuration. Ask the following questions:

Question 1: What to Work On

Ask: "What would you like to work on in this session?"

Options:

• Resume existing work - Continue from where you left off
• Start new work - Begin a new feature or task
• Address health issues - Fix test failures or other critical issues from the report

Question 2: Branch Selection

Ask: "Which branch would you like to work on?"

Options should include:

• All active branches from the git status (show current branch indicator and last commit date)
• Create new branch option

If user selects "Create new branch", proceed to Question 2a and 2b.

Question 2a: Branch Type (if creating new)

Ask: "What type of branch would you like to create?"

Options:

• Hotfix branch (hotfix/...) - For urgent bug fixes
• Feature branch (feature/...) - For new features
• Bugfix branch (fix/...) - For non-urgent bug fixes
• Other - Custom branch prefix

Question 2b: Branch Name (if creating new)

Ask: "What should we name the branch?"

Options:

• Suggest intelligent defaults based on:
  • Branch type selected
  • Health issues from report (e.g., "fix/test-failures")
  • TODOs from report (e.g., "feature/oauth-integration")
  • User's stated objective
• Other - Let user type custom name

Question 3: Session Objectives

Ask: "What are your objectives for this session?"

Options:

• Suggest objectives based on context:
  • "Fix [specific health issue]"
  • "Implement [TODO item]"
  • "Complete [work from last session]"
• Other - Let user type custom objectives

Step 3: Execute Session Start

Based on the collected inputs, execute the session.py script:

cd ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/session-management/scripts
python session.py start [branch-name] --objective "[objectives]"

Additional flags:

• Add --tdd if objectives involve implementing features or fixing bugs
• Add --resume if user selected "Resume existing work"

The script will:

• Checkout or create the specified branch
• Initialize session state in .sessions/state.json
• Update plugin coordination state in .ccmp/state.json
• Load relevant context files (claude.md, architecture docs)

Step 4: Load Session Context

After session initialization:

1. Check if .sessions/state.json was created successfully
2. Read any relevant claude.md files for the work area
3. Load previous session context if resuming
4. Present a summary to the user:
   • Current branch
   • Session objectives
   • Relevant context loaded
   • Next suggested actions

Step 5: Ready to Work

Confirm to the user:

• Session is initialized
• Branch is ready
• Context is loaded
• Ready to begin work on stated objectives

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Use This Command When

• Starting work on a project after a break
• Returning after context switch between projects
• Beginning a new feature or bugfix
• Need to load full project context quickly

Integration Notes

This command integrates with:

• project-status-report - For comprehensive health overview
• claude-context-manager - Auto-loads relevant claude.md files
• tdd-workflow - Enables TDD mode tracking if --tdd flag used