state

📍 State — Updating Project State...

Maintain a living document of where you are right now in a project.

Activation

When this skill activates, output:

📍 State — Updating project state...

Then execute the protocol below.

Context Guard

Context	Status	Priority
User says "update state", "save state", "project state"	ACTIVE — update STATE.md	P1
User says "where was I", "where did I leave off"	ACTIVE — read and present STATE.md	P1
User starts a session and STATE.md exists	ACTIVE — read silently, use as context	P2
User says "save diary" or "log session"	DORMANT — Diary handles full session logs	—
User says "save project" or "handoff"	DORMANT — Project skill handles lifecycle	—
User asks to recall past sessions	DORMANT — Echo handles historical recall	—

Protocol

Reading State (session start or "where was I")

1. Check for STATE.md in the current project's .claude/ directory:

   {project_dir}/.claude/STATE.md
   

2. If found, read it and present a brief summary:
   • What was being worked on
   • Any blockers
   • The immediate next step
3. If not found, say: "No STATE.md exists yet. I can create one after we start working."

Writing/Updating State

1. Gather current state:

   • What task/phase is actively being worked on right now
   • Decisions made during this session (with rationale)
   • Open blockers or unanswered questions
   • Explicit next steps (not vague — specific enough to resume cold)
   • Key files modified recently

2. Check git status for uncommitted work:

   git status --short
   

3. Write STATE.md to the project's .claude/ directory:

   # Project State
   *Last updated: {YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM}*
   
   ## Currently Working On
   {Active task or phase — be specific}
   
   ## Decisions Made
   - {Decision}: {Rationale}
   
   ## Blockers
   - [ ] {Blocker description}
   
   ## Next Steps
   1. {Immediate next action — specific enough to start cold}
   2. {Following action}
   
   ## Recently Modified Files
   - {file path} — {what changed}
   
   ## Uncommitted Changes
   {List any unstaged/uncommitted work, or "None — clean working tree"}
   

4. Confirm with a brief summary of what was saved.

Deconfliction

Skill	What it tracks	When
State	Current snapshot — where you are right now	During session, living document
Diary	Historical log — what you did in a session	End of session, append-only
Project	Project lifecycle — handoff between sessions	Session boundaries
Work	Task list — what needs to be done	When planning/tracking todos

State is the present tense complement to Diary's past tense. State tells you where to resume; Diary tells you what happened.

Inputs

• Current working context (project, files, git status)
• User's description of current state (or auto-detected from session)

Outputs

• {project_dir}/.claude/STATE.md — updated living document
• Brief confirmation summary

Example Usage

User: "update state"

📍 State — Updating project state...

Saved: C:\Projects\AdminStack\.claude\STATE.md

Currently: Building CC Monitor notification system
Blockers: None
Next: Wire up WebSocket events to notification dropdown

This will auto-load next session for seamless pickup.

Level History

• Lv.1 — Base: Living STATE.md creation and update protocol. Read via Work Step 0 or manual invocation. Deconfliction with Diary/Project/Work. (Origin: MemStack v3.1, Feb 2026)