session-log

Automatically create timestamped progress logs for research sessions.

Purpose

Based on Scott Cunningham's session workflow: “Progress logs are my autosave of the workflow.” When sessions end or crash, the next AI client can read logs and pick up exactly where you left off.

When to Use

At the end of any significant work session, or when asked to "log this session" or "update progress".

Workflow

Step 1: Identify Projects Touched

Before writing anything, inventory which projects were affected during this session. A "project" is any directory with its own CLAUDE.md or log/ directory. Common splits:

| Scope | Where the log goes | |-------|--------------------| | Work inside a specific project | That project's log/ | | Global infrastructure (skills, hooks, rules, settings) | Task Management's log/ | | Course/module-level changes (reorganisation, new CLAUDE.md) | That module's log/ |

Signs of a multi-project session:

• Files changed in AI client infrastructure (skills, hooks, settings) → global/infrastructure log
• Files changed in the CWD project → project-specific log
• Files changed in a parent or sibling directory → check if that's a separate project

Step 2: Create One Log Per Project

For each project identified in Step 1:

1. Read existing context — check that project's .context/current-focus.md and recent log/ entries
2. Create log/ directory if it doesn't exist
3. Write the log to log/YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM.md within that project
4. Scope the content — each log only covers what happened in that project, not the whole session

If there's only one project, this reduces to a single log (the common case).

Step 3: Cross-Reference

When multiple logs are created, add a brief cross-reference at the top of each:

> Also logged: [other project name] — `[relative or absolute path to other log]`

This lets a future session in one project discover that related work happened elsewhere.

Step 4: Offer Follow-Up

• Offer to run update-focus for a structured update (session rotation, open loops), rather than making ad-hoc edits to current-focus.md
• If multiple projects were touched, offer to update focus for each

Log Template

# Session Log: [Date] [Time]

## Project: [Project Name]

## What We Did
- [Bullet points of accomplishments]

## Key Decisions
- [Any choices made and why]

## Problems/Blockers
- [Issues encountered]

## Next Steps
- [ ] [Actionable next items]

## Files Changed
- [List of modified files — only those in THIS project]

Examples

Single-project session

"Please log this session — we worked on the research paper, fixed the simulation code, and decided to target Journal B instead of Journal A."

→ One log in the MCDM project's log/

Multi-project session

"Please log this session — we did Workshop 17, reorganised the module folder, and created two new global skills."

→ Three logs:

1. Module project log/ — workshop completion, reorganisation, CLAUDE.md creation
2. Task Management log/ — new skills (init-project-course, audit-project-course), new hook (ensure-latexmkrc.sh), settings.json changes