Module 2 - Keep context between sessions

Module contents

What you will create

By the end of this module, your Life OS will have a simple handoff Skill for preserving context between AI sessions.

Core idea:

Stopping well keeps Life OS accurate, calm, and useful.

Before you start

You need the initial Life OS structure from Module 1.

You do not need to understand Skills, slash commands, or tokens in detail. The goal is to create a reliable way to stop and resume work without repeating yourself.

The big picture

Life OS work often continues across more than one AI session.

That is normal. It is better to stop well than to keep pushing one long conversation until it gets crowded or confused.

A handoff is a short baton note for the next session. It captures what has been done, what decisions you approved, what still needs checking, and the next action.

Step 1: Understand why handoffs matter

As a rough rule, try not to let one working session grow past about 150k tokens.

You do not need to understand exactly what a token is. Think of tokens as the AI's working memory load. Every message, file, decision, correction, and prompt adds to that load.

Once the session gets too large, your AI tool can still be useful, but it becomes easier for it to miss earlier instructions, confuse old and current files, repeat work, or say something is finished before it has properly checked.

Step 2: Create your handoff Skill

Use this prompt to install the handoff workflow in your Life OS:

Create a project-level handoff skill in my Life OS, plus a `/handoff` slash command that acts as a shim for the skill.

Choose the appropriate skill location and file name for this Life OS.

Before creating anything, tell me:
- The skill location you recommend
- The command file location you recommend (to make `/handoff` available)
- The folder and file names you recommend for both
- Why those locations are the right homes
- Whether both files are needed

The skill should handle the handoff logic. The command file should be a thin shim that simply invokes the skill when I type `/handoff`.

Keep the command file minimal - just enough to make `/handoff` trigger the handoff skill. Do not duplicate the full skill content into the command file.

Use this exact skill content:

---
name: handoff
description: Summarise the current conversation into a handoff document for another session to pick up. Use when the user asks to pause, resume later, continue in another session, brief another session, or preserve context before stopping.
---

# Handoff

Write a handoff document summarising the current conversation so a fresh session can continue the work.

Save the handoff document to Inbox.

Use this filename pattern:

handoff-yyyymmdd-hhss-topic.md

Use the current date and time. Replace topic with a short plain-English topic using lowercase words and hyphens.

Before saving, tell me the filename you recommend and why.

Include:

- Current goal
- Current state
- Important decisions
- Files or artifacts created or changed
- Open loops
- Suggested next action
- Suggested skills the next session should invoke

Do not duplicate content already captured in other artifacts such as `.md`, `.pdf`, `.docx`, `.xlsx`, or `.pptx`. Reference those artifacts by path or URL instead.

Redact sensitive information, including API keys, passwords, access tokens, private client information, and unnecessary personally identifiable information.

Tailor the document to what the next session needs in order to pick up cleanly.

Err on the side of caution. Completeness is more important than conciseness.

Step 3: Practise using a handoff

Use the handoff at the end of a meaningful session, before switching tasks, or whenever the conversation is getting long.

/handoff

When you start a new session, ask Life OS to read the latest handoff before continuing.

Read the latest handoff in Inbox and continue from the next useful step.

Module 2 win

Ask Life OS:

Where would handoffs save me from repeating myself or losing useful context in my life or business?