• Session ending naturally (work complete)
• Context window nearly full
• User says "wrap up", "let's finish", "one more thing then done"
• Main task complete and about to summarize

• Mid-session checkpoint (pause and check direction instead)
• Quick question that doesn't need handoff
• Exploratory work with no conclusions yet

cd

Working directory: /path/...

<env>

1. Extract that exact path from your system prompt
2. Run:

   ~/.claude/scripts/check-home.sh "/that/path"

3. If

   CD_REQUIRED=true

   , run

   cd <HOME_DIR>

   immediately

1. STOP. Tell the user: "close-context.sh failed. Likely a broken symlink."
2. Diagnose: Run

   ~/.claude/scripts/check-symlinks.sh

3. Fallback: If you can't fix it, write handoff manually to

   ~/.claude/handoffs/<encoded-path>/

   — don't skip closure entirely.

• Work progress — what's done, what's incomplete?
• Tracker — Bon: open items to complete or defer
• Git — uncommitted files? unpushed commits?
• Drift — what did /open say we'd do vs what we actually did?

1. What did we forget? — Dropped intentions, docs now stale, tests we said we'd write, files touched with untraced downstream effects
2. What did we miss? — Edge cases, unverified assumptions, things that work in test but may not in production
3. What could we have done better? — Simpler approaches, abstractions in the wrong place, patterns from the codebase we ignored

• Incomplete work finishable in under 2 minutes
• Close a tracker item with resolution notes
• Update CLAUDE.md (local or global) when a clear pattern emerged
• Quick fixes where the how is obvious

"Here's my plan:

Now: [concrete list — things I'll do before /exit]

Bons to file: [each with one line on what breaks if skipped]

Handoff only: [things worth noting but not tracking]

Tell me if anything should move."

• [Completions in verb form — include item ID if closing one] e.g., "Fixed auth bug (claude-go-xyz)" or "Completed migration (bon-gutowa)"

Optional — verification or continuation commands

• Updated: Contract Stewardship Doc — added supplier descriptions
• Created: Q1 Review Notes
• Referenced: Budget Template — read-only

Knowledge work doesn't have commits. This is the equivalent. Next Claude can `get_content()` on these links to pull current state — links are stable, content is always fresh.

claude -p

/tmp/garde-extraction.json

{
    "summary": "2-3 sentences — what happened and why it matters",
    "arc": {
        "started_with": "initial goal/problem",
        "key_turns": ["pivots, discoveries, changes in direction"],
        "ended_at": "final state"
    },
    "builds": [{"what": "thing created/modified", "details": "context"}],
    "learnings": [{"insight": "what was learned", "why_it_matters": "significance", "context": "how discovered"}],
    "friction": [{"problem": "what was hard", "resolution": "how resolved or 'unresolved'"}],
    "patterns": ["recurring themes, collaboration style, meta-observations"],
    "open_threads": ["unfinished business, deferred work"]
}

• summary

  = the "so what" — why this session mattered, not what was done

• builds

  = concrete artifacts: code, config, docs, skills

• learnings

  = insights that transfer to other contexts (not just "I learned X exists")

• friction

  = things harder than expected and how they resolved

• open_threads

  = deferred, not abandoned

~/.claude/scripts/stage-extraction.sh < /tmp/garde-extraction.json \
    && rm /tmp/garde-extraction.json

install.sh

garde process

• Stage relevant files (handoff too if the repo is the project)
• Commit with standard message + co-authorship
• Push if user approves

~/.claude/hooks/session-end.sh

/exit

1. Staged extraction exists (the file you wrote above):

   • garde index

     on the session (fast, no LLM)

   • garde store-extraction

     with your pre-generated JSON
   • Staging file removed
   • No subprocess spawned
2. No staged extraction (crash, ctrl-c, no /close):
   • Falls back to

     garde process

     — spawns

     claude -p

     to extract from the raw transcript
   • Same quality, slower, costs a subprocess

/exit