Conversation Lifecycle

Manages the full conversation lifecycle: start, capture, and exit.

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Overview

Phase	When	Purpose
Start	Beginning of conversation	Establish understanding and alignment
Capture	Mid-conversation	Save context for continuity
Exit	End of conversation	Debrief, feedback, and improvement

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Part 1: Start

Establishes understanding and alignment before diving into execution.

When to Start

• Automatically at the start of every new conversation
• When user explicitly says "convo-start"
• When topic shifts significantly mid-conversation

Phase 1: Understanding

Actions:

1. Read the request carefully
2. Identify:
   • What type of work is this? (feature, spec review, planning, research, fix)
   • Which agents/patterns are relevant?
   • What context do I need?
3. Gather initial context (follow research-priority pattern)

Research Priority Pattern:

1. Repo docs (CLAUDE.md, README, existing specs)
2. Linear/issue tracker (if referenced)
3. Ask user for clarification
4. External sources (last resort)

Phase 2: Alignment

1. State Your Understanding

I understand you want to [specific goal].

This involves:
- [Scope item 1]
- [Scope item 2]

2. Propose Execution Plan

Here's my approach:
1. [Step 1]
2. [Step 2]
3. [Step 3]

I'll use:
- [Relevant agent/pattern]
- [Another relevant pattern]

3. Wait for Confirmation

Do NOT proceed until user confirms or corrects the plan.

Quick Templates

For simple tasks:

Got it - you want [X]. I'll [approach]. Sound good?

For complex tasks:

Let me make sure I understand:

**Goal**: [What you want to achieve]
**Scope**: [What's included/excluded]
**Approach**: [How I'll tackle it]
**Output**: [What you'll get]

Anything to adjust before I start?

When to Skip Full Alignment

Skip when:

• Simple question requiring quick answer
• User explicitly says "just do X"
• Continuing prior conversation with established context

Never skip when:

• Creating or modifying documents/code
• Work will take significant time
• Multiple approaches are possible
• User's intent is unclear

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Part 2: Capture

Saves context mid-conversation for continuity and handoff.

When to Capture

Automatic Triggers

1. Significant decision made - Architecture choice, approach selected, scope change
2. Large work completed - Document created, major code changes, phase finished
3. Topic shift detected - Before switching to new topic
4. Natural breakpoint - Before user goes to meeting, logical pause

On Request

• User asks "save where we are"
• User needs to leave but wants to continue later
• Handoff to another person/session

What to Capture

Element	Why It Matters
Current state	Where we are right now
Decisions made	What was decided and why
Files changed	What was created/modified
Next steps	What comes next

Capture Formats

Inline Capture (Quick)

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**Checkpoint**: [Brief description]

**Status**: [Current state of work]
**Just completed**: [What was done]
**Next**: [What's queued]
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Context File (Detailed)

Create convo-captures/YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM-topic.md:

# Context Capture: [Topic]

**Date**: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM
**Status**: In Progress / Paused / Blocked

## Current State
[Where we are in the work]

## Decisions Made
| Decision | Rationale | Alternatives Considered |
|----------|-----------|------------------------|
| [Choice] | [Why] | [Other options] |

## Files Changed
**Created**: [list]
**Modified**: [list]

## Next Steps
1. [ ] [Immediate next step]
2. [ ] [Following step]

## To Resume
[Instructions for picking this back up]

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Part 3: Exit

Wraps up conversations with debrief, feedback, and knowledge capture.

Triggers

• User says "we're done", "that's it", "looks good"
• Conversation naturally concluding
• User explicitly requests exit/debrief
• Topic drift suggests starting fresh

Exit Protocol

Step 1: Review

Let me review our conversation:

**Original goal**: [State the goal]

**What we accomplished**:
- [Outcome 1]
- [Outcome 2]

**Files created/modified**:
- `path/file.md` - [Brief description]

Step 2: Tasks Remaining

**Tasks Remaining**:

For this effort:
- [ ] [Remaining task 1]
- [ ] [Remaining task 2]

Step 3: Ask for Feedback

**Your feedback**:

1. What worked well in this conversation?
2. What would you have liked to see improved?
3. Were there moments where I was unclear or off-track?

Step 4: Propose Changes

After receiving feedback:

**Based on our conversation, I propose these changes**:

1. [File path]: [Specific change]
2. [File path]: [Specific change]

Should I make these changes?

Step 5: Create Convo-Exit Document

File: convo-exits/YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM-topic.md

# Conversation Exit: [Topic]

**Date**: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM
**Repo**: [which repo(s) were involved]

## Original Goal
[What we set out to do]

## Outcomes
**Files Created**: [list]
**Files Modified**: [list]
**Decisions Made**: [list]

## User Feedback
**What worked well**: [feedback]
**What could improve**: [feedback]

## Improvements Made
- [ ] [Change 1] - [Status]

## Next Steps
**Immediate**: [list]
**Future**: [list]

Step 6: Activity Log Update

If brain repo has personal/activity-log.md AND significant work was done:

## YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM - [Topic]

**What I accomplished**:
- [Accomplishment 1]
- [Accomplishment 2]

**Repos affected**: [list]
**Related**: `convo-exits/YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM-topic.md`

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Anti-patterns

Wrong	Right
Immediately starting work	State understanding first, get confirmation
Acting on assumptions	Explicitly state assumptions, ask for confirmation
No record of decisions	Capture decisions with rationale
Context dump without resume instructions	Clear "To continue, do X" instructions
Skipping debrief	Always offer exit protocol for significant work

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Success Metrics

Start

• User never confused about what you're doing
• Plan is specific enough to evaluate
• User can correct misunderstandings early

Capture

• Can resume work without context loss
• Can hand off to someone else smoothly
• Past decisions are understandable

Exit

• Clear record of what was accomplished
• Learnings captured for future
• Improvements made to the system
• User feels heard and in control