Skill: Save Session

Saves session context to a per-user session memo file for continuity across Claude sessions. This implements the TMS externalisation operation.

When to Use

• At the end of a work session to preserve context
• Before switching to a different task or project
• When you want the next session to have context about current work

How It Works

Session memos are stored per-user at

.dialogue/session-memo-{username}.yaml

At session start, the Dialogue Framework hook reads your session memo and includes key context in the system message.

Schema

# Session memo for {username}
username: "pidster"
last_session: "2026-01-16T18:30:00Z"
active_focus: "FW-017: Merge-Friendly Artifact Structure"
recent_tasks:
  - "FW-017"  # Tasks worked on
recent_decisions:
  - "DEC-20260116-180240"  # Decisions made
open_questions:
  - "How should session memos handle task completion?"
notes: |
  Optional freeform notes about session context.

# Interaction mode preference (overrides project config.yaml)
# Options: human-led | partnership | ai-led
interaction_mode_preference: partnership

# Feature explanation tracking (for teach-by-doing in ai-led mode)
feature_explanations_given:
  decision_logging: 0      # Times explained (stop after 2-3)
  observation_logging: 0
  task_management: 0

To Save Session Context

Gather the following information and write to

.dialogue/session-memo-{username}.yaml

1. Determine username: Use

   $USER

   environment variable
2. Identify active focus: Current task or primary activity
3. List recent work: Task IDs worked on, decisions made
4. Note open questions: Unresolved questions or blockers
5. Write file: Create/update

   .dialogue/session-memo-{username}.yaml

Example

# Determine username
USERNAME="${USER:-$(whoami)}"

# Write session memo
cat > .dialogue/session-memo-${USERNAME}.yaml << 'EOF'
username: "pidster"
last_session: "2026-01-16T18:30:00Z"
active_focus: "FW-017: Merge-Friendly Artifact Structure"
recent_tasks:
  - "FW-017"
recent_decisions:
  - "DEC-20260116-180240"
open_questions:
  - "How should session memos handle multi-session context?"
notes: |
  Completed per-file migration. Next: test with new session.
interaction_mode_preference: partnership
feature_explanations_given:
  decision_logging: 2
  observation_logging: 1
  task_management: 0
EOF

Updating Interaction Mode

When saving a session, preserve any existing

interaction_mode_preference

/set-mode

Multi-User Workflow

Each user has their own session memo file:

• session-memo-pidster.yaml

• session-memo-alice.yaml

• session-memo-bob.yaml

This avoids merge conflicts in distributed VCS workflows - session state is personal context, not shared state.

Relationship to Other Skills

dialogue-manage-tasks

dialogue-log-decision

dialogue-save-session

Session memos reference tasks and decisions but contain personal context about what you were working on, not the shared project state.