/open

Orient to previous work, then act on what's next.

Structure

Gather  → script + optional beads gate
Orient  → "here's where we left off"
Decide  → user picks direction
Act     → draw-down to TodoWrite

1. Gather

Run the context gathering script (from the session-management skill directory):

~/.claude/skills/session-management/scripts/open-context.sh

Script outputs: HANDOFF, GIT, BEADS (if present), UPDATE_NEWS context.

Gate check: If GATE_REQUIRED=true and beads skill is available:

Skill(beads)

Do not proceed until loaded. This ensures draw-down patterns are available.

2. Orient

Synthesize what matters from script output:

Lead with handoff — Done, Next, any Gotchas
Surface commands — if Commands section exists, offer to run them
Note scope mismatches — if handoff "Next" doesn't match bd ready, flag it
Beads ready — what's unblocked

Keep it brief. Orientation, not full briefing.

3. Decide

User picks direction:

A specific bead from ready list
Continue from handoff's "Next"
Something else entirely

4. Act

Draw-down is mandatory. When user picks a bead:

bd show <bead-id> --json — read design and acceptance criteria
Create TodoWrite items from acceptance criteria
Show user: "Breaking this down into: [list]. Sound right?"
Mark bead in_progress: bd update <id> --status in_progress

No TodoWrite items = No work. This creates checkpoints where drift gets caught.

Graceful Degradation

Not all features require all dependencies:

| Component | If missing... | |-----------|---------------| | Handoff archive | Skip handoff section | | Beads/bd | Skip beads section, no gate required | | Update news | Skip news section |

The core pattern (Gather → Orient → Decide → Act) works with just git status.

Mirrors

| Phase | /open | /ground | /close | |-------|-------|---------|--------| | Gather | Handoff, beads, script | Todos, beads, drift | Todos, beads, git, drift | | Orient | "Where we left off" | "What's drifted" | Reflect (AskUserQuestion) | | Decide | User picks direction | Continue or adjust | Crystallize actions (STOP) | | Act | Draw-down → TodoWrite | Update beads, reset | Execute, handoff, commit |