Recover Workflow Context

Restore workflow state and todo items from checkpoint files after context compaction or session loss.

Usage

Use this command when:

• Context was compacted and you've lost track of the workflow
• Session was interrupted and needs to resume
• Todo items need to be restored from a checkpoint
• The automatic recovery didn't trigger

Recovery Process

Step 1: Find Latest Checkpoint

Look for checkpoint files in the reports directory:

ls -la plans/reports/memory-checkpoint-*.md | tail -5

Or search for all recent checkpoints:

find plans -name "memory-checkpoint-*.md" -mmin -60 | head -5

Step 2: Read Checkpoint File

Read the most recent checkpoint to understand the saved state:

Read the checkpoint file at: plans/reports/memory-checkpoint-YYMMDD-HHMMSS.md

Step 3: Extract Recovery Metadata

The checkpoint file contains a JSON metadata block at the end:

{
  "sessionId": "...",
  "activePlan": "plans/YYMMDD-slug/",
  "workflowType": "feature",
  "currentStep": "cook",
  "remainingSteps": ["test", "code-review"],
  "pendingTodos": [...]
}

Step 4: Restore Todo Items

IMMEDIATELY call TodoWrite with the pending todos from the checkpoint.

Step 5: Read Active Plan (if exists)

If activePlan is set in the metadata, read the plan file.

Step 6: Continue Workflow

Resume from the currentStep identified in the metadata. Execute the remaining workflow steps in order.

Recovery Checklist

• Located most recent checkpoint file
• Read checkpoint content
• Extracted recovery metadata JSON
• Restored todo items via TodoWrite
• Read active plan (if applicable)
• Identified current workflow step
• Ready to continue from interrupted step

Automatic vs Manual Recovery

Scenario	Recovery Type	Trigger
Session resume after compact	Automatic	session-resume.cjs hook
New session in same directory	Manual	This /recover command
Explicit user request	Manual	This /recover command
No workflow state found	Manual	This /recover command

Related Commands

• /checkpoint - Create a manual checkpoint (before expected loss)
• /compact - Manually trigger context compaction
• /context - Load project context
• /watzup - Generate progress summary

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IMPORTANT Task Planning Notes (MUST FOLLOW)

• Always plan and break work into many small todo tasks
• Always add a final review todo task to verify work quality and identify fixes/enhancements