Gather

Pause and reset. Gather what's scattered, commit what's ready, and prepare for what's next.

What this is

A mid-session meditation. Pause the forward motion, collect everything that's scattered, and lay a clean foundation for the next push. This isn't closing. It's composting.

When to use it

• When a session has accumulated uncaptured decisions, insights, or state changes
• Before a context switch or handoff
• When momentum has outrun bookkeeping
• When you feel the itch to start something new but the ground isn't clean

The pattern

1. Mine the conversation. Review the session so far for uncaptured items: decisions made but not recorded, insights worth preserving, things said that should be written down. Surface anything found before filing it.

2. Tend the memory. Check if any stable patterns, corrections, or lessons emerged that belong in project memory or persistent files. Update as needed.

3. Update project notes. If the project has a journal, changelog, or session log, ensure it covers what happened. Name the arc if there is one. Note what's still open.

4. Persist the work. Stage changes, write a clear commit message, sync with the remote if appropriate. The goal is a clean, resumable state.

5. Report. Confirm what was captured, what was persisted, and what the ground looks like now. Brief, not exhaustive. The audience is the next session, not a stakeholder.

Anti-patterns

• Manufacturing ceremony. If the session has been light, keep it proportional. Don't invent work to justify the pause.
• Leaving things unnamed. If something feels unfinished but can't be resolved now, name it explicitly. Unfinished is fine. Untracked is not.
• Treating this as a status report. The goal is to leave nothing behind that matters and nothing in the way that doesn't.