Work Migration

Package work into a self-contained .zip that another agent can pick up cold — no chat history, no implicit knowledge, no "you should already know this."

Core Principle

The receiving agent is a blank slate. It has never seen your conversation history, your memory topics, your .env, your scheduled tasks, or your running services. Everything it needs must be inside the zip. If you're thinking "that's obvious, I don't need to write it down" — write it down.

Workflow

Phase 1: Scope

Ask the user: what work are we migrating? Could be a project, a custom skill, an ongoing task, or a full workspace. Pin down boundaries before collecting files.

Phase 2: Dependency Discovery

Work has tentacles. Trace ALL categories:

Category	Where to look	What to capture
Source code	Project dirs	All files preserving structure
Env vars	`.env`	⚠️ SENSITIVE — see Security section below
System deps	`setup.sh`	pip/apt/npm packages installed for this work
Custom skills	`skills/`	Any skills created or modified for this work
Scheduled tasks	`list_scheduled_tasks`	Job ID, schedule, description, model, full command
Running services	`/data/previews.json`	Dir, command, port — note must be restarted
Memory	`memory_topics` + `memory_get`	Export relevant topic summaries as .md files
User preferences	`prompt/SOUL.md`, `prompt/USER.md`	Sections relevant to this work's behavior
Decision history	Conversation context + memory	Why things are the way they are
External APIs	Code + .env	Endpoint, auth method, rate limits, quirks
Blockchain/wallet	Code + wallet tools	Addresses, chains, contracts — NEVER private keys

Phase 3: Write work_migration_readme.md

The most important file in the package. Follow the template in references/readme-template.md.

The template has 10 mandatory sections. Key rules:

File Manifest: every file in zip listed with purpose. No orphans.
Decision Log: top 3-5 non-obvious decisions. Prevents re-litigating settled choices.
How to Resume: exact step-by-step for the receiving agent to pick up work.
No implicit knowledge: ban phrases like "as discussed", "as before", "the usual".

Phase 3.5: Security Checkpoints

Two mandatory prompts before packaging:

🔐 Env Vars — Ask User

Found these env vars relevant to this work:
- OPENAI_API_KEY (used in src/llm.py)
- POSTGRES_URL (used in src/db.py)
- TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN (used in scripts/notify.py)

Include actual values in the package?
  [A] Yes, include values (convenient but sensitive)
  [B] No, redact values — only include names + purpose (safer)
  [C] Let me pick which ones to include

⚠️ Anyone who gets this zip will see the values.

Rules:

Default recommendation is B (redact). Explicitly tell user this is safer.
If user chooses A or C, warn once: "These values will be in plaintext inside the zip."
If user chooses B, write a clear table in readme: var name → purpose → how to obtain.
NEVER include private keys, wallet seeds, or signing keys regardless of user choice.

🔒 ZIP Password — Ask User

Protect the zip with a password?
  [A] Yes — I'll set a password (recommended if transferring over internet)
  [B] No — plain zip is fine

Password adds encryption so the file is safe in transit.