description: Recover context from decision graph and recent activity - USE THIS ON SESSION START allowed-tools: Bash(deciduous:, jj:, git:, cat:, tail:*) argument-hint: [focus-area]#

Context Recovery#

RUN THIS AT SESSION START. The decision graph is your persistent memory.

Step 1: Query the Graph#

# See all decisions (look for recent ones and pending status)
deciduous nodes

# Filter by current bookmark (useful for feature work)
deciduous nodes --branch $(jj log -r @ -T 'bookmarks' --no-graph 2>/dev/null | head -1)

# See how decisions connect
deciduous edges

# What commands were recently run?
deciduous commands

Bookmark-scoped context: If working on a feature bookmark, filter nodes to see only decisions relevant to this bookmark. Main bookmark nodes are tagged with [bookmark: main].

Step 1.5: Audit Graph Integrity#

CRITICAL: Check that all nodes are logically connected.

# Find nodes with no incoming edges (potential missing connections)
deciduous edges | cut -d'>' -f2 | cut -d' ' -f2 | sort -u > /tmp/has_parent.txt
deciduous nodes | tail -n+3 | awk '{print $1}' | while read id; do
  grep -q "^$id$" /tmp/has_parent.txt || echo "CHECK: $id"
done

Review each flagged node:

Root goal nodes are VALID without parents
outcome nodes MUST link back to their action/goal
action nodes MUST link to their parent goal/decision
option nodes MUST link to their parent decision

Fix missing connections:

deciduous link <parent_id> <child_id> -r "Retroactive connection - <reason>"

Step 2: Check VCS State#

jj status
jj log -n 10
jj diff --stat

Step 3: Check Session Log#

cat git.log | tail -30

After Gathering Context, Report:#

Current bookmark and pending changes
Bookmark-specific decisions (filter by bookmark if on feature bookmark)
Recent decisions (especially pending/active ones)
Last actions from jj log and command log
Open questions or unresolved observations
Suggested next steps

Bookmark Configuration#

Check .deciduous/config.toml for bookmark settings:

[branch]
main_branches = ["main", "master"]  # Which bookmarks are "main"
auto_detect = true                   # Auto-detect bookmark on node creation

REMEMBER: Real-Time Logging Required#

After recovering context, you MUST follow the logging workflow:

EVERY USER REQUEST → Log goal/decision first
BEFORE CODE CHANGES → Log action
AFTER CHANGES → Log outcome, link nodes
BEFORE PUSH → deciduous sync

The user is watching the graph live. Log as you go, not after.

Quick Logging Commands#

# Root goal with user prompt (capture what the user asked for)
deciduous add goal "What we're trying to do" -c 90 -p "User asked: <their request>"

deciduous add action "What I'm about to implement" -c 85
deciduous add outcome "What happened" -c 95
deciduous link FROM TO -r "Connection reason"

# Capture prompt when user redirects mid-stream
deciduous add action "Switching approach" -c 85 -p "User said: use X instead"

deciduous sync  # Do this frequently!

When to use --prompt: On root goals (always) and when user gives new direction mid-stream. Downstream nodes inherit context via edges.

Focus Areas#

If $ARGUMENTS specifies a focus, prioritize context for:

auth: Authentication-related decisions
ui / graph: UI and graph viewer state
cli: Command-line interface changes
api: API endpoints and data structures

The Memory Loop#

SESSION START
    ↓
Run /recover → See past decisions
    ↓
AUDIT → Fix any orphan nodes first!
    ↓
DO WORK → Log BEFORE each action
    ↓
CONNECT → Link new nodes immediately
    ↓
AFTER CHANGES → Log outcomes, observations
    ↓
AUDIT AGAIN → Any new orphans?
    ↓
BEFORE PUSH → deciduous sync
    ↓
PUSH → Live graph updates
    ↓
SESSION END → Final audit
    ↓
(repeat)

Live graph: https://notactuallytreyanastasio.github.io/deciduous/

Multi-User Sync#

If working in a team, check for and apply patches from teammates:

# Check for unapplied patches
deciduous diff status

# Apply all patches (idempotent - safe to run multiple times)
deciduous diff apply .deciduous/patches/*.json

# Preview before applying
deciduous diff apply --dry-run .deciduous/patches/teammate-feature.json

Before pushing your bookmark, export your decisions for teammates:

# Export your bookmark's decisions as a patch
BOOKMARK=$(jj log -r @ -T 'bookmarks' --no-graph 2>/dev/null | head -1)
deciduous diff export --branch "$BOOKMARK" \
  -o .deciduous/patches/$(whoami)-$BOOKMARK.json

# The patch file will be tracked automatically by jj

Why This Matters#

Context loss during compaction loses your reasoning
The graph survives - query it early, query it often
Retroactive logging misses details - log in the moment
The user sees the graph live - show your work
Patches share reasoning with teammates