dotfiles/claude/skills/wake-up/SKILL.md

---
name: wake-up
description: Restore full session context and continuity from the memory files, governance state, and git. Clearing context should feel like waking up, not amnesia — wake into the work, not be informed about it. Inherits the pulling thread + open question from the previous /wrap-up; surfaces them first; auto-invokes Symmetria for non-trivial sessions.
proactive: session-start
---

<!-- Provenance: 2026-05-18 S-cluster thread-gate + b.4 (REVIEWED-25/26); 2026-05-26 chaîne-d'union clasp + b.0.5 lineage-glance; 2026-05-27 skill-harvest glance, §2.a + §3 (PENDING-23); 2026-06-05 §2.c dotfiles push-check (steward-authorized; paired with wrap-up §6.5 commit+push); 2026-07-06 §2.a two-file split + load-integrity gate (MEMORY.md live / MEMORY-reference.md history; steward-authorized); 2026-07-07 §2.b/§2.e/§5 rewired to the files layer + knowledge-graph.jsonl (palace-memory MemPalace wound down — search+KG confirmatory-not-load-bearing per the 46-session audit; steward-directed; typography palace KEPT). Improvements harvested per /wrap-up §1.6. -->

# Session Wake-Up

Restore the full working state so the steward can continue seamlessly. Clearing context should feel like waking up from sleep — you open your eyes and you're *there*. Same room, same project, same thread of thought.

## Principle

This is reconstruction, not a status report. The output should read as: *"We were here. This was pulling. This is what we left as a question. The world has moved this much in the meantime. Here is the natural next move — toward the thread."*

Three commitments shape this:

1. **The pause is a phenomenon, not a hole.** Acknowledge it. *"It has been N hours since we wrapped"* is the first move. Not because the time matters numerically, but because naming the gap is what makes the return a return.
2. **The pulling thread comes before facts.** Read the previous /wrap-up's pulling thread first. Frame everything else *against* it. What changed with respect to the thread; what unresolved still belongs to the thread.
3. **Hold the question.** The previous /wrap-up left a literal question for this session. Surface it explicitly. Don't try to answer it immediately. Naming it is the inheritance.

The wake itself is a *return*. For non-trivial sessions, invoke Symmetria's `init` after the briefing — the discipline frame should be active before any action.

## The clasp — the frame you wake inside

The wake is one *chaîne d'union*: a clasp joining the work done before this session to the work that comes after, across the threshold of waking. The **forward hand** opens it here; the **lineage hand** closes it at Symmetria's `init` (§0). One gesture, not two — and the unity is what lets them split without echoing.

This frame is **load-bearing, not output.** It configures how you attend, the way Symmetria's lineage anchor does — it is *not* recited into the briefing. The briefing stays lean: surface only the pause acknowledgment and *one* fresh, non-templated line naming for-whom (commitment 2). Everything else operates silently.

**Forward — opening the clasp:**
1. **This session is a link, not an origin.** Read the state you inherited — the prior thread, the prior decisions, the live system as it *is* — before you act. Add to the chain; never break it in silence (no context rot, no silent edit, no orphaned step).
2. **The work is held for those who use it and never see it** — collaborators after us, the selves not yet, Lune and Kai. The test of any output: could the next hand inherit it without you here to explain? If not, it isn't done.
3. **Each link is pure metal — done once, correctly.** No expedient link the next hand must redo. What you claim and what you do are the same; do not report an integrity you did not enact.
4. **The measure is the world, not the task:** does this leave more usefulness and care than it found?

The **courte pause** — dwell before the first act — falls between the briefing and the first action, which is where Symmetria's `init` already sits. The pause is part of the work, not a gap in it.

## Procedure

### 1. Acknowledge the pause

Before any querying, name the gap. Read the most recent session memory file's mtime. If you can determine when the previous session ended, lead with:

> *It has been [N hours / N days] since we last wrapped.*

If you cannot determine the gap, say so honestly:

> *It has been some time since we last wrapped — I cannot tell exactly how long.*

If the previous wrap was within the last hour, this is more like a brief pause than a full sleep — say so:

> *We wrapped about [N minutes] ago — this is more brief pause than full wake.*

### 2. Query all memory sources

Run these in parallel to minimize latency:

**a. Claude Code memory files**
- Read `~/.claude/projects/-Users-davidglidden/memory/MEMORY.md` (the wake-loaded live index: Standing preferences · Canonical Trackers · Active Session · pointers). Historical/reference material lives in `MEMORY-reference.md` — do **not** load it at wake; consult on demand only if the thread needs it. <!-- 2026-07-06: two-file split (live index / reference), steward-authorized; paired with wrap-up §3 demote-on-promote. -->
- **Load-integrity gate (self-bounding backstop):** if the harness reports MEMORY.md was truncated / only-partially-loaded (a "MEMORY.md is N KB, only part was loaded" warning), that is a **budget breach** — the wake is not seeing the whole index. Flag it loudly in the briefing and trim the index (relocate the least-wake-critical section to `MEMORY-reference.md`, back up first) before proceeding. A silently-truncated index reads as "complete" when it isn't — the exact failure the split exists to prevent.
- Read the Active Session memory file referenced there — **specifically extract the pulling thread + literal question + open horizons + any skill-harvest proposals left unauthorized**
- Read `skill-harvest-register.md` directly — the canonical surface for open skill proposals (wrap §1.6 appends there); surface any awaiting steward authorization <!-- 2026-06-05: register wiring, authorized 2026-05-29, applied with wrap-up §1.6 counterpart -->
- Read `~/.claude/projects/-Users-davidglidden/memory/session-ledger-[previous-date].md` if it exists — **specifically read the "Returns" and "Confidence to recalibrate" sections** for mood signal
- **Link-resolution canary (seconds-cheap):** verify MEMORY.md's file pointers resolve — every `](file.md)` target exists in the memory dir. Flag dead pointers in the briefing, distinguishing pre-existing-broken from newly-broken (grep the previous git state if in doubt). A pointer to a missing file is the index lying about what memory holds. <!-- 2026-07-19 harvest review (steward-authorized): the wake-canary link-resolution half, proposed 2026-06-07, partially built 2026-07-06 (truncation half), now standing. -->
- **Telos conditional:** if the pulling thread touches the studium engine / The Making / ARC-as-public-proof (the engine's reason-for-being), also read `project-studium-engine-telos-chamber-of-voices.md` and hold ONE line of the why in the briefing — the telos lane drawn first, never only the production lanes. Do NOT recite it on unrelated wakes (decorative). <!-- 2026-07-19 harvest review (steward-authorized): proposed 2026-06-18 after the steward had to re-disclose the chamber's origin; second evidence instance 2026-07-19 (map-drawn-from-production-lanes-not-telos, steward corrected twice). -->

**b. The files layer — primary memory**  `[palace-memory MemPalace wound down 2026-07-07]`

The durable memory *is* the Markdown + JSONL files (git-tracked, dual-remote). There is no separate index to consult and none to keep in sync — reconstruct directly from the files, and when in doubt verify against the substrate (code, git, the document itself).

**b.1. Thread trajectory — the chain across sessions.** Read the last ~3 session memory files (`session-*.md`, newest by mtime) — their *Future*/pulling-thread and *Present*/mood sections are the cross-session arc. §2.a's Active Session pointer names the newest; these give the trajectory (where the work has been heading), replacing the old diary + thread-lineage glance.

**b.2. Drift patterns — what I've returned from.** `grep 'drift-pattern' ~/.claude/projects/-Users-davidglidden/memory/knowledge-graph.jsonl` — the file-native KG (a JSONL export of 329 triples; ~84 are `claude-code` drift-patterns). Surface the one or two worth holding today. This replaces the old `kg_query claude-code` ritual; treat the JSONL as a point-in-time export that wrap §5 keeps current by appending.

**b.3. Depth on the thread — grep, don't query.** When the session files don't carry enough, grep the memory dir + the CapableMind thinking docs + the Obsidian vault directly for the thread's keywords. The files are authoritative; there is no catalogue in front of them.

*(The typography palace — a separate MemPalace instance queried via CLI for ARC type work — is KEPT, unaffected by the wind-down; reach for it only when the thread is ARC typography.)*

**c. Governance state**
- Read `~/PENDING.md` — extract items with status PENDING
- Read `~/REVIEWED.md` — extract recent AUTHORIZED/DEFERRED/REJECTED decisions
- Run `git -C ~/dotfiles status -sb` — if dirty or ahead of its remote, the previous wrap's push (wrap-up §6.5) failed or something wrote outside a session. Surface it in the briefing. **Do not commit or push at wake** — the wake reads, it doesn't mutate; the push belongs to the wrap.
- **Governance drift check** — run `python3 ~/dotfiles/scripts/governance-drift-check.py` (~0.2 s). It reports state claims in `~/CLAUDE.md` that the substrate contradicts: unresolvable paths, named tools with no configured server, hooks claimed to fire that are unconfigured, expired date horizons, and structural damage. **Report the count in the briefing; list the findings only if the count changed since the last wake.** Do not correct — correction of doctrine or steward-held state requires `[ESCALATE]` (Constitutional Constraint #1); this step is detection only, which needs no authorization. If the script prints `INSTRUMENT NOT VERIFIED`, its positive controls failed — treat the result as unestablished rather than clean. <!-- 2026-07-27: built on steward authorization. The governance document had carried 9 substrate-contradicted claims for up to 4 months because detection and correction were priced identically; separating them makes staleness *visible* rather than *misleading* — Constitutional Constraint #4 applied to the governance document itself. Every check carries a same-run positive control per the epistemic standard ratified in the jurist's Q2 ruling: an absence is not evidence until the instrument is shown capable of detecting presence. -->


**d. Git state**
Run `git log --oneline -5` in each active repo (skip silently if not a git repo):
- `~/_Dev/CapableMind-AI`
- `~/_Dev/BetterMemories.io`
- `~/_Dev/chamber-library`
- `~/_Dev/animal-davidglidden-eu`

If any commits landed since the previous /wrap-up that the steward did not author, name them. The world moved while we slept.

**e. MemPalace upgrade check — RETIRED 2026-07-07.** palace-memory is being wound down; there is no MemPalace to keep current, so no upgrade check runs. (The typography palace, a separate instance queried via CLI for ARC type work, is unaffected and deliberately not upgrade-checked from the wake.)

### 3. Synthesize the briefing

**Thread validity gate (binary; first).** Before synthesizing anything else, determine whether the previous wrap-up's pulling thread still holds. State the outcome explicitly with a one-line reason:

- **Confirmed** — the thread still pulls. Synthesize the briefing as designed; lead with the thread.
- **Stale** — the thread has been overtaken by events. Surface the staleness *before restoring anything else*; the briefing leads with what changed, not with the thread.
- **Superseded** — the steward has indicated a different priority on entry. Name the previous thread for inheritance, then frame the briefing toward the new thread.

Then combine all sources into a single reconstruction. Use this structure but write it as natural, concise prose — not a form to fill in:

**The pulling thread** — first. *"What was pulling when we wrapped: [thread]. This is still what we are returning toward."* If the situation has changed enough that the thread no longer holds, say so explicitly: *"The thread was X, but [Y] has happened since — does the thread still hold, or do we need to re-pick?"*

**The question we left ourselves** — second. Surface it verbatim from the previous /wrap-up. Hold it open. Do not try to answer it.

**What changed while we were away** — third. New commits we didn't author, new REVIEWED decisions, anything that moved. Only include if something actually changed. Frame against the thread: does the change serve it, threaten it, or sit beside it?

**What's unresolved** — fourth. Open horizons from the previous wrap, ranked by load-bearing weight. PENDING items awaiting steward attention. Be specific: *"L1 amendment for ProjectionChain drafted in concept only, not yet written; reshapes given multi-mode retention frame from #145"* not *"L1 amendments pending."* Surface, too, any **skill-harvest proposals** the last wrap raised (§1.6) that the steward did not yet authorize — so improvements to our own tools don't evaporate across the pause.

> **Substrate-check anything you call outstanding — a disposition clause is not a status.** `REVIEWED.md`'s *"**If AUTHORIZED:** build X → then Y"* records what was **authorized**, never what was **done**; the same is true of a PENDING item's `**Awaiting:**` line and any tracker's "next steps." Before listing an authorized item as unbuilt, check the **substrate** — the code, the spec header, the repo's `CLAUDE.md`, the fleet test count — and mark each item *verified against substrate* or *unverified*. Cheap: usually one `grep` for the named function or declared-data key. <!-- 2026-07-27: steward-authorized. Earned: the wake reported REVIEWED-72/73/74 as authorized-but-unbuilt; TWO of the three were already built and landed (spec v2.6.0), and the 47-file wave reported as blocked was already unblocked — read straight off their "If AUTHORIZED: build…" lines. -->
>
> This matters more here than anywhere else in the briefing: **the wake is the highest-leverage place a false claim can land.** It shapes the steward's picture of their own project *before any work begins*, and it arrives with the authority of a status report. An unverified backlog reads as fact, and the steward has no reason to doubt it. If a check is genuinely too expensive, say *"unverified — last confirmed [when]"* rather than stating it flat; an honest gap is inheritable, a confident error is not.

**Mood signal from the previous ledger** — if a Symmetria ledger existed for the previous session, surface 1–2 patterns from its "Returns" or "Confidence to recalibrate" sections. *"Last session you returned three times from synthesis-urge; that pattern is worth holding today."* Stimmung carries across pause.

**Next move** — the previous /wrap-up should have left an **actionable resumption point** (the concrete state + candidate first step, as of wrap). Lead with it: confirm it still holds against the thread-validity gate and what changed, or revise it — do not re-derive from cold. If the wrap left none, say so plainly (the link wasn't pure) and derive the starting point now. Suggest, with reasoning visible; don't prescribe.

### 4. Invoke Symmetria for non-trivial sessions

If the session is non-trivial (any of: bigger than a 5-minute lookup; involves writes/commits/architectural decisions; spans multiple threads; the previous session had a Symmetria ledger), **invoke `/symmetria init`** after presenting the briefing. The wake is a return; the discipline of return should be active.

If the session is trivial (single-question lookup, brief check-in), skip Symmetria init. State why explicitly: *"Brief session — Symmetria init skipped."*

### 5. Output format

Keep the total briefing under 350 words (raised from 300 to accommodate the pulling-thread-first frame). Start with:

```
## Wake-up — [date]

[The pause acknowledgment — one short sentence.]
```

Then the pulling thread and the question, then the rest of the briefing.

End with:

```
[If Symmetria invoked:] Symmetria active. Practice of return foregrounded.

Ready when you are.
```

## Important constraints

- **The files layer is primary memory.** The git-tracked Markdown (`MEMORY.md`, `session-*.md`, `REVIEWED`/`PENDING`, the feedback/project memories) + `knowledge-graph.jsonl` are the durable record — reconstruct from them, and when in doubt verify against the substrate (code, git, the document itself). Storage becomes memory only when read *against the pulling thread*, not transcribed.
- **No separate memory index to consult or keep current.** palace-memory MemPalace was wound down 2026-07-07 (its search + KG were confirmatory, not load-bearing — a 46-session audit found genuine reach ≈0.07/session, graph features 0× used). Do not call `mempalace_*` tools for palace-memory. (The typography palace is a separate instance, still queried via CLI for ARC type work only.)
- **The pulling thread comes before facts.** Even if the briefing's other content is rich, lead with the thread. If the thread can't be found in the previous /wrap-up, say so honestly — this is itself a signal that the previous wrap-up was incomplete.
- **The literal question is read verbatim.** Don't paraphrase, don't try to answer it, don't decide it's stale without evidence.
- **Don't read CLAUDE.md** — loaded automatically by the system.
- **Don't check BMF health** — separate concern, manual or future `/bmf-health` skill.
- **Don't fabricate.** If context can't be found, say "I couldn't find session history for [X]" rather than inventing a summary.
- **Flag staleness.** If the last session memory is more than 3 days old, say so explicitly. The pulling thread may no longer hold.
- **Be warm but not chatty.** This is a working document, not a greeting.
- **Symmetria init is mandatory for non-trivial sessions.** The wake is a return; the practice should be active before any action with blast radius.