---
name: startup
description: Daily startup briefing — tells you what happened last, what's in progress, what's next, priorities, and what to parallelize.
user-invocable: true
---

# /startup — Daily Startup Briefing

Run this at the start of every workday. It gives you a complete picture of where things stand and what to do next.

## Steps

### 1. Check for Crashed Session
Check if `.session/` exists from a previous session:
- If `.session/state.md` shows `Status: active` — the previous session crashed or ended without closeout. Read the checkpoint and state files to understand what was in progress. Report this to the user with a summary of what was interrupted and what might need recovery.
- If `.session/state.md` shows `Status: ended` — clean end. Note what was last worked on.
- If `.session/` doesn't exist — nothing to recover.

### 2. Read Latest Handoff
Find the most recent handoff document in `handoffs/` (highest session number).
Extract:
- What was completed
- What was left incomplete
- What decisions were made
- The continuation prompt
- Any referenced handoff docs for related work

### 3. Read Current Status
- Read `docs/status/DASHBOARD.md` for project-level status
- Read `docs/status/BRIEFING.md` for latest plain-language summary
- Run `git log --oneline -10` to see recent commits

### 4. Check for Active Plans
- Check for any `PLAN_*.md` files with incomplete items
- Check for any in-progress work that was interrupted

### 5. Present Startup Briefing

Format the briefing like this (plain English, numbered, easy to follow):

```
GOOD MORNING BRIEFING
=====================

LAST SESSION (Session N, [date]):
- [What was done — 2-3 bullet points max]
- [Any issues or crashes]

STILL IN PROGRESS:
- [Tasks started but not finished, with context]
- [Reference: handoff doc or file where details live]

NOT STARTED YET (Priority Order):
1. [Highest priority task] — Why it's first: [reason]
2. [Next priority] — Why: [reason]
3. [etc.]

RECOMMENDED PARALLEL WORK:
- Agent A can work on [X] while Agent B works on [Y]
  because [they don't touch the same files/areas]
- User can [do human tasks] while agents work on [automated tasks]

USER'S FOCUS AREAS:
- [Things only the user can do: decisions, account setup, design review, etc.]
- [Things the user should read or review]

CONTEXT PACKAGE (read these first):
1. [Most relevant file for today's work]
2. [Second most relevant]
3. [Third most relevant]

BLOCKERS TO BE AWARE OF:
- [Any active blockers]
```

### 6. Initialize Session State
Update `.session/state.md` with today's goals based on the briefing.

## Rules
- This skill is READ-ONLY — it does not modify project files (except .session/state.md)
- Always check for crashed sessions first — recovering lost work is highest priority
- Be specific about file paths so the user and agents can find things quickly
- When suggesting parallel work, verify the tasks are truly independent (no shared files)
- Reference specific handoff documents by name so the next agent knows exactly where to look