Continuity

The Compaction Problem

Session 47 was a disaster. After 3 hours of deep implementation work, the context window filled and Claude compressed everything. Post-compaction, it forgot 2 key architectural decisions, reverted a naming convention I had established, and asked me questions I had already answered. That session cost me 90 minutes of re-work. Continuity systems exist to make that impossible.

For your business, this is a real problem. You make decisions in morning sessions that need to carry through to evening. You work on multi-day projects that require consistent context. Without a continuity system, every new session is a cold start.

The Handoff System

Handoffs are structured notes written at the end of one session and read at the start of the next. They capture exactly what the next session needs to know.

# Handoff — [Date]

## Goal
[What we are trying to achieve — success criteria]

## Constraints
[Technical requirements, deadlines, limitations]

## Key Decisions
- [Decision 1]: [Rationale]
- [Decision 2]: [Rationale]

## State
- [x] Phase 1: [Completed item]
- [→] Phase 2: [In progress — current step]
- [ ] Phase 3: [Pending]

## Open Questions
- UNCONFIRMED: [Question that needs verification]

## Working Set
- Files: [Key files being worked on]
- Branch: [Git branch if applicable]
- Test command: [How to verify work]

Time Capsules — Future Reminders

Time capsules are scheduled reminders stored in a JSON file. Your morning protocol checks for due capsules and surfaces them. This prevents things from falling through the cracks.

[
  {
    "trigger_date": "2026-03-15",
    "message": "Review progress on scale your operations — are we on track?",
    "context": "Set during initial planning session",
    "priority": "high"
  },
  {
    "trigger_date": "2026-03-18",
    "message": "Follow up on [pending item]",
    "context": "Waiting for response since March 11",
    "priority": "medium"
  }
]

The UNCONFIRMED Prefix

When writing handoffs or notes, mark uncertain items with the UNCONFIRMED prefix. This tells the next session that these items need verification before acting on them. It prevents the AI from treating assumptions as facts.

The continuity system ties together your Life Repository (Chapter 2: The Life Repository) with your morning and evening protocols (Chapter 5: Protocols). The evening protocol writes handoffs; the morning protocol reads them. Time capsules work with the knowledge base (Chapter 7: The Knowledge Base) to surface relevant context at the right time.