# Boot up Human Guide

## What This Is For
Session startup and context rehydration skill. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for boot up: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Boot up agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for boot up.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Boot up guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- Search for any `HANDOFF.md` or `SESSION_LOG.md` in the project tree
- Check `CLAUDE.md` or `CONTEXT.md` at the project root for project-level guidance
- Read `README.md` for overall project orientation
- Run `scripts/discover-sessions.sh` to scan for session artifacts in non-standard locations
- **Continuity Key**: The 1-2 sentence summary of where things stand
- **Active Context**: The 3-5 critical facts for continuity
- **Current Task Stack**: What was in progress, ordered by priority
- **Next Actions**: The concrete first 3-5 things to do
- **Environment Quick-Start**: The exact commands to get running
- **Reference Index**: Links to any other files that may be needed
- HANDOFF.md references a decision or error whose rationale is unclear
- The task requires understanding the full sequence of steps that led to the current state

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Overview, Document Discovery, When Standard Locations Are Empty, Loading Protocol, Step 1: Read HANDOFF.md (Primary), Step 2: Read SESSION_LOG.md (Secondary — only if needed), Step 3: Load Updated Documentation (Tertiary — only if needed), Step 4: Verify Environment State, Presenting Context to the User, Session Resumed: [One-line summary from Continuity Key].

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Starting without a clear audience or goal.
- Asking for a final artifact before sharing examples or constraints.
- Accepting a generic first draft without checking it against the intended use.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Boot up human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the Block skill entry for `boot-up`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Boot Up

## Overview

Efficiently re-establish working context from a prior session by reading structured outputs produced by the `wrap-it-up` skill. The primary onboarding document is `HANDOFF.md`; fall back to `SESSION_LOG.md` and codebase documentation only when the handoff is unavailable, stale, or insufficient.

The core principle is **progressive disclosure**: load the smallest document first (HANDOFF.md), then drill into larger documents only for specific information needed.

## Document Discovery

Session artifacts follow a standard location convention established by `wrap-it-up`:

```
.goose/session/HANDOFF.md       — Primary: agent-optimized handoff
.goose/session/SESSION_LOG.md   — Secondary: full chronological record
```

If the project uses a different convention, load `references/file-locations.md` for alternative layouts.

### When Standard Locations Are Empty

If `.goose/session/` does not exist or contains no relevant files, fall back to:

1. Search for any `HANDOFF.md` or `SESSION_LOG.md` in the project tree
2. Check `CLAUDE.md` or `CONTEXT.md` at the project root for project-level guidance
3. Read `README.md` for overall project orientation
4. Run `scripts/discover-sessions.sh` to scan for session artifacts in non-standard locations

## Loading Protocol

The loading order is designed to minimize token consumption while maximizing context recovery. Stop at any point when sufficient context is established to continue work.

### Step 1: Read HANDOFF.md (Primary)

Read `.goose/session/HANDOFF.md` **in full**. This document is designed to be compact and information-dense. From it, extract:

- **Continuity Key**: The 1-2 sentence summary of where things stand
- **Active Context**: The 3-5 critical facts for continuity
- **Current Task Stack**: What was in progress, ordered by priority
- **Next Actions**: The concrete first 3-5 things to do
- **Environment Quick-Start**: The exact commands to get running
- **Reference Index**: Links to any other files that may be needed

After reading the handoff, assess whether sufficient context is established to begin work. In most cases, the handoff alone is enough.

### Step 2: Read SESSION_LOG.md (Secondary — only if needed)

Load `.goose/session/SESSION_LOG.md` **only when**:
- HANDOFF.md is not found
- HANDOFF.md references a decision or error whose rationale is unclear
- The task requires understanding the full sequence of steps that led to the current state
- HANDOFF.md explicitly instructs reading the session log

When reading the session log, load `references/session-log-format.md` first to understand the structure, then read only the relevant sections:
- **Objectives** and **Key Decisions** sections provide 80% of the value
- Read **Errors & Resolutions** only if encountering similar errors
- Read **Chronological Log** entries only for specific time ranges of interest
- Skip **File Manifest** unless verifying a specific file's status

### Step 3: Load Updated Documentation (Tertiary — only if needed)

If the handoff or session log references specific documentation files (README.md, CHANGELOG.md, `docs/` entries), load only those files, and only the sections needed.

### Step 4: Verify Environment State

Before beginning work, verify that the environment described in the handoff matches reality:

1. Run the Environment Quick-Start commands from the handoff (if provided)
2. Check that the git branch matches the handoff's reported branch: `git branch --show-current`
3. Check for uncommitted changes: `git status --short`
4. Verify any services the handoff says should be running are actually running

Report any discrepancies to the user before proceeding.

## Presenting Context to the User

After loading, present a compact orientation:

```
## Session Resumed: [One-line summary from Continuity Key]