Context drifts if you don't pin it down

A lightweight system for maintaining context continuity across LLM sessions.

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The Problem

Most LLM-assisted work breaks down not because the model can't do the task, but because context gets stale or bloated mid-session. You lose track of what was investigated, what was decided, and where work stopped. Starting a new chat means starting from scratch — or spending half the session re-explaining what happened last time.

The Solution

Three prompt files that create natural checkpoints across your workflow. Each session starts clean but informed, carrying forward only what the next session actually needs.

Workflow

research-codebase.md       Investigate. Document what exists.
        │
        ▼
from-research.md           Plan. Turn findings into an actionable starting point.
        │
        ▼
mid-work-handoff.md        Continue. Snapshot so the next session picks up where you left off.

Getting Started

Each prompt file is self-contained. Copy the one you need, paste it into your LLM conversation, and follow it with your actual request. No dependencies, no setup, no cloning required.

1. Research — understanding the codebase

Copy research-codebase.md into a new LLM session, then ask your question:

"How does the authentication flow work?" "What happens when a user submits an endorsement?" "Map out the data flow from API request to database write for policy creation."

The prompt constrains the agent to document what exists — no unsolicited suggestions, no refactoring advice. If running locally the findings will be written to research/.

2. Planning — turning research into a plan

Once you have a research document, open a new session. Copy from-research.md into it, then point it at your research:

"Read research/2026-03-30-auth-flow.md and create an implementation handoff."

This produces a concrete plan: which files to touch, in what order, with what constraints. It trusts the research — it won't re-read the entire codebase.

3. Continuing — picking up where you left off

When a session runs long or you need to refresh context, copy mid-work-handoff.md into the current session:

"Write a mid-work handoff."

Then start a new session, paste the same prompt, and point it at the handoff document to continue:

"Read .handoffs/auth-refactor/2026-03-30_14-30-00_auth-refactor_session-2.md and continue."

Repeat as many times as needed until the work is complete.

Where files are stored

research/ and .handoffs/ directories are created at the root of your repository. These are project artifacts — they travel with the repo, not with your editor or user profile.

Whether you commit them is up to you. They may contain useful context for your team, or they may be ephemeral working notes. Add them to .gitignore if you prefer to keep them local.

Where these work

These are plain markdown. Paste them into any agent or LLM — VS Code Copilot, Cursor, ChatGPT, Claude, Windsurf, or anything that accepts a system prompt. The YAML frontmatter at the top of each file is recognized by tools that support it and harmlessly ignored by those that don't.