/recover — Context Recovery After Compaction

Purpose: Help you get back up to speed after Claude Code context compaction. Automatically detects in-progress work (RPI runs, evolve cycles), loads relevant knowledge, and summarizes what you were doing and what's next.

YOU MUST EXECUTE THIS WORKFLOW. Do not just describe it.

CLI dependencies: gt, ao, bd — all optional. Shows what's available, skips what isn't.

Quick Start

/recover              # Full recovery dashboard
/recover --json       # Machine-readable JSON output

Execution Steps

Step 1: Detect In-Progress Sessions (Parallel)

Run ALL of the following in parallel bash calls:

Call 1 — RPI Phased State:

if [ -f .agents/rpi/phased-state.json ]; then
  echo "=== RPI_STATE ==="
  cat .agents/rpi/phased-state.json
else
  echo "RPI_STATE=NONE"
fi

Call 2 — Evolve Cycle History:

if [ -f .agents/evolve/cycle-history.jsonl ]; then
  echo "=== EVOLVE_STATE ==="
  tail -3 .agents/evolve/cycle-history.jsonl
else
  echo "EVOLVE_STATE=NONE"
fi

Call 3 — Git Recent Changes:

echo "=== GIT_STATUS ==="
git status --short

echo "=== GIT_LOG ==="
git log --oneline -5

echo "=== GIT_BRANCH ==="
git branch --show-current

Call 4 — Work Queue State:

if command -v bd &>/dev/null; then
  echo "=== IN_PROGRESS ==="
  bd list --status in_progress 2>/dev/null | head -3
  echo "=== READY ==="
  bd ready 2>/dev/null | head -3
else
  echo "BD_UNAVAILABLE"
fi

Call 5 — Knowledge and Messages:

# Knowledge artifacts
echo "=== KNOWLEDGE_COUNT ==="
echo "Learnings=$(ls .agents/learnings/ 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' ')"
echo "Patterns=$(ls .agents/patterns/ 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' ')"

# Inbox if gt available
if command -v gt &>/dev/null; then
  echo "=== MESSAGES ==="
  gt mail inbox 2>/dev/null | head -3
else
  echo "GT_UNAVAILABLE"
fi

Step 2: Load Context from Knowledge Base

If RPI state detected, run:

if command -v ao &>/dev/null; then
  ao lookup --query "rpi recovery context" --limit 5 2>/dev/null || true
fi

Step 3: Parse and Summarize Session State

Extract from collected data:

1. RPI Detection: If .agents/rpi/phased-state.json exists:

   • Extract goal, epic_id, phase, cycle, started_at
   • Map phase number to phase name (1=research, 2=plan, 3=implement, 4=validate)
   • Show elapsed time since started_at

2. Evolve Detection: If .agents/evolve/cycle-history.jsonl exists:

   • Read last entry for most recent cycle
   • Extract goals_fixed, result, timestamp
   • Show latest cycle summary

3. Recent Work: From git log:

   • Last 3 commits (extracted in Call 3)
   • Uncommitted changes count

4. Pending Work: From beads:

   • In-progress issues (up to 3)
   • Ready issues count

5. Knowledge State:

   • Total learnings and patterns available
   • Unread messages count if gt available

Step 4: Render Recovery Dashboard

Assemble gathered data into this format:

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  Context Recovery Dashboard
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

IN-PROGRESS RPI RUN
  Epic: <epic_id>
  Goal: <first 80 chars of goal>
  Phase: <phase name: research | plan | implement | validate>
  Cycle: <cycle #>
  Started: <time ago (e.g., "2 hours ago")>
  Status: <PHASE_START | IN_PROGRESS | READY_FOR_GATE | ...>

  ─ Next Step: <state-aware suggestion from Step 5>

OR

RECENT EVOLVE CYCLE (IF NO RPI)
  Cycle: <cycle #>
  Latest Goal: <goal_id or summary>
  Result: <result>
  Items Completed: <count or "—">
  Timestamp: <time ago>

  ─ Next Step: <state-aware suggestion from Step 5>

OR

[NO ACTIVE SESSION]
  No RPI run or evolve cycle in progress.
  Last activity: <time of last commit or "unknown">

IN-PROGRESS WORK
  <list up to 3 in-progress issues with IDs>
  <or "No in-progress work">

READY TO WORK
  <count of ready issues>
  <or "No ready issues">

RECENT COMMITS
  <last 3 commits>

PENDING CHANGES
  <uncommitted file count or "clean">

KNOWLEDGE AVAILABLE
  Learnings: <count>  Patterns: <count>

INBOX
  <message count or "No messages" or "gt not installed">

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
SUGGESTED NEXT ACTION
  <state-aware command from Step 5>
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

QUICK COMMANDS
  /status       Current workflow dashboard
  /research     Deep codebase exploration
  /plan         Decompose work into issues
  /implement    Execute a single issue
  /crank        Autonomous epic execution
  /vibe         Validate code quality
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Step 5: Suggest Next Action (State-Aware)

Evaluate context top-to-bottom. Use the FIRST matching condition:

Step 6: JSON Output (--json flag)

If the user passed --json, output all recovery data as structured JSON:

{
  "session_type": "rpi|evolve|none",
  "rpi": {
    "epic_id": "ag-l2pu",
    "goal": "Implement...",
    "phase": 2,
    "phase_name": "plan",
    "cycle": 1,
    "started_at": "2026-02-15T14:33:36-05:00",
    "elapsed_minutes": 120
  },
  "evolve": {
    "cycle": 3,
    "result": "improved",
    "goals_fixed": ["goal1", "goal2"],
    "timestamp": "2026-02-15T22:00:00-05:00"
  },
  "work_state": {
    "in_progress_count": 3,
    "in_progress_issues": ["ag-042.1", "ag-042.2"],
    "ready_count": 5,
    "uncommitted_changes": 2
  },
  "git": {
    "branch": "main",
    "recent_commits": [
      "7de51c8 feat: wave 2 — structural assertions",
      "25004f8 fix: replace per-wave vibe gate"
    ]
  },
  "knowledge": {
    "learnings_count": 12,
    "patterns_count": 5
  },
  "inbox": {
    "unread_count": 0
  },
  "suggestion": {
    "priority": 4,
    "message": "Resume implementation: /implement ag-042.1"
  }
}

Render this with a single code block. No visual dashboard when --json is active.

Examples

Recovery After Compaction Mid-RPI

User says: /recover

What happens:

1. Agent runs 5 parallel bash calls to gather state
2. Agent detects RPI run in phased-state.json (phase=2, epic ag-l2pu)
3. Agent runs ao lookup --query "rpi recovery context" to load relevant knowledge
4. Agent shows goal, current phase (plan), cycle 1, started 2 hours ago
5. Agent lists 2 in-progress issues and 3 ready issues
6. Agent shows clean git state, recent commit
7. Agent suggests: "Review plan: /pre-mortem to validate before coding"

Result: Dashboard confirms in-progress RPI session, loads context, suggests next step.

Recovery After Compaction With Evolve Cycle

User says: /recover

What happens:

1. Agent gathers state in parallel
2. Agent finds no RPI run
3. Agent detects evolve cycle (most recent: cycle 3, result "improved", goals_fixed=["goal1", "goal2"])
4. Agent shows timestamp (1 hour ago), items_completed (8)
5. Agent loads knowledge with ao lookup --query "evolve cycle recovery"
6. Agent suggests: "Continue autonomous improvements: /evolve --resume"

Result: Dashboard confirms evolve cycle, shows progress, offers resume command.

Recovery in Clean State (No Active Session)

User says: /recover

What happens:

1. Agent gathers state in parallel
2. Agent finds no RPI run, no evolve cycle
3. Agent shows last 3 commits only
4. Agent finds no in-progress work, no ready issues
5. Agent shows 12 learnings available from knowledge base
6. Agent suggests: "Session recovered. Start with /status to plan next work"

Result: Dashboard confirms clean state, points user to entry points.

Troubleshooting