When to invoke
- User explicitly says:
/closeout, "close out", "wrap up", "end the session" - Before any non-trivial
git push(the close-out should precede the push) - When the session has produced 3+ files, plans, or atoms and the user is signaling end
Six-step protocol
Step 1 — Inventory session outputs
Run, in parallel where possible:
# What files did this session create or modify?
git status --short
What plans were authored in this session?
ls -t ~/.Codex/plans/*.md 2>/dev/null | head -10
What's the current branch and where does it stand vs origin?git branch --show-current git log @{u}.. 2>/dev/null || echo "(no upstream tracking)"
Surface a brief inventory table to the user:
- N files modified, M created
- K plans authored this session
- L commits ahead of origin
### Step 2 — Walk back through plans
For each plan authored this session (filter `~/.Codex/plans/*.md` by mtime within session window):
For each plan, classify it as one of:
- **EXECUTED**: contains `DONE-NNN` reference. No action.
- **IN-PROGRESS**: contains `IRF-XXX-NNN` reference but no DONE-NNN. Update its frontmatter to confirm continued status.
- **ABANDONED**: no closure reference, no follow-on commits. Move to `~/.Codex/plans/abandoned/` with a brief abandonment-reason.
Ask the user for ambiguous cases. Do NOT bulk-classify without confirmation — the home-scope AGENTS.md rule "Atoms are permanent — never batch-close" applies to plans-as-artifacts too.
### Step 3 — Walk back through atoms (if applicable)
If `data/prompt-registry/prompt-atoms.json` was touched this session, identify atoms that were closed in this session and confirm their `status` field is updated.
If not (most sessions), skip.
### Step 4 — Verify git state
Cross-check:
- Working tree is clean (no uncommitted changes meant for this session)
- Local main is in sync with origin (or branch tracks correctly)
- No stray exports/temp files in workspace root (`ls /Users/4jp/Workspace/*.txt` should be empty)
If stray exports exist (the auto-named `2026-MM-DD-NNNNNN-this-session-being-continued-from-a-previous-c.txt` pattern), move them to `~/Documents/session-exports/` or delete if duplicative.
### Step 4.5 — Verify CLAUDE.md autogen freshness (hall-monitor gate)
If the active repo has a `CLAUDE.md` carrying `<!-- ORGANVM:AUTO:START -->` / `<!-- ORGANVM:AUTO:END -->` sentinels, run the gate:
```bash
~/.local/bin/claude-md-autogen-gate
If it exits non-zero, the autogen tail is older than 7 days. Refuse to mark the session as DONE. Refresh first:
organvm context sync --write # autogen sections only
# or
organvm refresh # full 10-step pipeline
Then re-stage CLAUDE.md and commit (the claude-md-autogen-freshness pre-commit hook will re-verify), and re-run the gate.
Bypass only with explicit user authorization:
AUTOGEN_FRESHNESS_THRESHOLD_DAYS=999 ~/.local/bin/claude-md-autogen-gate
Pairs with the pre-commit hook (claude-md-autogen-freshness); together they catch staleness at both the commit boundary and the session boundary. Root-cause precedent: 32-day autogen-tail staleness traced on 2026-05-16 to organvm refresh step 6 soft-failing on system-system--system: invalid tier 'sovereign' (closed via schema + validator lockstep edit; see GH 4444J99/domus-semper-palingenesis#30, IRF-DOM-048).
Step 5 — Update active-handoff (if exists)
If .conductor/active-handoff.md exists in any active repo, update it with:
- What this session accomplished
- What's locked / not-yet-attempted
- What the next session should pick up
This is the cross-session continuity gate.
Step 6 — Write CLOSEOUT_SUMMARY.md
Produce a session-close-out summary at ~/.Codex/plans/closeout-{date}.md with:
# Session Close-Out — {date}
## Outputs
- {N} files created, {M} modified
- {K} plans authored: {filenames}
- {L} commits made (SHAs): {sha-list}
## Closure marks
- EXECUTED plans (DONE-NNN refs): {list}
- IN-PROGRESS plans (IRF refs): {list}
- ABANDONED plans (moved): {list}
## Pending
- Uncommitted changes: {if any}
- Unpushed commits: {if any}
- Active handoff: {path if exists}
## Hand-off note for next session
{one-paragraph context for resumability}
Rules to honor
- Never batch-close atoms or plans without explicit user confirmation. Per Universal Rule (memory rule #53): atoms are permanent, never batch-close.
- Never delete plan files. Move to
abandoned/instead, preserving the history (per the plan-discipline section of the home AGENTS.md). - Never push as part of closeout unless user has explicitly authorized push for this session. Closeout's job is to prepare for push, not perform it.
- If the session produced no notable artifacts, say so and exit cleanly. Closeout is fast on quiet sessions.
Why this exists
Per docs/evaluation/self-review-2026-05-05/stale-plans-and-orphan-commits.md:
90.4% of plans are ORPHANED. Of 427 plans in
~/.Codex/plans/, 386 contain neither a DONE-NNN nor IRF reference. Only 20 (4.7%) are EXECUTED, 21 (4.9%) are IN-PROGRESS.
The orphan rate is a direct artifact of the absence of a close-out ritual. This skill is the ritual.
The cost of skipping is invisible bookkeeping debt: plans accumulate, atoms stay open against doctrine that already encodes them, the system can't programmatically answer "what was done?". The cost of doing it is ~3-5 minutes per session.
Related
docs/evaluation/SELF-REVIEW-MASTER-2026-05-05.md— Pathology #4: plan-author cadence vastly exceeds plan-execution cadence (21:1)docs/evaluation/self-review-2026-05-05/stale-plans-and-orphan-commits.md— full data behind the 90.4% orphan rate- Universal Rule #2: "Nothing local only" — close-out is what makes "nothing local only" achievable per session