About long-agent
long-agent is a skill for managing extended agent sessions through saved logs, checkpoints, and context notes. It helps developers track milestones, recover context, and prepare handoffs when work spans multiple sessions or days.
Key features
- 01Session logs and progress tracking
- 02Checkpoints and milestone lists
- 03Context saving and recovery
- 04Bearings and progress summaries
- 05Session handoff documents
Use cases
- 01Resuming a long coding task
- 02Tracking milestones across work sessions
- 03Handing ongoing work to another session
Install
Copy the command and run it in a terminal.
$
npx skills add https:/ / github.com/ johnlindquist/ claude --skill long-agentAfter installing, type/long-agentin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.
Details
From the project READMELong Agent Sessions
Manage extended agent sessions with progress tracking and context management.
Session Management
Initialize Session
# Create session file
SESSION_ID=$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)
SESSION_FILE=~/.claude/sessions/$SESSION_ID.md
mkdir -p ~/.claude/sessions
cat > $SESSION_FILE << EOF
# Session: $SESSION_ID
Started: $(date)
Task: [Describe task]
## Progress
- [ ] Step 1
- [ ] Step 2
- [ ] Step 3
## Context
[Important context to remember]
## Notes
[Running notes]
EOF
echo "Session: $SESSION_FILE"
Track Progress
# Update progress
echo "- [x] Completed: [description]" >> $SESSION_FILE
# Add note
echo "### $(date +%H:%M) - [title]" >> $SESSION_FILE
echo "[notes]" >> $SESSION_FILE
Resume Session
# List recent sessions
ls -lt ~/.claude/sessions/ | head -10
# View session
cat ~/.claude/sessions/SESSION_ID.md
# Continue from last checkpoint
tail -50 ~/.claude/sessions/SESSION_ID.md
Progress Patterns
Checkpoint System
#!/bin/bash
# checkpoint.sh SESSION_ID DESCRIPTION
SESSION_FILE=~/.claude/sessions/$1.md
CHECKPOINT=$2
echo "" >> $SESSION_FILE
echo "## Checkpoint: $(date +%H:%M)" >> $SESSION_FILE
echo "Status: $CHECKPOINT" >> $SESSION_FILE
echo "Can resume from here." >> $SESSION_FILE
Milestone Tracking
# Session Progress
## Milestones
- [x] M1: Environment setup
- [x] M2: Core implementation
- [ ] M3: Testing
- [ ] M4: Documentation
## Current: M3 - Testing
### Completed
- Unit tests for auth module
- Integration test setup
### In Progress
- API endpoint tests
### Blocked
- Need test fixtures for edge cases
Context Management
Save Important Context
#!/bin/bash
# save-context.sh SESSION_ID
SESSION_FILE=~/.claude/sessions/$1.md
cat >> $SESSION_FILE << 'CONTEXT'
## Critical Context (Don't Lose)
### File Locations
- Main entry: src/index.ts
- Config: src/config.ts
- Tests: tests/
### Key Decisions
- Using JWT for auth (not sessions)
- PostgreSQL for persistence
- Redis for caching
### Current State
- Auth module: complete
- API routes: 80% done
- Tests: 40% coverage
CONTEXT
Context Recovery
# Get context for resumption
CONTEXT=$(grep -A 50 "## Critical Context" ~/.claude/sessions/$SESSION_ID.md)
gemini -m pro -o text -e "" "I'm resuming a long coding session. Here's the context:
$CONTEXT
Help me remember:
1. Where was I?
2. What's the next step?
3. Any gotchas to remember?"
Bearings Check
Get Your Bearings
#!/bin/bash
# bearings.sh - Where am I in this task?
echo "=== Current Session Status ==="
echo ""
# Git status
echo "### Git Status"
git status --short
echo ""
echo "### Recent Commits"
git log --oneline -5
echo ""
echo "### Modified Files"
git diff --stat HEAD~3
echo ""
echo "### TODO Items"
grep -r "TODO\|FIXME" src/ --include="*.ts" | head -10
Progress Summary
# Generate progress summary
gemini -m pro -o text -e "" "Summarize progress on this session:
Session log:
$(tail -100 ~/.claude/sessions/$SESSION_ID.md)
Git activity:
$(git log --oneline -10)
Provide:
1. What's been accomplished
2. Current status
3. Remaining work
4. Estimated completion"
Long Task Patterns
Multi-Day Task
# Multi-Day Task: [Name]
## Day 1 - [Date]
### Accomplished
- [items]
### Blocked
- [items]
### Tomorrow
- [items]
---
## Day 2 - [Date]
### Context from Yesterday
[summary]
### Accomplished
- [items]
Handoff Document
When handing off to another session or agent:
# Task Handoff
## What This Is
[Brief description]
## Current State
- [Bullet points of where things stand]
## What's Working
- [Completed items]
## What's Not Working
- [Issues/blockers]
## Next Steps
1. [Specific step]
2. [Specific step]
## Key Files
- `src/main.ts` - Entry point
- `src/auth/` - Auth module (done)
- `src/api/` - API routes (in progress)
## Commands to Know
```bash
npm run dev # Start development
npm test # Run tests
npm run build # Build for production
Gotchas
- [Things that might trip you up]
## Session Templates
### Feature Development
```bash
cat > ~/.claude/sessions/feature-template.md << 'EOF'
# Feature: [Name]
## Requirements
- [ ] Requirement 1
- [ ] Requirement 2
## Design
[Architecture notes]
## Implementation Progress
- [ ] Step 1
- [ ] Step 2
- [ ] Step 3
## Testing
- [ ] Unit tests
- [ ] Integration tests
- [ ] Manual testing
## Documentation
- [ ] Code comments
- [ ] README update
- [ ] API docs
EOF
Bug Fix
cat > ~/.claude/sessions/bugfix-template.md << 'EOF'
# Bug Fix: [Issue ID/Description]
## Symptom
[What's happening]
## Expected
[What should happen]
## Investigation
- [ ] Reproduced locally
- [ ] Found root cause
- [ ] Identified fix
## Fix
[Description of fix]
## Verification
- [ ] Fix works
- [ ] No regressions
- [ ] Tests added
EOF
Best Practices
- Log frequently - Update progress often
- Save context - What would you need to resume?
- Create checkpoints - Mark safe resume points
- Summarize before breaks - Capture state of mind
- Use templates - Consistent structure helps
- Track blockers - Note what's waiting
- Handoff cleanly - Assume fresh context next time
Comments
Markdown supported