Cold Handoff

Brief the next session so it does not start over

Pass · ChatGPT, Pro · September 27, 2026

What it does

Writes the message you paste at the top of your next session: where things stand, what is already decided, what not to redo, what is next.

When to use it

You are about to run out of room, or switching to a different AI.

The prompt

CONTEXT
This session is ending and the next one starts remembering
nothing at all.

RULES
- Write it for an AI, not for me. Short, direct sentences.
- What we decided is FINAL. List those as rules, not as
  options to reopen.
- Do not describe the whole project. Describe what changed
  and where we stopped.

DONE MEANS
- The next session can carry on without asking me something
  I already answered.
- Nothing we finished today gets done again.
- The very first thing to do next is obvious.

LAY IT OUT LIKE THIS
WHERE THINGS STAND: what works, what is half-built, with paths
DECIDED: bullets, each starting “We use” or “We do not”
DO NOT REDO: bullets
NEXT: the one next thing, then the two after it
OPEN: questions only a person can answer

Ways to use it

• Save it in the project so it is there when you come back
• Read it yourself first — if it is wrong, the next session will be confidently wrong
• Pair it with Build Receipt: one is the past, this is the future

Test log

Each prompt was pasted into a fresh private chat with memory off and graded against pass standards written before the run (all of them, dated).

The pass standard for this prompt: six criteria and an automatic-fail rule, written down on September 27, 2026, before any run.

Related words

• context rot — When something you said early in a long session quietly stops counting.
• agent memory — What an AI keeps hold of about you and your project after the current conversation ends.
• context window — How much the AI can hold in front of it at one time.