/refresh

version: 0.5.0
name: refresh
description: |
  Start a clean Claude session with only the context the next task needs, instead of /compact.
  Captures the goal of your next session, points to the right files (never copies them),
  and outputs a self-contained prompt to paste into a fresh chat.
  Use when: "refresh", "refresh context", "fresh start", "my chat got sloppy",
  "start a new chat with context", "hand off this session", outputs degrading, drifting off task.
  Three levels: lite (quick reset), full (default handoff), ultra (full briefing).
  NOT for: summarizing in place (that's /compact), or saving permanent notes.
argument-hint: "lite | full | ultra"
allowed-tools: Read, Glob, Grep, Write

Refresh

Long sessions rot: the window fills with stale back-and-forth and outputs get worse. `/compact` summarizes the mess in place and keeps going in the *same* polluted window. Refresh does the opposite. It captures the goal of your next session, points to the right files, and hands you a clean prompt to paste into a fresh chat. Rebuild, not summarize.

UX Rules

1. Ask exactly one question: the goal. Don't interrogate. 2. **Wait for the answer. Stop your turn after asking.** Do not generate the prompt, a draft, or a "default / in the meantime" handoff before the user replies with the goal. The only exception: the user already stated the goal in the trigger, in which case skip the question and proceed. 3. Reference files by **path only**, never copy file content, **but only when the data lives in a file the next session can open.** The fresh session cannot read this chat. So never hand it a pointer to data that has no retrievable home, see the persistence check in the workflow. 4. Be concise. The output is a prompt the user pastes, not a report. No preamble around it. 5. Default level is `full` when none is given.

Levels

• **lite**: quick reset, no scan. Goal, next 3 steps, open decisions, and bare file paths. A sticky note.
• **full** (default): handoff doc. Everything in lite, plus what's done, key decisions, and file pointers each with a one-line "why it matters".
• **ultra**: full briefing. Everything in full, plus dead-ends to avoid, paths to any relevant data or log files, and suggested skills for the next session to run.

Workflow

1. **Get the goal.** Ask "What's the goal of your next session?" then **end your turn and wait**. Do not run any step below until the user answers. Skip this step only if the goal was already stated in the trigger. 2. **Decide where the handoff is going (critical).** A handoff is only useful if its reader can reach the files it references. Figure out the destination:

• **Stays here** — you, same machine, continuing in a fresh chat in the same project. Local absolute paths are fine. This is the default.
• **Travels** — it will leave this machine/context: shared with a teammate, sent to another PC, emailed, or even saved by you into an unrelated folder away from the referenced files. Here local paths break, the reader does not have them.
• **How to decide:** if the goal says share / send / hand off to someone / for [a person] / another machine / email it, OR the handoff will be saved somewhere that doesn't sit alongside the referenced files, treat it as **travels**. If genuinely unclear, ask once: "Is this for you to continue here, or to send somewhere else (teammate / another machine / a different folder)?"
• **In travels mode, the handoff must be portable** (see step 4): no absolute sender-local paths; every referenced file is either embedded, bundled, or pointed at a source the reader also has.

3. **Scan (full / ultra).** Once you have the goal, work over the conversation already in context and the files it referenced. Lite skips this. 4. **Check every referenced thing is reachable by the reader (critical).** For every piece of work the next session needs, ask: is it saved somewhere that session can open AND that survives into a fresh environment?

• **A "home" must be persistent.** Three tiers:
• **Persistent disk** (the user's real/mounted project folder, e.g. `/Users/.../Projects/...`) → survives. Reference the path.
• **Remote server** (e.g. a Higgsfield `media_id`, a URL) → survives. Reference the id/URL instead of copying.
• **Ephemeral** (a sandbox scratchpad like `outputs/`, a `/tmp` path, or data that lives only in this chat) → does **not** survive. A pointer here is worthless next session.
• **In a sandbox (e.g. Claude Cowork), the scratchpad is wiped every session.** Only the mounted real-disk folder and remote servers persist. So:
• If a needed asset lives only in the scratchpad or only in this chat → **copy it to the persistent project folder first** (or, for remote-regenerable assets, reference the remote id), then point to the new persistent path.
• If there is no filesystem at all (e.g. claude.ai web) → **embed** the finalized data inline under "Carried-over data" below.
• **If it TRAVELS (share / another machine / a different folder), persistence is not enough, it must be portable.** The reader does not have your disk, so a `/Users/<you>/...` path is useless to them. For each referenced file:
• **In a shared source the reader also has** (shared Git repo, Relay/shared vault, shared Google Drive, Notion, a URL) → reference the *shared* identifier (repo-relative path, vault name + path, the link). **Strip your absolute local prefix.**
• **Local-only** → make it self-contained: **embed** the file's full content inline (best for small/critical files like a single voice profile), or **bundle** the needed files into the handoff folder and reference them by their relative location ("the attached `ben-voice.md`").
• **Never emit an absolute sender-local path in travels mode.**
• **Tell the user which you did** ("the anchor only existed in the sandbox, so I copied it to `Resources/.../reference-anchor.png`" / "it's going to a teammate, so I embedded the full `ben-