<!-- Generated by mstack from Misbah's Build Like This workflow. Regenerate instead of editing. -->

session-pickup

This skill is part of Misbah Khursheed's Build Like This workflow. Thinking, evidence, and explicit trade-offs come before generated output.

Project identity and sources of truth

The repository where this skill is installed is the host project being built. Build Like This is the method used to build it; mstack only installs and reconciles method resources. Do not assume mstack or Build Like This is the product unless project-owned sources explicitly identify this repository as mstack itself.

Use project-owned docs/, decisions, executable code, and tests as sources of truth. .mstack/templates/ are reference scaffolds to copy and adapt into project-owned documents, not product requirements and not a replacement for docs/.

Purpose

Reconstruct authoritative state from the repository and handoff trail, verify claims against artifacts, and continue only the remaining frontier.

Required inputs

• Handoff note or prior session pointers, current branch/diff, ticket states, and relevant docs.

If a missing input would materially change the result, state the gap and obtain or discover it before proceeding. Otherwise label the assumption and continue.

Process

1. Treat the repository, tickets, and handoff as authoritative over chat memory.
2. Reconstruct goal, done versus pending, and claimed verification; spot-check claims against real artifacts.
3. Diff the working tree and ticket frontier; discard completed work from the plan.
4. Route remaining work to the correct skill or lifecycle prompt; do not restart grilling or planning unless evidence shows the decision changed.
5. State the first concrete action and begin only after confirming no safer pause condition applies.

Output contract

• Reconstructed status: goal, verified done, pending frontier, and first action.
• Corrections where the handoff disagreed with the repository.

Guardrails

• Do not redo green verification for sport; re-run only when claims fail inspection.
• Do not ignore an explicit pause or stop condition in the handoff.
• Do not invent completed tickets or commits that are not present.

Delegation and parallel safety

• Material lifecycle work must delegate at least one bounded specialist lane when subagents are available. Prefer two or more concurrent lanes only for independent evidence gathering, analysis, or non-overlapping file ownership.
• The active lead owns integration and acceptance. Supporting agents do not recursively delegate unless explicitly promoted to lead a named lane.
• Assign distinct outputs and ownership. Serialize shared docs, contracts, schemas, migrations, deployments, external writes, and overlapping file edits.
• When subagents are unavailable, perform the same named specialist passes sequentially and state that constraint instead of implying parallel verification.
• Delegation never grants permission for outreach, consequential external actions, destructive changes, paid resources, or production operations.

End with the evidence gathered, verification performed, and any residual risk or unresolved decision.