Archive Work Skill

Purpose

Archive completed scratchpads and development artifacts to maintain clean project roots while preserving work history for future reference. This skill organizes completed work into a structured archive.

Natural Language Triggers

This skill activates when the user says things like:

• "Archive this work"
• "Clean up the scratchpad"
• "Archive scratchpad"
• "Move scratchpad to archive"
• "We're done, archive everything"
• After PR merge: "PR merged, let's clean up"

Workflow Execution

Phase 1: Detect Artifacts (Parallel)

Execute these searches in parallel for faster detection:

1. Find Scratchpads:

   • Glob: SCRATCHPAD_*.md in project root
   • Identify issue numbers from filenames

2. Find Session Logs:

   • Glob: SESSION_LOG_*.md in project root
   • These are created by the PreCompact hook before auto-compaction
   • Associate with scratchpad (same issue context)

3. Find Other Related Files:

   • Related temporary files
   • Claude Code conversation exports

4. Check Git Status:

   • Current branch for context
   • Recent commits for PR detection

After parallel detection, verify completion:

• Check if scratchpad tasks are all complete
• Check if PR was created/merged
• Warn if work appears incomplete

Phase 2: Determine Archive Location

Default Structure:

docs/dev/cc-archive/
└── {YYYYMMDDHHMM}-{issue-number}-{brief-description}/
    ├── SCRATCHPAD_{issue_number}.md
    ├── session-log.md (if exists)
    └── README.md (summary)

Timestamp Prefix: Archives use YYYYMMDDHHMM prefix for chronological ordering. This ensures archives sort by completion date, not ticket number.

Check Project Conventions:

• Read CLAUDE.md for custom archive location
• Check if docs/dev/cc-archive/ exists
• Create directory structure if needed

Phase 3: Prepare Archive

1. Generate Timestamp and Directory Name:

   bashCopy

   # Generate timestamp prefix
   TIMESTAMP=$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M)
   ARCHIVE_DIR="${TIMESTAMP}-{issue-number}-{description}"
   

2. Create Archive Directory:

   bashCopy

   mkdir -p docs/dev/cc-archive/${ARCHIVE_DIR}
   

3. Generate Archive Summary: Create README.md in archive folder:

   markdownCopy

   # Issue #{issue_number} - {title}
   
   **Archived:** {date}
   **PR:** #{pr_number} (if applicable)
   **Status:** {Completed/Merged/Abandoned}
   
   ## Summary
   {Brief description of what was accomplished}
   
   ## Key Decisions
   {Extract from scratchpad Decisions Made section}
   
   ## Files Changed
   {List of files that were modified}
   
   ## Lessons Learned
   {Any notable insights from Work Log}
   

4. Move Files (using git mv for proper tracking):

   bashCopy

   git mv SCRATCHPAD_{issue_number}.md docs/dev/cc-archive/${ARCHIVE_DIR}/
   

   Important: Use git mv instead of mv to ensure both the addition to archive AND the removal from project root are tracked in the same commit.

Phase 4: Confirm with User

AskUserQuestion:
  question: "Ready to archive this work?"
  header: "Archive"
  options:
    - "Yes, archive and commit"
      description: "Move files to archive and create commit"
    - "Archive without commit"
      description: "Move files but don't commit yet"
    - "Show me what will be archived"
      description: "Preview the archive operation"
    - "Cancel"
      description: "Keep scratchpad in current location"

Phase 5: Execute Archive

1. Move Files (with git tracking):

   bashCopy

   # Use git mv to track both addition and removal in same commit
   git mv SCRATCHPAD_{issue_number}.md docs/dev/cc-archive/${ARCHIVE_DIR}/
   
   # Move session logs (created by PreCompact hook)
   # These are untracked, so use mv then git add
   for log in SESSION_LOG_*.md; do
     if [ -f "$log" ]; then
       mv "$log" docs/dev/cc-archive/${ARCHIVE_DIR}/
     fi
   done
   git add docs/dev/cc-archive/${ARCHIVE_DIR}/SESSION_LOG_*.md 2>/dev/null || true
   

   • Create summary README in archive directory
   • Stage the new README: git add docs/dev/cc-archive/${ARCHIVE_DIR}/README.md

2. Commit Archive: If user opted to commit:

   Copy

   Skill: commit-changes
   
   # Commit message will be:
   # 📚🗃️ chore(docs): Archive work for issue #{issue_number}
   #
   # Completed work archived to docs/dev/cc-archive/
   # PR: #{pr_number}
   

   The commit will include:

   • Removal of SCRATCHPAD from project root (via git mv)
   • Addition of SCRATCHPAD in archive directory
   • Session logs (SESSION_LOG_*.md) if present
   • New README.md summary

Phase 6: Report Result

✓ Work archived successfully!

📁 Archive location:
   docs/dev/cc-archive/{YYYYMMDDHHMM}-{issue-number}-{description}/

📄 Files archived:
   - SCRATCHPAD_{issue_number}.md
   - SESSION_LOG_*.md (if any existed)
   - README.md (summary generated)

🗑️ Cleaned up:
   - Removed scratchpad from project root (tracked via git mv)
   - Removed session logs from project root

{If committed}
📝 Committed: {commit hash}
   - Added: archive directory with scratchpad, session logs, README
   - Removed: SCRATCHPAD_{issue_number}.md from project root
   - Removed: SESSION_LOG_*.md from project root

Archive Options

Option 1: Full Archive (Default)

• Move scratchpad to archive
• Generate summary README
• Commit the archive

Option 2: Delete Only

If user prefers not to keep history:

AskUserQuestion:
  question: "How to handle the scratchpad?"
  options:
    - "Archive (keep history)"
    - "Delete (no history)"
    - "Keep in place"

Option 3: Custom Location

Allow user to specify different archive location:

AskUserQuestion:
  question: "Archive to default location?"
  options:
    - "Yes, use docs/dev/cc-archive/"
    - "Specify custom location"

Error Handling

No Scratchpad Found

ℹ️ No scratchpad found to archive.
   Looking for: SCRATCHPAD_*.md in project root

Work Incomplete

⚠️ Scratchpad has incomplete tasks:
   - {unchecked task 1}
   - {unchecked task 2}

   Archive anyway?
   1. Yes, archive incomplete work
   2. No, continue working first

Archive Directory Exists

⚠️ Archive already exists for issue #{number}

   Options:
   1. Overwrite existing archive
   2. Create numbered version (archive-2/)
   3. Cancel

No PR Created

ℹ️ No PR found for this work.

   Archive anyway?
   1. Yes, archive without PR reference
   2. No, create PR first

Integration with Other Skills

Invoked by:

• do-work skill - After completing all tasks
• User directly after PR is merged

Invokes:

• commit-changes skill - To commit archive

Reads from:

• Scratchpad - Content to archive
• Git history - PR information

Archive Structure Best Practices

Recommended Directory Layout

docs/
└── dev/
    └── cc-archive/
        ├── 202512281430-42-add-authentication/
        │   ├── SCRATCHPAD_42.md
        │   └── README.md
        ├── 202512281545-43-fix-login-bug/
        │   ├── SCRATCHPAD_43.md
        │   ├── SESSION_LOG_1.md
        │   └── README.md
        └── 202512290900-44-refactor-api/
            ├── SCRATCHPAD_44.md
            ├── SESSION_LOG_1.md
            ├── SESSION_LOG_2.md
            └── README.md

Archive Naming Convention

{YYYYMMDDHHMM}-{issue-number}-{slugified-description}/

Format breakdown:

• YYYYMMDDHHMM - Timestamp when archived (enables chronological sorting)
• {issue-number} - GitHub issue number for reference
• {slugified-description} - Brief description from issue title

Examples:

• 202512281430-42-add-user-authentication/
• 202512290915-123-fix-payment-bug/
• 202512271000-7-initial-project-setup/

Why timestamp prefix?

• Archives sort chronologically regardless of ticket number order
• Easy to scan for recent work
• Preserves actual completion order

Best Practices

✅ DO:

• Archive after PR is merged
• Include summary README
• Preserve decision history
• Use consistent archive location
• Commit archives to repo
• Use git mv to move scratchpads (tracks removal properly)
• Use timestamp prefix for chronological ordering

❌ DON'T:

• Archive incomplete work without noting it
• Delete without archiving (lose history)
• Mix archives from different projects
• Skip the summary README
• Leave scratchpads in project root long-term
• Use plain mv for tracked files (leaves unstaged deletion)

Version: 1.3.0 Last Updated: 2025-12-31 Maintained By: Escapement Changelog:

• v1.3.0: Added parallel execution for artifact detection
• v1.2.0: Added SESSION_LOG_*.md detection and archiving (from PreCompact hook)
• v1.1.0: Added timestamp prefix for chronological sorting; use git mv for proper tracking
• v1.0.0: Initial conversion from commands/archive-dev.md