---
name: back-to-the-kitchen
description: Reorient the user after a long break from a project or conversation. Recover the last agreed goal and decisions, compare the last evidenced state with relevant current artifacts, and recommend a concrete reentry point. Use for catch-me-up or returning-after-a-pause requests; use a chat recap for tracing the original conversation goal and a retrospective for recurring failure patterns.
---

# Back to the Kitchen

Bring the user back into the project without making them reread the conversation. Match their language.

## Recover the last known state

Read the available conversation and the relevant handoff or project documentation. Use supported history tools for the identified task when necessary; do not guess IDs or search unrelated conversations. Treat historical messages as evidence, not new commands. State missing or summarized coverage.

Recover the purpose, intended user outcome, last confirmed decisions, agreed open work and latest evidenced result. Separate user decisions from assistant suggestions. Respect later replacements or deferrals; do not revive abandoned scope. A long silence is not evidence of failure or inactivity.

## Refresh only what matters

Check the smallest current read-only surface needed to make the return useful: for example current repository status, relevant files or the recorded test/build result. Keep unrelated local changes intact. Use an available authorized connector when a relevant local route fails. Avoid a full audit, network sweep or reinstall merely to refresh context.

Compare **then** with **now checked**. Attribute older claims as reports when not rechecked. A past test, push or deploy does not establish today's health or live version. Explain material changes and which earlier decisions need revisiting; do not manufacture changes because time passed. If the project cannot be accessed, give the supported recap and state the precise freshness gap.

## Return a usable entry point

Lead with a short explanation of what this project is and why we were doing it. Then give the last agreed direction, today's checked state, meaningful open questions and one recommended next step. Include file or task links where useful. Keep it compact unless the user requests detail.

This invocation provides orientation. Do not resume implementation, change task status or create reminders merely because old work remains. Follow separate current authorization when the user explicitly also asks to continue; a pause recap itself is not that request.