Session log

Session Log

Overview

Write a structured session report, then run vault context tracking, decision extraction, and session tidying.

Announce at start: "I'm logging this session."

This skill runs as a 5-step workflow. Every step runs automatically -- no user prompts between steps except where noted.

Backend Detection (run before Step 1)

Determine which storage backend is available. Try in this order and use the first that succeeds:

1. Headless vault -- run ob --version via Bash to verify the obsidian-headless CLI is installed. Then check OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH environment variable or ~/.claude/vault/ for a vault directory. If the CLI exists and a vault directory resolves, optionally run ob sync-status --path <vault-path> to verify sync is active. Set backend = "headless".

2. Obsidian MCP -- call mcp__obsidian__list_directory with path="sessions". If it succeeds, use Obsidian MCP for all operations. Set backend = "obsidian".

3. Local vault -- if neither headless nor MCP is available, use ~/.claude/vault/ as a local vault directory. Create it via mkdir -p ~/.claude/vault/sessions if it does not exist. Set backend = "local". This provides a working vault structure that can be upgraded to headless sync later.

Backend capabilities:

Capability	headless	obsidian	local
Write session reports	Write tool	mcp__obsidian__write_note	Write tool
Search prior sessions	Bash ls + Grep	mcp__obsidian__search_notes	Bash ls + Grep
Session number detection	parse filenames	frontmatter search	parse filenames
Frontmatter	YAML --- fences	handled by MCP	YAML --- fences
Step 2 (vault context tracking)	skip	runs	skip
Step 4 (session tidy)	skip	runs	skip
Sync	Obsidian Sync	Obsidian Sync	none (local only)

Session number detection (headless and local):

• List files in the project directory via Bash ls
• Parse filenames matching [N]. *.md
• Highest N + 1. If directory does not exist, create it and start at 1

Output paths:

• headless: $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/sessions/[Project]/[N]. [Title].md or ~/.claude/vault/sessions/[Project]/[N]. [Title].md
• obsidian: sessions/[Project]/[N]. [Title].md (vault-relative)
• local: ~/.claude/vault/sessions/[Project]/[N]. [Title].md

Announce the backend: "Using headless vault at [path].", "Using Obsidian vault.", or "Using local vault at ~/.claude/vault/. Run /obsidian-check for upgrade options."

---

Step 1: Write Session Report

1. Review the conversation to identify: key outcomes, blockers, decisions, and next steps.

2. Determine session metadata:

   • Project name: infer from conversation context
   • Session number: search existing vault notes to find the latest session number for this project, then increment. Use mcp__obsidian__search_notes with searchFrontmatter: true and the project name. If no prior sessions exist, start at 1.
   • Date: today's date
   • Title: a 2-5 word summary of the session's primary outcome or focus area. Pick the single most important thing that happened. Examples: "Amazon Auth Migration", "Source Loading Fix", "Vault Reorganization". Avoid generic titles like "Bug Fixes" or "Various Updates".

3. Write to vault via mcp__obsidian__write_note:

   • Path: sessions/[Project]/[N]. [Title].md
   • Frontmatter: {"type": "session-report", "project": "[name]", "session": [N], "date": "[YYYY-MM-DD]", "status": "completed"|"in-progress"|"blocked", "blocked": true|false, "tags": ["session", "[project-tag]"]}
   • Content: Markdown formatted (see Vault Format below)

4. Backend-specific write:

   • headless: Write tool to the headless vault path. Include frontmatter as YAML --- fences at the top of the file. Create the project directory via mkdir -p if it does not exist.
   • obsidian: mcp__obsidian__write_note with path and frontmatter object
   • local: Write tool to ~/.claude/vault/sessions/[Project]/[N]. [Title].md. Include frontmatter as YAML --- fences. Create the project directory via mkdir -p if it does not exist.
   • If the write fails: output the content in the conversation so the user can copy it manually. Skip Steps 2-4 and go directly to Step 5.

Vault Format -- Markdown Session Report

The vault note uses markdown (not HTML).

## Session [N] Report -- [Month Day, Year]

### [emoji] [Section Title]

[1-3 sentence explanation of what happened and why it matters]

- **[Label]:** [detail]

**Fix:** [what was done]

### [emoji] [Section with tabular data]

[Context sentence]

| # | Item | Status |
|---|------|--------|
| 1 | ...  | ...    |

### [emoji] Notes

- **[Topic]:** [detail]

Emoji Status Indicators

Emoji	Meaning	Use when
✅	Done/Fixed	A problem was resolved or a deliverable completed
🚫	Blocked	Something couldn't be done (external limit, dependency, etc.)
⚠️	Warning/Note	Important context, gotchas, or things to remember
🔧	In Progress	Work started but not finished
📋	Queued	Work identified but not yet started

Formatting Rules

• Section headers (###) get one emoji + descriptive title
• Explanatory paragraphs under each header -- not just bullets. Explain what happened and why.
• Bold inline labels for key facts: **Fix:**, **Account:**, etc.
• Tables for anything with 3+ rows of structured data (queued items, test results, file lists)
• Bullets for lists of 2+ related items
• Links where useful: file paths, URLs, PR links as markdown links

What NOT to include

• Play-by-play of debugging steps or failed approaches
• Process narration ("First I tried X, then Y")
• Redundant sections -- if nothing was blocked, skip the blocked section

Example

## Session 6 Report -- March 27, 2026

### ✅ Developer Docs Sources Fixed

Both Developer Docs notebooks that had been broken since Session 5 are now fully loaded with working sources:

- **Notebook #28 -- Building with Claude & Tools:** 52 sources loaded (all green)
- **Notebook #29 -- Agent SDK & Testing:** 49 sources loaded (all green)

**Fix:** Swapped `platform.claude.com/docs/en/X.md` URLs to `docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/X` (drop .md, swap domain). Tested one URL first, then bulk-loaded.

### 🚫 Audio Generation Blocked

All 10 Audio Overviews (8 System Card + 2 Developer Docs) are ready to generate but hit the daily limit wall. The 19 overviews from Session 5 (15 Academy + 4 Opus) are still within the rolling 24-hour window.

### ⚠️ Session 7 Notes

- **Account:** Notebooks live under [email protected] (authuser=1), NOT the default [email protected].
- **Audio budget:** Once the 24h window resets, all 10 overviews fit within the 20/day Pro limit.

---

Step 2: Vault Context Tracking

This step runs automatically after Step 1 completes.

1. Check vault context usage. Review the conversation history for any use of these MCP tools (excluding this skill's own calls during Step 1):

   • mcp__obsidian__search_notes
   • mcp__obsidian__read_note
   • mcp__obsidian__read_multiple_notes

   If any were used, set vault_context_retrieved: true. Otherwise false. If true, also note which vault notes were read (list the paths).

2. Update frontmatter. Use mcp__obsidian__update_frontmatter to add the tracking field:

   mcp__obsidian__update_frontmatter(
     path="[session note path from Step 1]",
     frontmatter={"vault_context_retrieved": true|false},
     merge=true
   )
   

   If update_frontmatter fails, fall back to: read the note with mcp__obsidian__read_note, add the field to frontmatter manually, rewrite with mcp__obsidian__write_note.

3. Append tracking line. Use mcp__obsidian__patch_note to append a vault context line to the Notes section (or end of the note if no Notes section exists):

   • If retrieved: - **Vault context:** Retrieved ([list of note paths])
   • If not retrieved: - **Vault context:** Not retrieved

   If patch_note fails, fall back to read-modify-write via read_note + write_note.

---

Step 3: Decision Extraction

This step runs automatically after Step 2 completes.

Scan the conversation for decisions, gotchas, or architectural choices that were not already saved via /remember or to memory. For each one found, ask the user:

"I noticed this decision: [summary]. Want me to save it to the vault with /remember?"

Only write decision notes the user confirms. If no unrecorded decisions are found, skip silently.

---

Step 4: Session Tidy (Project Scope)

This step runs automatically after Step 3 completes. It runs a scoped version of /session-tidy -- only for the current project's session folder, not the entire vault.

1. List files in sessions/[Project]/ via mcp__obsidian__list_directory.

2. Quick audit each file for:

   • Naming convention: must match [N]. [Title].md
   • Frontmatter completeness: all required fields present (type, project, session, date, status, blocked, tags)
   • Status coherence: status: "completed" with blocked: true is contradictory. status: "in-progress" or status: "blocked" on sessions older than 7 days is stale.

3. Auto-fix minor issues silently:

   • Missing frontmatter fields that can be inferred (e.g., blocked: false when status is completed)
   • Type field set to wrong value (correct to session-report)

4. Report issues that need user input:

   • Files with wrong naming convention (propose new name)
   • Stale statuses (propose update to completed or ask)
   • Contradictory status/blocked combos

   If no issues are found, skip silently. Do not report "all clean."

5. Rollup check: if the project has 5+ sessions and no Summary.md, mention it:

   "This project has [N] sessions and no summary. Run /session-tidy for a full rollup."

---

Step 5: Finalize

Copy a /rename command to the user's clipboard using echo -n "/rename [Project] - [Primary Outcome]" | clip.exe, then tell the user:

"Copied /rename [Project] - [Primary Outcome] to your clipboard. Paste it to rename this session."

The primary outcome comes from the session title determined in Step 1.

---

Best Practices

• Each section in the session report is an outcome, not a process step ("Sources Fixed" not "We debugged source loading")
• Body should be self-contained -- no context needed beyond the note itself
• If the session was exploratory with no concrete outcome, use 🔧 or 📋 sections to describe what was investigated and what's next
• Keep it scannable: a reader should grasp the session in 15 seconds from headers alone
• Tables are powerful -- use them whenever you have structured data (queued work, test results, file inventories)