CHRISTINE Give Tomorrow-You Somewhere Clean to Land
Session Close is the end-of-day protocol for your vault: it walks NOW.md and INDEX.md, updates only the parts that actually shifted this session, and reports back exactly what changed — so every morning starts current.
← Back to the Skills LibraryInstalled in under a minute. No tech skills required.
You don't need to know how to code, and you don't need to set anything up. There are two blocks below. If you can copy and paste, you can install this.
Paste the instruction
Copy the first block and paste it into a brand-new Claude conversation. Don't hit send yet — it's the note that tells Claude what to do.
Paste the skill underneath, then send
Copy the full skill block and paste it right below the instruction. Send it. Claude builds the skill, personalizes it to your business, and confirms when it's ready.
Install the skill below for me. Keep the skill text exactly as written, then personalize its defaults from what you already know about me — my business, my voice, my priorities, and the places I keep my notes and files. Confirm when it's installed and show me exactly how to run it.
--- name: session-close description: Walks NOW.md and INDEX.md at the end of a work session and updates only what changed. Use when you say you are done, wrapping up, closing out, finishing for the day, moving on, or type /session-close. --- # Session Close End-of-session protocol for your Human Stack. Run this before you shut down so your vault stays current and tomorrow-you has somewhere to land. This skill works whether your ignition file is AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md. It leaves those files alone. It only updates the two files that hold the moving parts of your vault. ## Checklist Walk through these two checks in order. Skip a category silently if nothing changed there during the session. ### 1. NOW.md NOW.md holds the moving parts of your work right now. It lives wherever you keep it in your vault. Read it first. Then update only the parts that actually shifted this session: - **Priorities.** Update if focus changed. - **Recent Decisions.** Add new decisions with today's date. - **Blocked.** Update if a blocker resolved, or add new blockers that appeared. - **Upcoming.** Add new work that got queued. If nothing on NOW.md is stale, leave it alone. ### 2. INDEX.md INDEX.md is your routing table. It lives wherever you keep it in your vault. It tells future-you (and Claude) which systems file to load for which task. Most sessions will leave it untouched. Update only when: - A new system file was created this session (add an entry pointing to it). - A system file's purpose meaningfully shifted (rewrite its line). - The routing logic itself got refined (you noticed a better way to organise the table). If none of that happened, skip this step. ## Example A typical end-of-day run looks like this. **You say:** "I am wrapping up for today." **What Claude does:** 1. Opens NOW.md. Two things shifted this session: a new decision (Q3 pricing strategy locked) and a blocker that resolved (legal review cleared). Adds the decision to Recent Decisions with today's date. Removes the resolved blocker from the Blocked section. 2. Opens INDEX.md. No system files were created or refined this session. Skips silently. **What Claude reports back:** - Updated NOW.md: 1 new decision, 1 blocker resolved. - Skipped INDEX.md: no system changes this session. The report stays short and factual. You already know the work. You just need to confirm what landed where. ## Rules - Read each file before updating. Never overwrite recent changes. - No em dashes in any content you write. Use commas, periods, or parentheses. - Plain language. Write the way you talk. - Skip categories silently when nothing changed for them. - At the end, report which files were updated so you know what changed. ## What this skill does not do This is the slim version. As your practice deepens you may add: - Long-term memory (use Claude Desktop's built-in Memory feature, or maintain a vault MEMORY.md) - Project CONTEXT.md updates when project state shifts - A daily journal note with Session Notes at the bottom - Insight capture for reusable ideas - A PARKED.md for deferred items Add those when you are ready. The two checks above are the core.
From then on, just end your day by saying "I'm wrapping up for today."
Want to go further than skills?
Skills like this are how Christine runs her own business every day. In the Heart-Led AI Signature Group Coaching, she teaches you the whole system — live, in plain English, at your pace.
Explore Signature CoachingTwo files walked. Only what changed, touched.
Session Close reads NOW.md — the file holding the moving parts of your work right now — and updates only the sections that actually shifted, then gives INDEX.md, your routing table, one careful look. Here's the close, part by part:
1 · Priorities
Updated only if your focus actually changed this session. If the priorities still hold, they're left exactly as they were.
2 · Recent Decisions
Every decision you made this session gets added with today's date — so future-you knows not just what was decided, but when.
3 · Blocked
Blockers that resolved come off the list. New ones that appeared go on. Either way, the list stays honest.
4 · Upcoming
New work that got queued this session lands here, so nothing you promised yourself disappears overnight.
5 · The INDEX.md Pass & the Close-Out Report
Your routing table gets touched only when a system file was created, a file's purpose meaningfully shifted, or the routing itself got refined — most sessions, it's skipped silently, on purpose. Then the close ends with a short, factual report: which files were updated, what changed in each, and what was skipped. You already know the work; you just confirm what landed.
If nothing changed, nothing gets touched.
Session Close reads each file before writing a word, so it never overwrites recent changes — and it leaves your ignition file (CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md) completely alone. It's deliberately the slim version of an end-of-day ritual: two checks done well, with room to add a daily journal, insight capture, or a PARKED.md when your practice deepens.
Keep stacking: pairs beautifully with The Checkpoint
Session Close ends your day by bringing the vault current; The Checkpoint saves a long conversation before it compacts and hands it off clean to a fresh chat — zero loss.
Get The Checkpoint →Because a current vault beats a good memory.
Every workday ends somewhere. The question is whether tomorrow starts from an accurate picture, or from whatever you can reconstruct over coffee. Session Close makes the accurate picture automatic.
Only what changed gets written
No wholesale rewrites. A resolved blocker comes off, a new decision goes on with today's date, and everything still true stays untouched. That restraint is what keeps NOW.md trustworthy instead of stale.
It reads before it writes
Every file gets read first, so recent changes never get bulldozed. The rule exists precisely because end-of-day is when careless overwrites happen.
Skipping is a feature
Most sessions leave INDEX.md untouched, and that's by design — a routing table that only changes when the routing actually changes is one that future-you can rely on.
The report is short because you were there
You already know the work you did. The close-out just confirms what landed where, in a couple of factual lines — no ceremony, no recap essay.