Continue a Project in a New Chat — the Handoff Package
When the window fills, don't retype the project from memory. A handoff package carries the decisions, constraints, and pending work into the new session as its first message.
Overview
Every long project hits the moment the chat must move: the window fills, and everything the conversation established is about to be left behind. The handoff package is the structural fix — objective, current state, key decisions, constraints, open questions, pending tasks, and a recommended next step, extracted verbatim from the session and topped with continuation rules that tell the new chat to accept the context, preserve the decisions, and continue rather than restart. This setup loads a mid-sprint project session with the full nine-section package.
Workflow
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Paste the session, not the memory
The detector extracts state from what was actually said — verbatim, deduplicated, never paraphrased.
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Review the package
Detected items are honest but mechanical — thirty seconds of review before sending is part of the workflow.
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Open the new chat with it
The package is the FIRST message; its rules make the session a continuation, not a fresh start.
Why This Works
- Extracted state beats remembered state — memory drops exactly the constraint that mattered
- Continuation rules flip the new session's start-fresh defaults
- Verbatim carryover keeps decisions in their original, accountable wording
Best for
- Multi-session projects in chat AIs
- Anyone retyping the same project context weekly
- Work where forgotten decisions cost real rework
Not for
- Sending the original material itself in pieces — that's the Long Prompt Splitter
- A human-readable recap of the session — that's the Structured Summary Prompt
Use cases
- Moving a project when the chat window fills
- Replacing from-memory recaps with extracted state
- Starting the new session with continuation rules