Recover Killed Session From Transcript And Worktree

---
name: recover-killed-session-from-transcript-and-worktree
listing_tier: name-led
description: |
  Recover a prior Claude Code session that crashed or was killed mid task — its plan, its work and
  what killed it — from its transcript and its leftover worktree.
author: Claude Code
version: 1.1.0
date: 2026-08-10
---
# Recover a killed Claude Code session from its transcript + worktree

## Problem
A prior session was doing real work (building a feature, fixing a batch of issues) and got killed
mid-task — a hung tool call, an API 529 after a long run, the user quit. It left uncommitted WIP and
a half-finished plan, but no handoff. Starting fresh wastes the work AND risks repeating whatever
killed it. The session's full intent + state lives in its **transcript JSONL** + its **worktree
artifacts** — recover from there.

## Context / Trigger Conditions

**Every trigger below depends on a human noticing.** That is this skill's weak point, not its
scope: a subagent killed mid-run leaves its partial output sitting in the parent's transcript, and
a later session resuming that branch reads it as a finished result. Nothing prompts anyone to
reach for this skill at all.

The [`resume-gate`](../../hooks/resume-gate/) hook in this same plugin is the automatic trigger.
It runs on `SessionStart:resume`, detects the two ways a subagent dies (the harness's own
partial-output notice for a synchronous one; a non-`completed` task-notification status for an
async one), names each affected subagent, and puts an `ask` prompt in front of push / merge /
deploy until they have been re-verified. Its warning points back here. **Install it once and step
4 below stops depending on you remembering to do it.**

- User: "the session yesterday on worktree X got killed, the transcript might help" / "resume it".
- A `resume-gate` warning on session start naming a subagent whose work was never assessed.
- An isolated git worktree with uncommitted WIP + a leftover `tasks/session_N_todo.md` (or similar
  plan file) + maybe a baseline screenshot, but no matching merged PRs.
- A branch with uncommitted changes whose intent you need.

## Solution

### 1. Find the worktree + leftover artifacts (cheap, do first)
```bash
git -C <repo> worktree list                 # find the named worktree + its branch/HEAD
ls <worktree>/tasks/ <worktree>/             # leftover plan (session_N_todo.md), baseline pngs
git -C <code-repo> status -sb                # uncommitted WIP from the killed run
git -C <code-repo> reflog -20                # what it did right before dying
```
A leftover `tasks/session_N_todo.md` is gold — it's usually the killed session's (often advisor-vetted)
plan with specific implementation notes. Read it FIRST; it may make transcript-mining optional.

### 2. Locate + identify the transcript
Transcripts live at `~/.claude/projects/<encoded-cwd>/*.jsonl`, where `<encoded-cwd>` is the session's
working dir with `/`→`-` (a worktree at `.../worktrees/token-app` → `...-worktrees-token-app`).
```bash
DIR=~/.claude/projects/<encoded-worktree-path>
ls -lt "$DIR"/*.jsonl                        # newest = most likely the killed session
for f in "$DIR"/*.jsonl; do printf "%6s  %s\n" "$(wc -l < "$f")" "$(basename "$f")"; done
```
The killed session is usually the **most-recently-modified** file; it's often abnormally SHORT (died
early) or ends abruptly. Confirm by reading its tail (below).

### 3. Mine it for the three things that matter
Each JSONL line is a JSON object; `user` content is a string, `assistant` content an array of
text/tool_use blocks. Extract with `jq` (don't read whole multi-MB files into context):
```bash
# user messages (decisions, instructions) — content is a STRING for type=="user"
jq -rc 'select(.type=="user" and (.message.content|type=="string")) | .message.content' "$f" \
  | grep -viE 'system-reminder|tool_result'
# the last things that happened before death (cause)
jq -rc 'select(.type=="assistant") | .message.content[]? |
  if .type=="text" then "TEXT:"+(.text[0:200]) elif .type=="tool_use" then "TOOL:"+.name else .type end' "$f" | tail -15
```
Recover:
- **The plan** — what it was building (cross-check the leftover `tasks/*.md`).
- **The cause of death** — the last tool call + any error. (Real example: the tail showed
  `browser_take_screenshot` hung on "waiting for element to be stable" then API 529 — the screenshot
  trap, see `playwright-screenshot-hangs-on-infinite-animation`. Knowing this, you AVOID the same call.)
- **User decisions made in that session** — scope choices, approvals, preferences. Quote them; do NOT
  re-ask the user things they already decided in the dead run.

For large transcripts, dispatch a subagent to mine them (protects your context) — but **transcript
mining can overload** (a fan-out subagent 529'd here); if it fails, fall back to `jq` yourself.

### 4. Re-verify the dead session's "done" claims — they're often PARTIAL
A killed session's "fixed and verified" notes were frequently written mid-verification (it died before
finishing). Real example: the dead run claimed "#50 fixed and verified numerically" but had only
checked ONE symptom (the right-edge); the fix was actually incomplete (label still wrapped, value still
clipped) — caught only by re-measuring fully. **Re-verify inherited fixes end-to-end before trusting them.**

## Verification
- The recovered plan matches the leftover artifacts + reflog.
- You can state the cause of death and have a concrete way to avoid it.
- You've listed the user decisions from the dead session and are not re-asking them.
- Inherited "done" items are re-verified, not assumed.

## Notes
- **Recovery is the second-best outcome; being told is the first.** Install the
  [`resume-gate`](../../hooks/resume-gate/) hook so the next killed subagent announces itself on
  resume instead of waiting to be found. It also gates push/merge/deploy behind a human keypress
  while anything is outstanding, which is the part that stops a partial result from shipping while
  you are still deciding whether to run this procedure.
- The dead session's worktree branch + uncommitted WIP may be reconcilable onto current main
  (stash → checkout main → branch → pop) if its base has moved since.
- See also: `playwright-screenshot-hangs-on-infinite-animation` (a common session-killer),
  `claude-code-projects-jsonl-worktree-fanout` + `claude-code-session-shipped-and-agent-labels-from-transcript`
  (transcript-location + extraction mechanics), `handoff-prompt-stale-user-hint-newer-state` (the
  related "newer state landed since the prompt" case).

## Reference-only siblings in this toolkit

These carry `disable-model-invocation: true`. They never appear in the skill
listing and the Skill tool refuses them, so the only way in is to open the file
with Read when one of these matches what you are looking at.

- [`session-handoff-detect-prior-orphan-pr`](../session-handoff-detect-prior-orphan-pr/SKILL.md) — a previous handoff run already left a branch, PR or worktree behind — find it before opening a duplicate
- [`session-handoff-number-collision-with-unmerged-sibling`](../session-handoff-number-collision-with-unmerged-sibling/SKILL.md) — two sessions picked the same handoff number because each only sees what merged on its own branch
- [`verify-live-prod-before-shipping-superseded-fix`](../verify-live-prod-before-shipping-superseded-fix/SKILL.md) — a parallel session already shipped a different fix to the same live artefact while you were building yours