Use when you need to create a timestamped progress log for a research session.
Automatically create timestamped progress logs for research sessions.
Based on Scott Cunningham's Claude Code workflow: "Progress logs are my autosave of the workflow." When sessions end or crash, the next Claude can read logs and pick up exactly where you left off.
At the end of any significant work session, or when asked to "log this session" or "update progress".
Before writing anything, inventory which projects were affected during this session. A "project" is any directory with its own CLAUDE.md or log/ directory. Common splits:
| Scope | Where the log goes |
|---|
| Work inside a specific project | That project's log/ |
| Global infrastructure (skills, hooks, rules, settings) | Task Management's log/ |
| Course/module-level changes (reorganisation, new CLAUDE.md) | That module's log/ |
Signs of a multi-project session:
~/.claude/ (skills, hooks, settings) → global/infrastructure logFor each project identified in Step 1:
.context/current-focus.md and recent log/ entrieslog/ directory if it doesn't existlog/YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM.md within that projectIf there's only one project, this reduces to a single log (the common case).
When multiple logs are created, add a brief cross-reference at the top of each:
> Also logged: [other project name] — `[relative or absolute path to other log]`
This lets a future session in one project discover that related work happened elsewhere.
/update-focus for a structured update (session rotation, open loops), rather than making ad-hoc edits to current-focus.md# Session Log: [Date] [Time]
## Project: [Project Name]
## What We Did
- [Bullet points of accomplishments]
## Key Decisions
- [Any choices made and why]
## Problems/Blockers
- [Issues encountered]
## Next Steps
- [ ] [Actionable next items]
## Files Changed
- [List of modified files — only those in THIS project]
"Please log this session — we worked on the research paper, fixed the simulation code, and decided to target Journal B instead of Journal A."
→ One log in the MCDM project's log/
"Please log this session — we did Workshop 17, reorganised the module folder, and created two new global skills."
→ Three logs:
log/ — workshop completion, reorganisation, CLAUDE.md creationlog/ — new skills (init-project-course, audit-project-course), new hook (ensure-latexmkrc.sh), settings.json changes