Prompt

Build the context of you

Stop re-explaining yourself every time you open a new chat. Build a system that carries your context forward — intentionally, and in your own words.

context mgmt daily systems workflow

The problem

Every time you start a new chat, the relationship resets. You re-explain who you are, how you work, what you're in the middle of. The AI is helpful, but it's a stranger again. You lose the thread.

AI memory helps with this — but it's passive. It picks up fragments in the background and surfaces them when it guesses they're relevant. That's useful, but it's not the same as deliberately carrying forward the context that actually matters to you.

This is especially true if you work in long, topic-focused conversations — job searches, big projects, creative work, anything where the relationship and shared history really matter. Memory fills in some gaps. This fills in the ones that count.

💡 the key insight

Memory knows about you. This captures how you think and work — in a way you control, can update, and can carry into any conversation on any platform.

How the system works

Two pieces that work together:

Part 1

The stable "context of you" doc

A document that describes who you are, how you work, what you're focused on, and what kind of help you're looking for. Built once, updated when something meaningful changes. Goes into every new chat.

Part 2

The session handoff

Generated at the end of each conversation. Captures what happened, what was decided, what's still open, and exactly where to pick up next. Feeds back into the stable doc when something changes.

The prompt below builds Part 1. The handoff template further down is Part 2. You need both — the stable doc gives the AI context about you, the handoff gives it context about right now.

Part 1 — Build your stable context doc

This is a conversational prompt — paste it in and the AI will ask you questions to understand your setup before helping you build anything. It's designed to fit how you actually work, not a generic template.

The prompt Paste this into a new chat to get started

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I want to build a system for carrying context forward between AI conversations so I don't have to start over every time I open a new chat. I've heard this works well with two layers: a stable document that holds who I am and how I work, and a lightweight handoff summary generated at the end of each conversation that captures what just happened and what's open. Before we build anything, I want to make sure the structure actually fits how I use AI tools. Ask me the questions you need to understand my setup — how I work, what kinds of conversations I have, what I most often lose between sessions — and then recommend the right structure and help me build it. Start with the questions.

Part 2 — The session handoff template

At the end of a conversation, ask your AI tool to generate a handoff using this structure. The output is a short document you paste at the top of your next chat — or drop into a project file if your tool supports that.

You can also share this template with your AI and ask it to generate the handoff for you automatically.

Handoff template The structure for your session summary

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# Conversation Handoff — [Date] ## What We Worked On [2-4 sentences. Be specific — not "job search stuff" but "refined cover letter for X, worked through interview prep for Y screen."] ## Decisions Made / Things That Clicked [Bullet list. Only include things that actually resolved or landed — a decision made, an insight that arrived, something finished.] ## Open Threads [Bullet list. Things started but not finished, questions that came up but weren't answered, ideas that need follow-up. These are the things most likely to get lost.] ## Stable Doc Updates Needed [Bullet list or "None." Flags for what should be updated in your context doc. Be specific.] ## Where to Pick Up [1-3 sentences. The literal next step. Written so that opening a new chat and reading this tells you exactly what to do first.]

Replace bracketed sections with your own content

7 principles for a good handoff

These are the guidelines that make the difference between a handoff that actually helps and one that's just noise.

1 Read the full conversation before writing anything. The best signal is often in the middle — the thing that got resolved quietly, the insight that arrived sideways.

2 Be specific, not comprehensive. This is a handoff, not a transcript. If something was discussed but didn't produce a decision, open thread, or update — it probably doesn't belong here.

3 Open threads is the most important section. These are the things most likely to evaporate between sessions. If in doubt, include it here.

4 "Where to pick up" should be actionable. Not "continue the project" — something like "finish the draft, it's in the last message" or "the follow-up email is next, context is in open threads."

5 Flag stable doc updates conservatively. Only flag something if your context doc would be wrong or misleading without the update. Major decisions and changes — yes. Nuances from a single conversation — usually no.

6 Match your own voice. This is a note to yourself, not a report. Write it the way you'd explain it to yourself at the start of a long day.

7 Keep it short. The whole document should be readable in under 2 minutes. If it's getting long, you're including too much.

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