Collaboration State Management

Track collaboration state between Claude sessions using git branches. Enables seamless context switching between conversations by persisting progress in feature branches.

When to Use

•Starting multi-session work that needs tracking
•Saving progress during long coding sessions
•Handing off work to another conversation
•Resuming previous collaboration branches
•Publishing completed work to master

When NOT to Use

•Simple one-off tasks that don't need tracking
•Work already on master without branching
•Non-git repositories

Quick Start

•Start: /collab start project/P16/plan - Create feature branch
•Work: Make changes, use /collab save "message" periodically
•Handoff: /collab checkpoint "message" - Commit + push for later
•Resume: /collab resume project/P16/plan - Continue in new session
•Publish: /collab publish - Merge to master when complete

Commands

Command	Action
`/collab`	Show current status
`/collab start <branch>`	Create new collaboration branch
`/collab save "message"`	Commit progress locally
`/collab checkpoint "message"`	Commit + push for handoff
`/collab publish`	Fast-forward merge to master, cleanup
`/collab resume <branch>`	Resume existing branch
`/collab list`	List all collaboration branches
`/collab abandon`	Delete current feature branch (with confirmation)

Branch Naming

Vaults: <scope>/<id>/<segment> (e.g., project/P16/plan, goal/Q1-2026/review)

Code repos: <type>/<id>/<description> (e.g., feature/P3/parser, bug/P1/fix)

See Branch Naming Reference for full conventions.

Commit Formats

•Vaults: [collab:<branch>] <message> (tag in title)
•Code repos: Conventional Commits with [collab:<branch>] in body

See Commit Formats Reference for examples.

Skill Integrations

/teslasoft

•After /collab resume in vault, suggest running /teslasoft
•During /collab publish in vault, automatically updates agenda

/repomix

•During /collab publish in vault, refreshes vault-bundle.xml

/e2e

•On /story or /usecase segments, suggest /e2e workflow

See Integrations Reference for details.

Failure Modes & Recovery

Issue	Recovery
Fast-forward fails	Rebase branch: `git rebase master`, then retry publish
Working directory dirty	Run `/collab save` first or stash changes
Branch not found	Check spelling, use `/collab list` to see available branches
Agenda update fails	Non-blocking; run `/teslasoft update-agenda` manually

Security & Permissions

•Required tools: Bash (git commands), Read, Write
•Confirmations: Required for /collab abandon (destructive)
•Safe defaults: Uses --force-with-lease (not --force), --ff-only merges

Best Practices

•Start every significant session with /collab start
•Save frequently with /collab save
•Checkpoint before ending conversations
•Use descriptive segments (/plan, /story, /docs)
•Include P# in branch names to link to projects
•Publish when complete to keep master current

References

•Branch Naming - Full naming conventions
•Commit Formats - Message format examples
•Command Handlers - Detailed command procedures
•Dashboard - Session-end dashboard format
•Integrations - Skill integrations

Metadata

yaml

author: Christian Kusmanow / Claude
version: 2.0.0
last_updated: 2026-01-23
change_surface: references/ (command details, examples)
extension_points: references/command-handlers.md (new commands)

Changelog

•
v2.0.0 (2026-01-23): SDL migration - Progressive disclosure structure
- •Split 900-line monolith into SKILL.md (~150 lines) + 5 references
- •Added YAML frontmatter with triggers and negative_triggers
- •Added "When to Use / When NOT to Use" sections
- •Added failure modes and security sections
•v1.5.0 (2026-01-23): Auto-refresh repomix bundle on vault publish
•v1.4.0 (2026-01-23): Auto-update Teslasoft Agenda on vault publish
•v1.3.0 (2026-01-22): Differentiated commit formats by repository type
•v1.2.0 (2026-01-22): Added Collaboration Dashboard
•v1.1.0 (2026-01-22): Added multi-repo support and WSL paths
•v1.0.0 (2026-01-21): Initial release