session-chain
"Use when a long-running Claude session needs a durable successor in herdr. Trigger on '/session-chain', 'rotate this session', 'chain to a fresh session', or 'spawn a Claude session in herdr'. NOT for in-turn delegation (Agent tool) or codex lanes (codex-delegate / lane.mjs)."
Install
npx skillscat add sirmaelstrom/workit/session-chain Install via the SkillsCat registry.
Session Chain
Long burn-downs should not pay a hand-built rotation tax. This skill points at one carrier that records the lifecycle as a sidecar receipt: spawn a successor, brief it from a file, observe it, then retire the caller only after the successor is ready.
The binding behavior is ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/reference/patterns/session-chain.md. Run ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/session.mjs; it is the implementation, not this page.
| Verb | Use it for |
|---|---|
spawn |
Start a named Claude session in a new herdr pane with explicit model and effort. |
brief |
Send only Read <path> and execute it exactly. from a handoff file. |
watch |
Wait for idle, done, blocked, or gone. |
retire |
Exit a session; a successor may close a departed caller after the process guard. |
chain |
Spawn + brief + receipt + retire-self as one ordered carrier. |
status |
Read the chain receipt a successor must cite. |
Rotation policy
Rotate at a PR boundary when the caller pane's tokens.context is at least N. N is measured per model, not chosen. The carrier records the caller percentage; absent context is null, never zero. Keep the handoff small: the successor derives environment at pickup and follows the anchored quest, rather than inheriting stale state.
Rotation brief template
Read <handoff> and execute it exactly.
First steps:
1. node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/session.mjs retire <caller pane> --mode close --log <path>
2. node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/session.mjs status --last --log <path>
3. Write a spine_receipt on the anchor citing the caller resume id, your pane +
session id, and the caller context % from that row.
4. Pick up the anchored quest.
Authority: if you are Fable 5.1 the 2026-09-04 ruling applies (merges + pm2 deploys pre-authorized,
production hosts held); if you are not Fable, hold at every PR boundary with
needs_input.chain / retire self must be your LAST tool call — make no tool call after it; write your final message and stop.
When retire --mode close reaches Claude Code's "Background work is running" exit dialog, it waits--dialog-after-ms (15,000 by default), proves every direct child of claude.exe is a run-*-mcp.js
server, and answers Enter itself. A live non-MCP child is never approved: it returnsdialog: "background-process-live" with its argv and exit 3 so a person can decide.
Fork mode and Stop-hook ordering are unit-tested, not yet live-proven. The hook is shipped as ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/session-stop-capture.mjs, but its registration belongs to the private operator configuration.
Install
npx skillscat add sirmaelstrom/workit/session-chain Install via the SkillsCat registry.