State Template

Template for .planning/STATE.md - the project's living memory.

File Template

# Project State

## Project Reference

See: .planning/PROJECT.md (updated [date])

**Core value:** [One-liner from PROJECT.md Core Value section]
**Current focus:** [Current phase name]

## Current Position

Phase: [X] of [Y] ([Phase name])
Plan: [A] of [B] in current phase
Status: [Ready to plan / Planning / Ready to execute / In progress / Phase complete]
Last activity: [YYYY-MM-DD] - [What happened]

Progress: [░░░░░░░░░░] 0%

## Performance Metrics

**Velocity:**
- Total plans completed: [N]
- Average duration: [X] min
- Total execution time: [X.X] hours

**By Phase:**

| Phase | Plans | Total | Avg/Plan |
| ----- | ----- | ----- | -------- |
| -     | -     | -     | -        |

**Recent Trend:**
- Last 5 plans: [durations]
- Trend: [Improving / Stable / Degrading]

*Updated after each plan completion*

## Accumulated Context

### Decisions

Decisions are logged in PROJECT.md Key Decisions table.
Recent decisions affecting current work:

- [Phase X]: [Decision summary]
- [Phase Y]: [Decision summary]

### Pending Todos

[From .planning/todos/pending/ - ideas captured during sessions]

None yet.

### Blockers/Concerns

[Issues that affect future work]

None yet.

## Session Continuity

Last session: [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM]
Stopped at: [Description of last completed action]
Resume file: [Path to .continue-here*.md if exists, otherwise "None"]

STATE.md is the project's short-term memory spanning all phases and sessions.

Problem it solves: Information is captured in summaries, issues, and decisions but not systematically consumed. Sessions start without context.

Solution: A single, small file that's:

Read first in every workflow
Updated after every significant action
Contains digest of accumulated context
Enables instant session restoration

Creation: After ROADMAP.md is created (during init)

Reference PROJECT.md (read it for current context)
Initialize empty accumulated context sections
Set position to "Phase 1 ready to plan"

Reading: First step of every workflow

progress: Present status to user
plan: Inform planning decisions
execute: Know current position
transition: Know what's complete

Writing: After every significant action

execute: After SUMMARY.md created
- Update position (phase, plan, status)
- Note new decisions (detail in PROJECT.md)
- Add blockers/concerns
transition: After phase marked complete
- Update progress bar
- Clear resolved blockers
- Refresh Project Reference date

Project Reference

Points to PROJECT.md for full context. Includes:

Core value (the ONE thing that matters)
Current focus (which phase)
Last update date (triggers re-read if stale)

the agent reads PROJECT.md directly for requirements, constraints, and decisions.

Current Position

Where we are right now:

Phase X of Y - which phase
Plan A of B - which plan within phase
Status - current state
Last activity - what happened most recently
Progress bar - visual indicator of overall completion

Progress calculation: (completed plans) / (total plans across all phases) × 100%

Performance Metrics

Track velocity to understand execution patterns:

Total plans completed
Average duration per plan
Per-phase breakdown
Recent trend (improving/stable/degrading)

Updated after each plan completion.

Accumulated Context

Decisions: Reference to PROJECT.md Key Decisions table, plus recent decisions summary for quick access. Full decision log lives in PROJECT.md.

Pending Todos: Ideas captured via /gsd-add-todo

Count of pending todos
Reference to .planning/todos/pending/
Brief list if few, count if many (e.g., "5 pending todos - see /gsd-check-todos")

Blockers/Concerns: From "Next Phase Readiness" sections

Issues that affect future work
Prefix with originating phase
Cleared when addressed

Session Continuity

Enables instant resumption:

When was last session
What was last completed
Is there a .continue-here file to resume from

<size_constraint>

Keep STATE.md under 100 lines.

It's a DIGEST, not an archive. If accumulated context grows too large:

Keep only 3-5 recent decisions in summary (full log in PROJECT.md)
Keep only active blockers, remove resolved ones

The goal is "read once, know where we are" - if it's too long, that fails.

</size_constraint>

4.4 KiB Raw Blame History Unescape Escape