AI Forgets Your Project: Handoff Prompt for a New Chat
Updated · Tech checked
Twenty-line handoff: goal, decisions, open bugs, next task. No secrets, no full history. Lab A18 builds it.
The direct answer
New chats start blank; carry the project in a handoff under twenty lines: goal, key decisions, open bugs, next task. Paste it plus the file list. Anything longer gets skimmed; full history gets ignored.
Filled example
Goal: tracker with filter. Decisions: array of task objects, date-keyed completion. Open bug: streak miscounts Sunday. Next: export with guarded import. Files: index, styles, app. No secrets, no life story.
Method and mistakes
Decisions beat transcripts; open bugs name the suspect; next task is one task. The failure is pasting two hundred lines of history and asking continue.
Frequently asked questions
Does the handoff include code? File names plus the handoff; the new chat reads the actual files you introduce.
How often should I rewrite it? After each decision or fixed bug; stale handoffs mislead faster than none.
Sources and review
- Lessons M06 and lab A18 (this site). Last review: 2026-10-04.