Build with AI: From Zero to Your First App · Module 6: Working reliably with AI coding tools
Hand the Project to a New Chat
Chats go stale; projects should not. This lesson writes the 150-word summary that moves your project to a fresh chat with zero amnesia.
9 min reading
Objectives
- Write a project summary that carries a new chat to productivity
- Include files, decisions, unfinished work and current fault
- Keep the summary under 150 words and update it weekly
- Explain what never goes into a summary
Why this matters
Lesson M01L2 taught fresh starts; this lesson packs the suitcase. A new chat without context re-asks everything and re-suggests abandoned ideas. A new chat with a tight summary continues mid-stride: same files, same decisions, same unfinished fault. Context handoffs are how long projects survive short memories.
Concepts
The summary has five lines. What it is (one line from the README). Files (the current list, fresh names). Decisions made (out-list items, layer order, browser-only verdict: the noes that must not be re-litigated). Unfinished (current fault or next step with its criterion). Never include (passwords, keys, personal data: M01L4 rides along everywhere).
Length is the discipline. Under 150 words, updated weekly or after every big change. Longer summaries get skimmed; stale summaries mislead worse than none. Write it in your notes file, not in the chat: the summary lives with the project, chats come and go.
First message in the new chat. Paste the summary, then state the one change (M06L21 shape). The tool now knows the project, the files, the decisions and the task. Verify the first answer against the summary: if the tool re-suggests a parked item, point at the decision line once.
Worked example
Summary: "Neighborhood bakery one-page site (index, styles, app, one image, README). Out: payment, accounts, tracking. Browser-only, orders in this browser. Unfinished: submit button needs scrolling at 360px; criterion is reachable without scrolling. Files: index.html, styles.css, app.js, images/menu-board.jpg." New chat first message: summary plus "in styles.css only: reduce space above the button so it is reachable without scrolling at 360px; keep text, colors, form." Continuation, not restart.
Expected result: your project summary written, under 150 words, with all five lines, pasted into your notes.
The common wrong move
Pasting the whole project as the handoff ("read all this, then help"). Whole dumps eat context and bury the decision lines. Summary first, files on demand: the tool asks for the file it needs, you paste that one.
Lab and next step
Lab A18 moves a project to a fresh chat using only the summary. Next, lesson 24 closes the module: quota discipline and avoiding wasteful full rewrites.
Quick check
An optional 4-question self-check. Answers never leave your device, are not stored, and never count toward any assessment.
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Exercise
Write your project summary (five lines, under 150 words) in your notes. Open a fresh chat and continue one real task with summary plus one change; record the tool's first answer quality.
Pass criteria
Summary with five lines under 150 words in notes; fresh chat continued with summary plus single change; first-answer quality recorded (on-track or corrected with one pointer).