# Recipe: resume where I left off, in any agent

A copy-paste prompt: your agent finds the latest handoff in onecell, checks it against the repo, and tells you where things stand before it touches anything.

> [!info]
> **For:** anyone picking up work that they, a teammate or another agent left off. **When:** the first minute of a session. **Takes:** under a minute of agent time. **You get:** a short brief in chat (where it stands, what changed, what needs you, the next step) and an agent that waits for your go.

This is the other half of [Recipe: hand off to another agent](https://onecell.io/help/recipes/recipe-hand-off-to-another-agent). It also works from a parked session or a repo snapshot when there is no handoff.

## The prompt

Paste it as the first message in a new session, and replace `<topic>`. If the handoff gave you a link, paste that too.

```text
Resume <topic> from onecell. If I give you a link, start there.

1. Find the latest handoff, parked session or snapshot for <topic> with
   search, and read it with get_document. Call recall for the project,
   and list_decisions for its cell to see what is still open.

2. Check the note against reality before trusting it: the current
   branch, git status, and anything merged or changed since the note
   was written.

3. Reply in a few lines:
   - where it stands
   - what changed since the note
   - what needs me: open questions and proposed decisions
   - the next step you propose
   Don't start work until I say go.

4. When we stop, update the same handoff document instead of writing a
   new one, so there is one record of the work.
```

## What your agent does

1. Finds the latest note
   search and get_document find the handoff, parked session or snapshot, wherever it was written and by whichever agent.
2. Loads what else onecell knows
   recall brings back remembered facts about the project; list_decisions shows what is still proposed.
3. Checks the note against the repo
   The branch, uncommitted changes and anything merged since. A handoff can be out of date; the agent says so rather than acting on it.
4. Briefs you and waits
   Where it stands, what changed, what needs you, and the next step it proposes. Nothing happens until you say go.
5. Keeps one record
   At the end of the session it updates the same handoff, so the next resume starts from the latest state.

## What you get

A briefing for Tally, a made-up invoicing app, picking up the handoff from the *Hand off* recipe. A teammate had pushed since, and the agent caught it before acting on a stale plan.

<!-- onecell:block {"type":"embed","documentId":"7c5182fe-07f2-40b8-8c8f-526d62329bff"} -->
[Sample resume: picking up the reminders work on Tuesday](https://onecell.io/p/sample-resume-reminders-work)

## Variations

<details>
<summary>Picking up a teammate's work</summary>

Add: “This was `<name>`'s work. List what you'd ask them before continuing.” Read the proposed decisions with them before you change direction.

</details>

<details>
<summary>No handoff, only history</summary>

If nobody wrote a handoff, add: “Use the latest repo snapshot and the git log instead.” The brief is thinner, but it still beats starting cold. Then end the session with the hand-off recipe.

</details>

<details>
<summary>Start of the day, across everything</summary>

Replace `<topic>` with “everything I handed off this week” and ask for one line per piece of work, oldest first. Pick one, then resume it properly.

</details>

## Tips

- Keep “don't start until I say go”. The minute you spend reading the brief is where you catch a stale plan.
- If the agent finds two handoffs for the same work, merge them into one before going on.
- Works across tools: hand off from Claude Code, resume in Codex or Cursor.

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Part of [onecell recipes](https://onecell.io/help/recipes): copy-paste prompts for using onecell in your work.