This page describes the pinned development build. There is no public release to install today.
/orientate answers “where did this project stop?” without turning that question into work. It
prints saved state and installed inventory, writes nothing, and stops before opening the active
plan or recommending a task.
Looking is a separate decision
Suppose you have twenty minutes before a meeting and want to know whether the export change is blocked. In a normal agent session, “tell me where we left off” may lead to a repository tour, a recommended fix and then an implementation. A careful prompt can prevent that, but the boundary must be restated each time.
Coldstart gives that boundary its own entrance. The command prints the record and stops, so deciding whether to work remains a separate human action.
| It reads | It reports | It deliberately does not do |
|---|---|---|
| Resume pointer | The saved pointer block, field for field | Open the listed files or active plan |
| Installed harness | The current on-disk inventory for the selected project | Judge whether a component is useful or correct |
| Missing state | No pointer, missing active entry, completed or stub session, absent component | Repair, invent or advance the state |
The inventory can target another project directory. If that directory is not a Coldstart project, the command fails clearly instead of presenting a plausible collection of zeroes.
The three-part contract
Read-only. It does not edit the pointer, plan, notes or session-mode field. This is observable behavior of this command, not a general sandbox around everything you do afterward.
Literal report. It lists what is saved on disk. It does not choose the next planned area, interpret whether the plan is wise or summarize the project in a new narrative.
Stop. After the pointer, inventory and any missing-state message, it ends. The only useful next entrances it may name are planning when no plan exists and starting when the reader chooses to work.
That contract is useful when you return after a gap, inspect a project you did not set up or need to reprint state mid-session without re-announcing a build scope. If you already intend to work, the start command performs the relevant orientation and then continues; running both is unnecessary.
Where the manual approach wins
For a tiny project, git status, the latest commit and a short note may answer the whole question
more quickly. The dedicated command earns its place when you repeatedly need the same narrow report
or when accidental continuation has a meaningful cost.
Limits
- It reports records, not reality. A stale pointer is printed as confidently as a current one.
- Inventory proves presence on disk, not activation, usefulness or compliance.
- Read-only describes this invocation. The next command can write.
- Because it refuses interpretation, it cannot tell you whether the saved next action is still the right action. That judgment remains yours.
Next
Inspection can reveal that there is nothing ready to start. The next section follows one bounded change from the pass that plans it to the close that verifies it: the work loop.