capture-leftover

Capture Leftover Task

Append a deferred follow-up to the lightweight planning structure without leaving the current task. Designed to take seconds — minimal interruption, maximum recall later.

When to use

• The user explicitly defers something: "let's not do that now, but remember it"
• Claude proposes something tangential and the user says "noted, but later"
• Mid-debug, a separate issue surfaces — capture it before forgetting, but stay on the original
• Mutual "let's park this" moments

If the follow-up is in-scope of the current task, just add it to the working TODO. This skill is for things that would otherwise derail the session.

Steps

1. Resolve target file

repo_root=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null) || repo_root="$PWD"
target="$repo_root/planning/leftover-tasks.md"

If target doesn't exist, run scaffold-planning first (silently — don't pause to ask). After scaffolding, target will exist with a header and template.

If cwd is not in a git repo and the user didn't specify a target, ask:

Capture this as a leftover task in: (1) cwd's planning/leftover-tasks.md, (2) global $CLAUDE_USER_DATA/claude-rudder/leftover-tasks.md, or (3) somewhere else?

Default to (1) but confirm.

2. Gather inputs

In one short prompt or by inferring from context, get:

• Summary — one line, ≤80 chars (e.g. "Refactor auth middleware to remove the legacy session-token path")
• Surfaced during — what the current session is doing (Claude usually knows this from context — propose it, let user override)
• Why deferred — short reason. Default: "would distract from current focus" if user doesn't elaborate
• Context — the minimum a future session needs to pick this up. Often a sentence or two; sometimes a code path, file name, or external link
• Estimated scope — small, medium, large, or unknown. Default unknown if user doesn't say

Don't over-interrogate. If the user has only given a one-liner, fill the rest with reasonable inferences and a Context: <propose> that they can confirm or revise.

3. Format and append

Build the entry:

## 2026-04-27 18:53 — Refactor auth middleware to drop legacy session-token path
- **Surfaced during:** debugging the new login flow in src/auth/login.ts
- **Why deferred:** would derail the current bug fix — pure tech-debt
- **Context:** see `src/auth/legacy-session.ts`; new flow already in place but old code still referenced. ~200 LOC removal.
- **Estimated scope:** medium
- **Status:** open

Append to target after the existing <!-- new entries appended below --> marker (or just at end of file). Each entry is separated from the next by a single blank line.

Use ISO-8601 minute resolution for the timestamp, in the local timezone. Example: 2026-04-27 18:53 (no seconds, no timezone — keep it readable; the marker is the absent timezone).

4. Confirm briefly

Print one line:

✓ Captured: "Refactor auth middleware..." → planning/leftover-tasks.md (3 open total)

The "(N open total)" tally is helpful — it lets the user see the parking lot is filling up and consider running start-leftover soon.

5. Return to the original task

Don't elaborate. Don't summarise the captured task back at length. The whole point is minimum interruption — get back to what we were doing.

Bulk mode

If the user provides multiple follow-ups in one go ("park these three: …, …, …"), handle as a loop:

• Confirm the list once before writing
• Append all entries in order, same timestamp ± 1 minute apart, or just same timestamp
• Print a summary: "✓ Captured 3 leftovers → planning/leftover-tasks.md (5 open total)"

Hard rules

• Don't switch tasks. This skill is non-disruptive by design. Capture and return.
• Don't ask more than 1-2 follow-up questions. If context is missing, fill with reasonable inferences and let the user revise the file later.
• Append-only. Never reorder or rewrite existing entries.
• No git commits. Let the user decide when to commit the planning folder.

Counterparts

• start-leftover — picks up an entry from this file in a fresh session
• scaffold-planning — creates the file and surrounding structure
• log-blocker — for things blocking progress (different category)
• leftover-aggregator agent — proactively scans conversation for missed defer-moments