Reload Project State

Reload Project State

Restores full project context at the start of a new session: reads state, config, GitMem history, and produces a structured status report so the orchestrator can resume exactly where it left off.

When to Use

• Starting a new session on an in-progress project
• Switching between multiple research projects
• Refreshing context after an external state change
• Rebuilding context after an unexpected interruption

Workflow

/reload
    │
    ├─→ 1. Locate project root
    │       └─→ Find .autoresearch/ directory
    │
    ├─→ 2. Load project state
    │       ├─→ research-state.yaml
    │       ├─→ orchestrator-config.yaml
    │       └─→ status.json
    │
    ├─→ 3. Run state migration
    │       └─→ Call state_migrator.py if schema outdated
    │
    ├─→ 4. Load user config
    │       └─→ ~/.autoresearch/ user-level settings
    │
    ├─→ 5. Check GitMem history
    │       └─→ Read version-tracking log
    │
    └─→ 6. Output status report
            ├─→ Project info
            ├─→ Phase progress
            ├─→ Configuration
            └─→ Next actions

Usage

# Standard reload
python3 scripts/reload_project.py --project-root /abs/path/to/project

# Verbose output
python3 scripts/reload_project.py --project-root /abs/path/to/project --verbose

# JSON output
python3 scripts/reload_project.py --project-root /abs/path/to/project --json

Output Example

## Project State Reloaded

### Basic Information
- **Project ID**: my-research-project
- **Topic**: Transformer-based time-series forecasting optimization
- **Research type**: ml_experiment
- **Created**: 2026-03-15

### Current Progress
- **Phase**: pilot (2 of 5)
- **Gate**: gate_2
- **Completion**: 25%

### Completed Work
- Survey phase complete (gate score: 4.2)
- Pilot phase in progress

### Configuration
- **Language**: process docs (zh-CN) / paper (en-US)
- **GPU**: RTX 4090 (ID: gpu-001)
- **Max loops per phase**: 3

### Next Actions
1. Complete pilot experiment design
2. Run pilot validation
3. Await Gate 2 review

Error Handling

• Project not found: Prompt user to run /init-research first
• Corrupt state file: Attempt recovery from backup; fall back to re-initialization prompt
• Incompatible schema version: Run automatic state migration

Hard Rules

1. Always run first in a new session on an existing project
2. Never modify state - this is a read-only operation
3. Report all errors - don't silently skip missing files
4. Suggest next action based on current phase and gate status

Related Skills

• status - Quick status check without full reload
• init-research - Initialize a new project