Session Lifecycle

Every DOSI session follows three phases: Boot, Execute, Close.

Phase 0: Boot

The AI reads everything it needs before touching code.

1. Read STATE.md              → Where are we?
2. Read ocd/INDEX.md          → What's the session history?
3. Read DOSI-REF.md           → How do we operate?
4. Check for active plan      → Is there a plan to execute?
5. Query knowledge network    → Surface relevant past decisions
6. Create OCD directory       → ocd/{PREFIX}-OCD-{N}/{PREFIX}-OCD-{N}.md
7. Imprint session open       → Record who, when, goal
8. Present relevant history   → Past decisions that relate to today's goal
9. Confirm goal               → Get go/no-go before execution

Session Open Imprint

Before any work starts, the OCD file records:

Field	Value
Opened by	GitHub username or agent identity
Opened at	YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM
Goal	What the session will accomplish
Previous OCD	Link to the last session

This imprint is immutable once written. It's the session's birth certificate.

Phase 1: Execute

Work happens according to the session's mode:

Mode	When
Plan	New features, architecture decisions
Build	Executing approved plans
Fix	Bugfix, stabilization
Meta	Improving the dev system itself
Explore	Research, spike, prototype

During execution:

• OCD is updated continuously — every action, every decision, every blocker
• STATE.md stays current — always reflects reality
• Idea Capture is open — supervisor drops ideas, AI logs them without stopping
• Agents dispatch in parallel — independent tasks run concurrently

Phase 2: Close

1. Imprint close       → Record who, when, one-line outcome
2. Documentation       → Finalize OCD, update INDEX.md, STATE.md
3. Agent Reviews       → Each perspective writes their review
4. Git                 → Commit all changes, ask before push
5. Embed session       → Chunk OCD, embed into knowledge network
6. Report              → Summary, next session recommendations
7. Snapshot            → Record the development state

Session Close Imprint

Field	Value
Closed by	Who closed it
Closed at	YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM
Outcome	One-line summary

Snapshot

A snapshot is the combination of:

1. The OCD file at close
2. STATE.md at close
3. The git commit hash
4. The knowledge vectors embedded from this session

This gives you a complete development state at any point in time.

Session Modes in Practice

Modes can combine. The primary mode goes first:

• "Build" — pure execution, plan already exists
• "Plan + Build" — design something, then build it
• "Meta + Fix" — improve tooling AND fix bugs
• "Explore" — research with no commitment to implement

The mode sets expectations for what the session produces.