Keep a long coding task on track

Long coding work needs more than saved chat history. You need the current objective, the decisions that still apply, the relevant files, and the checks left to run. CLIO Coder gives you controls for inspecting that context and continuing after a session grows.

Give the project a starting point

A project handbook orients the model toward the repository's structure and rules. The context commands prepare a CLIO-CODER.md handbook and a structural code index called the codemap.

clio-coder context init
clio-coder context index

Review generated project material as you would any other change. Keep build commands and verification expectations specific to the project: an incorrect handbook makes the wrong answer easier to repeat.

The codemap locates structural information without reading every file into the conversation. It does not replace reading a function before changing its behavior. Legacy codewiki files remain readable; new output uses codemap.

Inspect before the context fills

In the terminal, /context shows usage, output reservation, remaining headroom, and any pending handoff. On the desktop alpha, the Session column has Context and Branches cards, and typing / in the composer offers /context, /tree, /fork, and /handoff.

Watch what you are accumulating. A large test log, an old exploration branch, and a current design decision should not carry the same weight. Ask the agent to cite the file or tool result behind an important conclusion instead of a remembered paraphrase.

Reduce with a stated purpose

/context compact Keep the objective, decisions, changed files, test results, and remaining work.

Hand off a defined continuation

/handoff <goal> prepares a continuation around a stated goal. A useful goal says what the receiving session should do next and which work must stay intact.

Handoffs are bound to the active conversation branch and its decisions. A fork can recall earlier notes without inheriting permission to resume its parent's pending transition. Use /tree and /fork deliberately, and confirm which branch you are continuing. To return to a session after quitting, type the /resume <id> line from the exit summary; a prefix works when it matches one session.

Recover an interrupted transition explicitly

If /context shows a pending handoff, use its exact ID:

/context recover <handoffId> reduce
/context recover <handoffId> deliver

These are two different recoveries, not two commands to run in turn. Choose reduce when the reduction has not committed and another attempt remains; choose deliver when the validated commit exists. The continuity guide explains those states.

A restarted process records an interrupted handoff as paused and waits for your command. Do not create a new handoff just because a pending one looks unfamiliar.

Keep memory reviewable

Proactive memory is separate from the working context. Open /memory and use its Review tab to approve a proposed lesson with a, or press x twice to reject it; an observation about one repository should not quietly become a rule for every project.

Global, procedural, runtime, and agent lessons wait for you. A repository knowledge lesson can be approved automatically once a session records that it held with no contradiction, and a later contradiction demotes it.

In /settings, under Context and memory, Memory connection and Memory model choose where memory's model calls run. With neither set, memory uses your chat route and spends model calls there. Turning Proactive memory off stops those calls, along with task memory and the memory section of the prompt.

Stored memory is not fine-tuning of the underlying model. Its value depends on selection, scope, and whether it is still relevant.