Restart Board

When I faced a 30-window reboot catastrophe, I realized I needed a system to remember exactly what I was doing and prioritize my next moves. That's when "Restart Board" came into play. On 2026-09-22, it saved me by recovering 86 transcripts and 16 prompts, laid out in an HTML board. This board became my go-to template: assets/board-example-2026-09-22.html.

The Tools

The heart of the Restart Board is a set of scripts. Each script has a specific focus:

• node scripts/sessions.mjs --days 4 --exclude <this-session-id>: This script gathers every transcript touched in the last four days, excluding the current session. It lists the current working directory, the first prompt, the last three prompts, and the last assistant message. It's all about context.
• node scripts/tail.mjs <file.jsonl> 8: This script shows the last eight messages of any transcript, perfect for when a window's state is ambiguous.
• node scripts/stranded.mjs --extra "D:\Travis Eric\TE Divorce" --days 7: This one identifies dirty trees, unpushed commits, and operations left hanging, like mid-rebase or merge. It takes about 45 seconds to run.

These scripts redirect their output to a file (> out.txt 2>&1) to keep my workflow smooth and organized.

RESTART Mode

In RESTART mode, multiple agents work in parallel to compile a comprehensive board. The process involves five key steps:

1. Windows: The sessions.mjs script classifies sessions as complete, mid-flight, or unanswered. Mid-flight and unanswered sessions are crucial since they indicate work that needs immediate attention.
2. Stranded Git Work: Using stranded.mjs, I check for unlanded commits with git cherry origin/<trunk>. Commit counts aren't enough; it's about what's truly pending.
3. Prioritization: Recent entries in the FOUNDER-TRUTH-LEDGER, CURRENT-WEDGE, ESTATE-MAP focus board, and other indices help rank tasks by leverage, especially those affecting paying clients.
4. Project Agents: Each project gets its own agent to assess state, open workstreams, and paths for restart prompts. For large projects like Boulder Dent, I split them into multiple workstreams.
5. Personal/Legal Repositories: Prioritize tasks with clocks, especially for named repos like TE Divorce.

Building the Board

The board itself is structured for clarity and action:

• Lede: A concise summary of what tasks survived, what's mid-edit, and what's pressing due to deadlines.
• Founder-Only Actions: Highlight tasks only I can handle, especially those with important dates.
• Ranked Cards: Tasks are ranked by urgency—legal deadlines, stranded work, major revenue actions, and client work. Each card includes a title, state, a brief rationale, and necessary commands with copy buttons.
• Commands: Paths are script-verified (Test-Path), and commands are formatted for direct execution (cd E:\TE-Code\conversos; cl), ensuring no time is wasted.

The Restart Board transformed how I manage post-reboot chaos, turning potential disaster into a structured plan of action. It's about using detailed, script-driven analysis to regain control and focus on what truly matters.