---
name: stash
description: Stash session context [name]
argument-hint: [optional stash name]
allowed-tools: Read, Grep, Glob
disable-model-invocation: true
---
Save session context for compaction recovery or handoffs.
**Guardrails**
- **Write only what the brief contains.** The subagent expands the brief into a file; it does
not research, re-derive, or infer. Every fact, number, SHA, path, and identifier in the
stash comes from the brief verbatim — never invent, never round, never fill a gap with a
plausible guess. Missing detail stays missing.
- **Escalate, never assume.** Anything the subagent cannot do, cannot verify, or that this
spec does not cover → report it back to the orchestrator (the main session) rather than
improvising. Never widen scope beyond writing the file and counting the backlog.
- **Explicitly select your tool's mid tier.** State the tier on the spawn — do not omit it
and rely on a default. An omitted tier inherits the *parent's* tier, which is not the same
thing as the balanced one. Pick the judgment-capable tier that is cheaper and faster than
your top reasoning tier. **Not the cheapest/fastest tier**: on judgment work it measurably
degrades (misclassification rates several times higher). Choose by tier, not by a vendor
model name copied from this file — names drift, and this command ships to several tools.
- **Background dispatch where supported.** Run the write-up subagent in the background
(non-blocking) so the session isn't held up waiting on formatting/file I/O. Fall back to
writing inline (today's behavior) if your tool has no subagent or background-dispatch
mechanism.
**What it does**
1. Drafts a compact brief of current conversation context, key decisions, active work in
progress, and findings/insights — done inline, since only the running session holds full
conversation context
2. Hands the brief to a subagent on the mid-tier model (see Guardrails) to expand into the
full stash file at `.amp/stash/<name>.md`, dispatched in the background where the tool
supports it. Falls back to writing inline if subagent/background dispatch isn't available
3. Enables context restoration after compaction
4. **Consolidation nudge** — whichever actor wrote the file (the subagent, or the session
itself on the inline fallback) counts the unprocessed backlog after saving. `$ROOT` is the
absolute repo root — the same one the stash file was just written under. Resolve it with
`git rev-parse --show-toplevel`. Run these two lines verbatim. Do not substitute a
cwd-relative path (the write-up subagent's cwd is not guaranteed to be the repo root) and
do not discover the manifest with a `*` glob over the remember dir (`.processed` is a
dotfile, and globs skip dotfiles):
```bash
find "$ROOT/.amp/stash/" -maxdepth 1 -name '*.md' ! -name '.*' 2>/dev/null | wc -l # total
if [ -f "$ROOT/.amp/remember/.processed" ]; then grep -c '' "$ROOT/.amp/remember/.processed"; else echo 0; fi # processed
```
`unprocessed = total − processed`. Use `grep -c ''`, not `wc -l`: a manifest whose last
entry has no trailing newline undercounts by one under `wc -l`.
If `$ROOT` cannot be resolved, report the backlog as **UNKNOWN** and name the path that
failed — never substitute 0. Substituting 0 maximizes the apparent backlog and fires the
nudge on every stash. A resolvable `$ROOT` with no `.processed` file is a genuine 0.
If `unprocessed >= 5`, end with one line, carrying the raw numbers so a miscount is
visible without re-deriving it:
> 📝 N unprocessed stashes (T total − P consolidated) — run `/remember` to fold them into memory.
No counter is stored — the count is derived each time, and running `/remember` updates
`.processed`, so the backlog drops on its own. Just emit the nudge; never run `/remember` automatically.
**When to use**
- Before long-running tasks that may trigger compaction
- When handing off work to another agent or session
- After completing major investigation or analysis
- Before taking a break from complex multi-step work
**Commands**
```bash
# Stash with auto-generated name
/stash
# Stash with custom name
/stash "feature-auth-investigation"
# List available stashes
ls .amp/stash/
# Restore from stash
cat .amp/stash/<name>.md
```
**Reference**
- Stashes stored in `.amp/stash/` (project-local)
- Automatically includes: timestamp, active plan, recent decisions
- Maximum context retention with minimal token usage
- When dispatched in the background, the "Stashed to X" confirmation and consolidation nudge
arrive as the subagent's completion notification rather than inline in the same turn
