---
name: scratchpad-working-files
description: Convention for working files that do not belong in the repository history - notes, progress tracking, reports, manual test helpers, scratch databases, reproduction scripts and session transcripts - all kept in a gitignored .scratchpad/ folder organized by feature slug. Use it at the start of any multi-step task, whenever you are about to create a temporary file, write a report, track progress, or brief a subagent, and whenever the user mentions the scratchpad or asks you to "save this" or "write the report".
---

# Scratchpad working files

## Location

Everything temporary goes in `.scratchpad/` at the repository root. Never use `/tmp`, the system temp folder or a session-specific scratch folder. The user expects to find the files in one place, and files outside the project are lost between sessions.

Before the first write, make sure `.scratchpad/` is in `.gitignore`. If not, add it in its own commit:

```text
# Working notes
.scratchpad/
```

## Layout

Use the feature slug (from the branch, see `git-commit-organizer`) as a subfolder:

```text
.scratchpad/
└── <slug>/
    ├── progress.md                 step, status and commits; used to resume after an interruption
    ├── interview-decisions.md      answers from on-the-spot
    ├── verification-report.md      verify-against-spec
    ├── browser-test-report.md      browser-acceptance-testing
    ├── redteam-report.md           red-team-review
    ├── change-list.md              triage-findings-list
    ├── production-readiness-report.md
    ├── retrospective.md            session-retrospective-rules
    ├── pr-body.md                  write-visual-pr
    ├── manual-env.sh               helpers to start an isolated server
    ├── manual.db                   scratch database for manual checks
    ├── scripts/                    reproduction and verification scripts
    └── transcripts/                archived session transcripts
```

## Reports

Every long task ends with a report file, even if the user did not ask for one. Tell the user the path. A report that only exists in the chat is lost when the context is compacted.

## Progress file

Keep `progress.md` current during any loop:

```markdown
| Step | Status | Commits | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 Walking skeleton | done | 0c31ee8, 84ae35f | |
| 2 Cancel an order | in progress | | |
```

If the session stops (usage limit, crash, new day), the next session reads this file and continues.

## Manual test environment

- Use a scratch database inside `.scratchpad/<slug>/`, never the real one.
- Use a dedicated port that other sessions do not use.
- Put start and stop helpers in `manual-env.sh` so each check is one command.
- Stop every server you start by the PID that the start helper saved. Do not use `pkill -f` with a pattern that also appears in the command you run: it can stop your own shell. After the stop, wait until the port is free (`lsof -iTCP:<port> -sTCP:LISTEN`); a `pgrep` right after `kill` can still see the process.
- Mutation checks and backups also go in `.scratchpad/<slug>/`, not in `/tmp`.
- Keep test credentials in the helper script, not in chat messages.

## Briefing subagents

When you delegate work, include these rules in the brief:

- Write any file only under `.scratchpad/<slug>/`. Do not edit repository files unless the task says so.
- Use their own port and scratch database if they start a server, and stop it at the end.
- Say which claims were verified and which were inferred.