●═══════════●═══════════●═══════════●
       ╱│╲         ╱│╲         ╱│╲         ╱│╲
      ╱ │ ╲       ╱ │ ╲       ╱ │ ╲       ╱ │ ╲
     Session    Session    Session    Session
        1          2          3          N
        │          │          │          │
        └────┬─────┴────┬─────┴────┬─────┘
             │          │          │
             ▼          ▼          ▼
    ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════╗
    ║  ┌─────────────┐  ┌──────────────────┐   ║
    ║  │progress.txt │  │  features.json   │   ║
    ║  │ git history │  │     init.sh      │   ║
    ║  └─────────────┘  └──────────────────┘   ║
    ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════╝
           Artifacts enable re-entry into
             the hermeneutic circle
research

Agent Continuity: Harnesses for Long-Running Sessions

When context exhausts, agents experience Unzuhandenheit—the tool becomes conspicuous, workflow breaks. This research analyzes Anthropic's patterns for long-running agents (progress files, structured feature lists, session protocols) and maps them to CREATE SOMETHING's existing architecture, identifying opportunities for adoption.

December 8, 2025
8 min read
advanced

Layer model

Continuity survives when the session leaves artifacts behind.

Progress files, feature lists, and protocols let an agent re-enter the work after context changes.

Session

Context starts and eventually exhausts.

Artifact

Progress and state are externalized.

Re-entry

The next session resumes the circle.

Continuity

Understanding persists across boundaries.

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  AGENT CONTINUITY                                                ║
║                                                                  ║
║  Session 1        Session 2        Session 3        Session N    ║
║  ┌────────┐       ┌────────┐       ┌────────┐       ┌────────┐   ║
║  │ Agent  │  ──►  │ Agent  │  ──►  │ Agent  │  ──►  │ Agent  │   ║
║  └───┬────┘       └───┬────┘       └───┬────┘       └───┬────┘   ║
║      │                │                │                │        ║
║      ▼                ▼                ▼                ▼        ║
║  ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗   ║
║  ║  progress.txt  │  features.json  │  git log  │  init.sh   ║   ║
║  ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝   ║
║                                                                  ║
║  "Artifacts enable re-entry into the hermeneutic circle"         ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Source

The Problem

Long-running agents lose context across sessions. Each new context window is"an engineer arriving with no memory of what happened."

When context exhausts, agents experience what Heidegger callsUnzuhandenheit—
the tool becomes conspicuous, workflow breaks. The hammer that was invisible during hammering
suddenly demands attention because it has broken.

Core Patterns

Failure Modes & Solutions

Hermeneutic Frame

The harness doesn'tsolvecontinuity—itenables re-entry into the
hermeneutic circle. Each session is a new interpreter. The artifacts
(progress files, git history, feature lists) are the shared understanding that
allows interpretation to continue.

"Understanding is always already situated. The harness creates the situation."
— — Heidegger, applied

Integration with CREATE SOMETHING

  • ✓CLAUDE.md as initialization context

  • ✓.claude/memory/for domain knowledge

  • ✓TodoWrite for task tracking

  • ✓Atomic git commits

  • ○Explicit session startup sequence (could be a hook)

  • ○Structured feature JSON for complex multi-session work

  • ○Browser automation prompting for E2E testing

Through the Subtractive Triad

Key Insight

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