How to Resume a Project and Catch Up

Estimated time: 2 minutes
Difficulty: Beginner

Why you'd use this

Work is interrupted: you close VS Code mid-build, come back the next day, or pick up a colleague's branch. Because the plan and task list are stored in the project's memory folder rather than in the chat, the assistant can re-read them and carry on from the first unfinished task. If everything is done, it summarises the state and waits for you.

Before you start

Permissions required:

• None.

You'll need:

• A project with a .project-ai/ folder containing tasks.md from an earlier Plan Mode run.

Steps

1. Open the project and the chat panel.
2. Press / and choose Resume / catch up, run eLLM: Resume / Catch Up, or simply type catch up in the composer and press Enter. The words "pick up", "carry on" and "resume" work too.
3. A "Catching up" note appears while memory, the plan and the task list are read.
4. If unfinished tasks remain, Plan Mode is re-entered with the checklist preloaded and the build continues from the first unchecked item. Review cards or leave Auto-apply on as before.
5. If every task is ticked, a summary of the project state is shown and the assistant waits for your next instruction.

What you should see

The plan banner and task panel reappear with the earlier ticks intact. The original request from the plan is carried along, so the assistant is not working from the file list alone.

Troubleshooting

• "Nothing to resume": there is no task list in memory. Start a new Plan Mode run instead.
• The task list is stale: edit .project-ai/tasks.md by hand, tick or remove items, then run catch up again.

Related guides

• How to Plan and Build a Feature with Plan Mode
• How to Set Up and Maintain Project Memory