Old work can carry temporary conditions that no longer belong in the current release.
The practical check
Treat a resumed branch as a fresh change with its own context, dependencies, and risk review.
Where AI fits
AI can compare a dormant branch with its base and flag temporary settings, stale assumptions, and behavior changes.
The human decision
People decide whether the work is safe to resume, split, or discard.
The lesson
Time away from a branch creates new release questions that memory alone cannot answer.
The related Build Log compares a resumed branch against its base for the temporary settings it brought forward.
AI Skills
Use this lesson with the AI assistant you already use
Use this to prepare a reviewable next step without changing any system.
Paste the prompt, share only the context needed to answer it, and treat the result as a draft for your review. Do not include confidential information or let an AI assistant make changes without your approval.
Optional: for a visual report and saved memory, run /dxdev first.
Don’t have it? Get it at dxdev.com/skills/dxdev. The prompt works without it.
dxdev LESSON · paste into your AI agent
LESSON: Review a dormant work branch
WHAT TO SHARE:
A de-identified description of the work, current evidence, and the decision you are considering.
ASK YOUR AGENT TO:
1. Separate confirmed facts from assumptions and unanswered questions.
2. Treat a resumed branch as a fresh change with its own context, dependencies, and risk review.
3. Identify the narrowest useful next review step.
RETURN:
A short table with the evidence, uncertainty, human-owned decision, and next action.
BOUNDARY: Do not change records, contact anyone, route work, publish content, or act in an external system. A person must review the evidence and approve every consequential step.
