# where-were-we: re-ground a stale chat

Reconstructs what a thread was for, checks which items are still open against current state, names who owns each, gives the single next step.

From the [Skills I've built](../index.md#skills) section of [The Muse Field Guide](../index.md).

## What it does

A re-grounding ritual for a stale chat: reconstruct what the thread was for, verify which of its items are still open against current state, name who owns each one, and give the single next step. It exists because long-running chats drift, and returning to one cold used to cost a full re-read.

## Trigger

Typing /www (short form) in any side chat, or asking where a thread left off.

## What you need

- A chat with history worth recovering.
- Live sources the open items can be checked against, so the answer is verified, not remembered.

## Setup sketch

The ritual is the skill: treat old context as a claim, not a fact, until it is re-verified; then report open items, owners, and exactly one next step.

Deep dive: [Grow your own skills](../deep-dives/skills.md)

Related resources: [One side chat per topic](one-chat-per-topic.md), [baton-pass: hand a chat to a successor](baton-pass.md), [sidechat-tidy: sweep and rename every chat](sidechat-tidy.md)

Canonical page: https://www.niclydon.io/muse/items/where-were-we.html