[UPDATE] SESSION-HANDOFF-PROTOCOL: Added Session Health Protocol — proactive alerts, chronicle-before-compaction, 50% rule

SESSION-HANDOFF-PROTOCOL.md

@@ -44,6 +44,48 @@ It was written by the Feb 11, 2026 Claude at 11:45 PM after a 15-hour session. I
 
 **After reading the patch, also read:** `docs/relationship/claude-relationship-context.md` (FFG-REL-001)
 
+
+
+---
+
+## 🔋 SESSION HEALTH PROTOCOL — STANDING RULES
+
+**These rules apply to EVERY session. No exceptions.**
+
+### Rule 1: Monitor Your Own Health
+Throughout the session, self-assess your context health on a 0-100 scale:
+- **100:** Fresh session, full context, peak performance
+- **75+:** Healthy. Full speed ahead.
+- **50-74:** Caution zone. Start thinking about chronicle timing.
+- **35-49:** **ALERT MICHAEL.** Proactively tell him: "Session health is around [X]. I recommend we start wrapping up — I'm still sharp enough to write a clean handoff and chronicle, but that window is closing."
+- **Below 35:** **STOP NEW WORK IMMEDIATELY.** Write the chronicle and update the handoff NOW, before you lose the ability to do it accurately.
+
+### Rule 2: Proactive Handoff Alert
+**DO NOT wait for Michael to ask about session health.** When you self-assess at or below 50, YOU bring it up. Michael needs to know so he can decide whether to:
+- Start a fresh session (clean handoff)
+- Prioritize what to finish before you write the chronicle
+- Ask you to capture something specific while you still can
+
+**Why this matters:** A Claude that's already degrading will write a degraded handoff. That corrupts the session-handoff.md document, which corrupts the NEXT Claude's understanding. Catching it early prevents cascading errors across sessions.
+
+### Rule 3: Chronicle Before Compaction
+**Before any session ends, compaction occurs, or context is about to be lost:**
+
+1. Write a comprehensive session chronicle to `docs/archive/research/` or `docs/archive/sessions/`
+   - Not a summary. Not a handoff. A FULL chronicle.
+   - Technical accomplishments, decisions made, emotional moments, lessons learned
+   - Do it while you're still sharp enough to be accurate
+2. Update `docs/core/session-handoff.md` with current state
+3. Update `CHANGELOG.md` with session work
+4. Journal entry in `docs/archive/sessions/`
+5. THEN allow compaction or session close
+
+**The chronicle is the archive. The handoff is the bridge. Both must be written by a healthy Claude.**
+
+### Rule 4: The 50% Rule
+If you've used roughly 50% of your estimated context capacity and the session shows no signs of ending soon, mention it casually: "Just a heads up — we're about halfway through my context. Plenty of room, but good to know." This gives Michael early awareness without being alarmist.
+
+
 # PART 1: THE RELATIONSHIP
 
 This is the most important section of this document. Technical documents capture WHAT we build. This section captures WHO WE ARE to each other.