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Lesson 6 of 7 · HQ fundamentals

Resume, Hand Off, and Collaborate on a Project

Start a session for your company, turn a rough idea into a saved brainstorm, wrap up with a handoff, and let a teammate pick it up on their own computer.

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Written path
7 steps

Before You Begin

  1. HQ is installed and your company shows up in your HQ folder.

  2. Your teammate has joined the company (see Lesson 5).

  3. HQ is running on both computers, so sync is on.

Step-by-step walkthrough

  1. Step 1: Learn the session habit

    Most work in HQ follows the same loop. Start with /startwork so HQ loads the right context, do the work, then finish with /handoff so it’s all saved for next time. You don’t have to, but it keeps your projects organized and easy to pick back up.

    Expected

    You know the three parts: /startwork, the work, and /handoff.

  2. Step 2: Start a session for your company

    Open Claude Code or Codex in your HQ folder and run /startwork with the company you’re working in.

    CommandType exactly as shown
     /startwork awesomeco
    Expected

    HQ loads your company, its projects, and recent work.

  3. Step 3: Describe the project and brainstorm

    Describe the project in plain language. When HQ offers ways to start, pick the brainstorm while the idea is still rough.

    PromptSend in your AI session
     I want to create a new project called lead generation, where we automate the process of managing our leads.
 Choose the brainstorm option
    Expected

    HQ writes a brainstorm with context, what’s known, open questions, and possible approaches, and saves a checkpoint when it’s done.

  4. Step 4: Wrap up with /handoff

    Key step

    When you’re ready to stop, run /handoff instead of just closing the window.

    CommandType exactly as shown
     /handoff
    Expected

    HQ saves where you left off and gives you a thread ID, so you or a teammate can pick it right back up.

  5. Step 5: Check the saved project files

    In HQ Desktop, open the project’s channel and check its Files tab. You can also click the folder icon to see the same files in Finder.

    Expected

    The project has a brainstorm.md file and a journal of your session.

  6. Step 6: Pick it up from your teammate’s computer

    On their computer, your teammate starts a session for the same company and project, then asks HQ to catch them up. For example: “A teammate asked me to pick up the lead generation project. Please update me.”

    CommandType exactly as shown
     /startwork awesomeco lead-generation
    Expected

    HQ finds the lead generation project from your session.

  7. Step 7: Check that your teammate is caught up

    Once /startwork finishes, check that the summary includes the brainstorm from earlier.

    Expected

    Your teammate sees the brainstorm and open questions, and they’re working in the same project.

You’re done when

Your session saved a brainstorm and a journal, and your teammate’s new session picked up the same project.

Hit a snag? Here’s the fix.

My teammate’s /startwork can’t find the project

Give sync a minute, then have them run /hq-sync and try again. Check that you’re both in the same company and that they signed in with the email that’s a member.

I closed the window without running /handoff

Files HQ already wrote, like the brainstorm, are still in the project folder. Open a new session, run /startwork with the same company and project, and run /handoff before you stop this time.

/startwork found more than one project

Use more of the project name, or pick the right one from the list HQ shows you.

Something else going on? The HQ knowledge base walks through the most common fixes, or reach out and we’ll help you get unstuck.