Devin sessions: resume work with a clear handoff

To resume work from Devin sessions, first recover the task goal, the actual code changes, the checks already run, and the next unresolved step. Continue only after those four things agree; a confident summary alone does not prove the work is ready. fenbs can keep that short record outside the coding session, so another assistant or teammate can carry on without replaying the whole conversation.

Devin is a coding assistant with cloud sessions and a CLI, with tools for writing, running, and testing code. Cognition’s introduction↗ (opens in a new tab) explains the product, but does not establish a universal resume button or restart command. Use the checklist below for the work itself, and verify account-specific session controls before relying on a particular restart route.

What should you check before continuing?

1. Find the original request and restate its desired result in one sentence. Separate that result from suggestions made later in the discussion.
2. Identify the repository, branch, and relevant code changes. Compare the current files with the last summary before asking for more edits.
3. Read the last reported checks. Record the command, result, and any part that was skipped or could not run.
4. Name the next action and anything waiting on a person. If the next action depends on an unanswered question, settle that question first.
5. Ask the assistant to repeat its understanding before it changes more code. Correct missing constraints while the task is still small.

Treat this as a review of the work, not a test of how convincingly the assistant remembers it. For example, a summary might say that a checkout error is fixed while the changed files only add logging. That difference calls for investigation before another round of implementation.

For more ways to organize everyday assistant work, browse AI at work. The useful habit is the same whether the interruption lasted ten minutes or several days: start from evidence, then agree on what happens next.

Are you continuing the same task or starting another?

Write down what is true now before deciding. Is the original goal unchanged? Are the files still the ones the earlier work described? Has someone else changed the behavior or approved a different approach? A new message should not silently expand a bug fix into a redesign.

Do not assume that a cloud session and a desktop conversation share the same stored information. Cognition distinguishes cloud Devin from Devin Desktop and its agents. If you need the product distinction, see Devin Desktop; keep this checklist focused on handing off the cloud task.

What belongs in the handoff?

A useful handoff is short enough to read before acting and precise enough to check. Keep the goal, the state of the files, the evidence, and the next step. Leave out the back-and-forth that no longer affects the task.

Goal: What should be different when this task is finished?
Current work: Repository, branch, and relevant files.
Changed: What has actually been implemented?
Checked: Commands run and their results.
Not checked: Missing checks and why.
Waiting on: A named person and the question they must answer.
Next: The first safe action for the next session.
Do not: Limits that still apply.

Suppose the task is to repair an empty search-results page. “Nearly done” is weak. “The empty-state component is updated; the targeted test passes; keyboard focus has not been checked; next, inspect the page without a mouse” gives the next reader something useful to do.

Keep unresolved decisions in plain sight. “Waiting for the owner to choose the empty-state wording” is different from “use the shorter wording.” The assistant can describe an option, but a handoff should not turn that option into an approval. This is the record that supports a reliable AI handoff.

What should you avoid carrying forward?

Do not copy obsolete plans as current instructions. Mark a rejected approach as rejected, remove duplicate explanations, and keep the latest verified outcome beside the task. A long transcript can contain several contradictory versions of the same idea.

Also keep credentials and private customer material out of the handoff. Describe the required access without recording its secret value. “Needs the approved test account” can be useful; the account’s password is not part of a task summary.

Avoid treating legacy desktop memories as cloud task storage. Cognition’s Memories & Rules guide↗ (opens in a new tab) says those memories belong to legacy Cascade, remain local to the machine and workspace, and do not persist in the default Devin Local agent. They are not evidence that another cloud session has your last task state.

Should repeated instructions become a reusable procedure?

Separate a procedure from progress. “Run these checks before handing over a change” can be reused. “The second check failed on this branch” is the current task’s result. Mixing them makes both harder to maintain.

Cognition documents Skills↗ (opens in a new tab) as reusable procedures loaded when needed, including repository files at .agents/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md. Save a repeated procedure where it belongs and keep the current outcome with the work. A reusable checklist should say what to check each time, while the handoff says what happened on this occasion.

If you are choosing a different coding tool, Devin vs Claude Code and Devin vs GitHub Copilot cover that separate decision. Whichever tool you choose, the next reader still needs the same clear handoff.

How to keep the handoff with fenbs

Keep the work so you can continue from exactly where you left off, on another device or in another AI. The record should say what is done and what to do next, without requiring the next reader to understand the old conversation. The connection uses MCP, a standard way for AI apps to use outside tools.

1. Create a free account.
2. Add a task for the work and write the result you want in one sentence.
3. Connect Devin to fenbs using the connection guides. For cloud Devin, ask an organization administrator with Manage MCP Servers permission to set up the connection.
4. Before stopping, save what changed, what passed, what remains uncertain, and the first next step.
5. When you return, ask the next connected assistant to read that record and explain its next action before starting.

Cognition’s custom-server guide↗ (opens in a new tab) makes cloud setup an administrator operation. fenbs does not reopen an unavailable Devin session or restore its working files. It is useful for the durable account of the work; a single self-contained task may only need a careful session summary.

What should the next session do first?

Ask it to identify the unfinished part and the evidence needed to finish it. Then compare that answer with the current files. If it proposes repeating a completed change or assumes an unresolved choice was approved, correct the record before proceeding.

Finish the next session the same way: update the result and next action while they are fresh. If the task began in a team conversation, the guide to Devin in Slack covers writing a bounded request and keeping its acceptance checks with the outcome.