Add git pull before planning work to session start flow

Projects are now worked on from multiple machines and by container
agents, so local state can be behind the remote. Pull with --ff-only
on project entry and warn if it fails.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

CLAUDE.md

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
    Do **not** run shell commands to list directories — the tree is already in your context. Include a brief description if the project has a CLAUDE.md or README.md you can glean one from.
 
 2. Based on the user's choice:
-   - **Existing project**: `cd` into the directory, read all `.md` files, and read `~/dev/claude/secrets/` (read-only reference — review every file to refresh context). Then read `BESTPRACTICES.md` (loaded automatically by `context-load`) and load any topic files relevant to the selected project's technology stack. Ask clarifying questions if anything is unclear or incomplete, and note context in MEMORY.md.
+   - **Existing project**: `cd` into the directory. **Pull the latest from the remote** (`git pull --ff-only`) before reading any files — work may have been pushed from another machine or agent. If the pull fails (diverged history, uncommitted changes), warn the user and ask how to proceed. Then read all `.md` files, and read `~/dev/claude/secrets/` (read-only reference — review every file to refresh context). Then read `BESTPRACTICES.md` (loaded automatically by `context-load`) and load any topic files relevant to the selected project's technology stack. Ask clarifying questions if anything is unclear or incomplete, and note context in MEMORY.md.
    - **No project right now**: Do nothing further — just respond normally.
    - **New project!**: Follow the "New Projects" section below. Also read `~/dev/claude/secrets/` as above. Read `BESTPRACTICES.md` (loaded automatically by `context-load`) and load topic files relevant to the new project's technology stack.
 
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ If this is a new project:
 - Git remote URLs use the alias: `git@gitea.oreillyit.nz-<user>:<org>/<repo>.git`
   - Example: `git@gitea.oreillyit.nz-ai-enablement:skynet/custom-claude-skills.git`
 - Optionally push-mirror to GitHub for public visibility
+- **Always pull before planning work** — run `git pull --ff-only` when entering a project. Work may have been pushed from another machine or by container agents. If the pull fails, warn the user before proceeding.
 - Use meaningful commit messages; prefer small, focused commits over large batches
 - Enable pre-commit hooks where appropriate (secret detection, linting, formatting)
 - Never commit secrets in plaintext — use SOPS + age or equivalent encryption
@@ -279,6 +280,20 @@ These are hard-won lessons from real project work:
 - **Automate repeated sequences.** If you run the same 3+ commands in sequence more than once, it should become a script.
 - **Reflect after milestones.** Don't just finish — review what happened, what went wrong, what can be improved. Write it down so future sessions benefit.
 
+## Agent Runtimes Control Plane
+
+When submitting tasks to the agent-runtimes control plane (locally via Docker Compose or in K8s), always recommend the user run the **agent-monitor** in a separate terminal to track progress:
+
+```bash
+# In a second terminal — filter to your project and recent activity
+~/dev/claude/projects/agent-runtimes/scripts/agent-monitor --filter "project=<project-name>" --filter "age<20m"
+```
+
+This gives a live view of task states, durations, and time since last status change. Adjust the `age` filter to suit the session — `20m` is a good default for active work, `1h` for longer-running tasks.
+
+For full control plane usage (submitting tasks, checking logs, cancelling, common workflows), see:
+**`~/dev/claude/projects/agent-runtimes/readme/control-plane-operations.md`**
+
 ## Status Line
 
 A persistent bar at the bottom of Claude Code shows the current topic, model, and context usage: `[Model Name] topic | N% context`.