Today

/today — Morning Heartbeat

A daily check-in that catches staleness, surfaces deadlines, and proposes updates — including gaps left by sessions that closed without /end. Designed to run in under 60 seconds.

Invocation: user-only (disable-model-invocation: true) — the heartbeat is timed by you (mornings, or after a gap), and the flag keeps this skill out of ambient context.

Configuration

Read the optional workspace.yaml at the project root. Below, <state_dir>, <sessions_dir>, and <task_file> are its resolved values; defaults are state/, sessions/, and TODO.md. Staleness thresholds come from staleness.current_days (3), weekly_days (5), blockers_days (7). Full reference: docs/state-model.md.

Instructions

1. Establish context. Get today's date. Read <state_dir>/heartbeat-log.md to find the last check-in date.

2. Scan recent activity. In a git repository, run:

   git log --oneline --since="3 days ago"
   

   Then check <sessions_dir> for recent logs. This captures work even from sessions that closed without /end. Outside a git repository, rely on the session logs alone.

3. Check state freshness. Same thresholds as start step 4 (staleness.* from config).

4. Surface deadlines. Read <task_file> and scan for:

   • Items with dates in the next 7 days
   • Items marked urgent or time-sensitive

5. Age-check open items. Read <state_dir>/current.md and check the *(created M/D)* dates on open threads:

   • Items >7 days old: flag as "stale — still relevant?"
   • Items >14 days old: escalate as "likely stale — remove or convert to task?" Present proposals. Do not auto-update.

6. Identify memory gaps. Compare git-log activity against state files:

   • Decisions committed but not in <state_dir>/decisions.md?
   • Completed work not reflected in <state_dir>/current.md? List proposed updates. Do not auto-update. Wait for approval.

7. Output format:

   MORNING CHECK-IN — [DATE] ([day of week])
   Last heartbeat: [date] ([N] days ago)
   
   SINCE LAST CHECK-IN:
   - [N] commits: [brief themes]
   - Session logs: [found/none]
   
   STATE:
   - current.md — [fresh/N days stale]
   - weekly-priorities.md — [fresh/N days stale]
   - blockers.md — [fresh/N days stale]
   
   DEADLINES (next 7 days):
   - [items, most urgent first]
   
   [If stale items found:]
   STALE ITEMS:
   - [item] — [N] days old. [Propose: remove / convert to task]
   
   [If memory gaps found:]
   MEMORY GAPS:
   - [proposed update]
   

8. Log the heartbeat. Append to <state_dir>/heartbeat-log.md:

   ## [DATE]
   - Commits since last: [N]
   - State staleness: [summary]
   - Deadlines flagged: [count]
   - Stale items flagged: [count]
   - Memory gaps found: [count]
   - Updates applied: [list or "none — awaiting response"]
   

9. Transition. Ask: "What's the focus today?"

Design principles

• Fast. Under 60 seconds. If it's slow, it won't get used.
• Propose, don't act. Never silently edit state or write memory during the heartbeat.
• Skip what's clean. All fresh and no near deadlines → say so in one line.
• Graceful degradation. A session that closed without /end is caught here; missing files are noted, not fatal.