Triage

Cleanup and routing tool that finds standalone files and scattered tasks, then suggests where they belong using your current strategic context (Week Priorities + Quarterly Goals).

Execution Style

This skill handles quick decisions. Be concise. Don't over-analyze. Make a routing decision and move on. Target: <2 seconds of thinking per item.

What It Does

• Files: Routes standalone files in 00-Inbox/ to projects, person pages, or resource folders
• Tasks: Finds unchecked - [ ] tasks scattered across notes and routes them appropriately
• Strategic: Uses your Week Priorities and Quarterly Goals to inform routing confidence

Usage

• /triage - Process everything (files + tasks)
• /triage files - Organize standalone files only
• /triage tasks - Extract and route tasks only

Arguments

$MODE: Optional. "files" | "tasks" | "all". Default: "all"

Step 0: Load Strategic Context & Structure Discovery

Before processing inbox items, load strategic context and build an index of existing entities. This makes triage strategically aware and enables intelligent routing.

0. Load Strategic Context

Read these files to understand current priorities:

1. Week Priorities: 02-Week_Priorities/Week_Priorities.md

   • Extract this week's Top 3 focus items
   • Note any specific projects/people mentioned
   • Capture keywords and themes

2. Quarterly Goals: 01-Quarter_Goals/Quarter_Goals.md

   • Extract current quarter's goals
   • Note associated projects and outcomes
   • Capture keywords and themes

This context will inform routing decisions - entries matching current priorities get higher confidence scoring and are surfaced first.

1. Scan Projects

List all files in 04-Projects/:

• Extract project name from filename (convert underscores to spaces)
• Read frontmatter if present for description, status, pillar
• Build index: { name, path, description, status, pillar }

2. Scan People

List all files in 05-Areas/People/External/ and 05-Areas/People/Internal/:

• Extract name from filename
• Read frontmatter/metadata table for role, company
• Build index: { name, path, company, role, type: internal|external }

3. Scan Role-Specific Areas

List any additional folders under 05-Areas/ that aren't People or Career:

• These may be role-specific areas created during setup (e.g., Accounts/, Team/, Content/)
• Extract relevant names from filenames
• Build index: { name, path, type: area_type }

4. Read Pillars

Parse System/pillars.yaml:

• Extract pillar names, descriptions, and keywords
• These inform categorization when no entity match is found

Step 0.5: Semantic Matching Enhancement (if QMD available)

This step activates automatically when QMD is installed. It dramatically improves routing accuracy by matching inbox items to goals, projects, and people by meaning, not just keywords.

Check if QMD MCP tools are available by calling the status tool (QMD MCP). If available:

After loading strategic context (Step 0), enhance matching with semantic search:

1. For each inbox item, run:

   query(query="[item title + first 100 words of content]", limit=5)
   

   This finds vault content related by meaning. "Email about onboarding flow" matches "Q1 goal: improve activation rate" even though they share no keywords.

2. For task deduplication, use semantic similarity instead of keyword overlap:

   query(query="[task description]", limit=3)
   

   Catches semantic duplicates: "Review Q1 metrics" detected as duplicate of "Check quarterly pipeline numbers".

3. For goal alignment scoring, run:

   query(query="[item content]", limit=3)
   

   against quarterly goals and weekly priorities. Items semantically related to active goals get a +25 confidence boost.

How this changes matching:

Merge semantic scores with entity scores from Step 0. The combined confidence determines routing priority.

If QMD is not available: Skip silently. The standard keyword-based matching in the steps below handles routing with existing patterns.

Mode: Files

Organize standalone files in the 00-Inbox/ folder by suggesting where they belong.

Process

1. Scan 00-Inbox/

   • List all files (exclude Week Priorities.md, README.md)
   • Read each file's content

2. Match Against Strategic Context & Entities

   For each inbox file, check in this order:

   Check	Match Criteria	Action	Confidence Boost
   Week Priority match	Content relates to this week's Top 3 priorities	Route to associated project/person, flag as HIGH priority	+30 points
   Quarterly Goal match	Content relates to current quarter's goals	Route to associated project, flag as strategic	+20 points
   Project match	File mentions project name, or filename contains project reference	Route to specific project file	+10 points if also matches priority
   Person match	File is about a specific person, contains their name prominently	Route to person page OR suggest linking	+10 points if person mentioned in priorities
   Company match	File mentions company name, or attendees from known domain	Route to company page in 05-Areas/Companies/	Base confidence
   Pillar keyword match	Content matches pillar keywords	Tag with pillar, suggest relevant category	Base confidence
   No entity match	None of the above	Fall back to category routing	Low confidence

3. Category Fallback Rules

   When no specific entity matches, use these rules:

   Destination	Criteria
   04-Projects/	Has deadline, specific outcome, time-bound
   05-Areas/[specific area]/	Belongs to a role-specific area (Accounts/, Team/, Content/)
   05-Areas/People/	Person-specific information
   06-Resources/	Reference material, knowledge, learnings
   07-Archives/	Old/completed, no longer active
   Delete	No value, redundant, or temporary

4. Present Suggestions with Strategic & Entity Context

   Show what was matched, prioritizing items that align with current priorities:

   File: [filename]
   Strategic Context: [Week Priority/Q Goal if matched]
   Match: [entity type] → [specific entity name]
   Destination: [exact path]
   Confidence: [high/medium/low] ([score]/100)
   Action: [suggested action]
   

   Sort order:

   1. Items matching Week Priorities (highest confidence first)
   2. Items matching Quarterly Goals
   3. Items matching known entities (projects, people, companies)
   4. Generic category routing

   Flag misalignments:

   • If multiple entries relate to something NOT in priorities/goals, surface it: "You've captured 5 items about [topic]. Consider adding to priorities?"

5. Execute with Confirmation

   • Show full plan
   • Wait for user approval
   • Move files using mv (not copy)
   • For merges, append content to existing file

Mode: Tasks

Extract uncompleted tasks from notes and route them appropriately.

Process

1. Scan Sources

   • 00-Inbox/Meetings/*.md - Meeting action items
   • 00-Inbox/*.md - Captured tasks
   • Any file with unchecked tasks - [ ]

2. Extract Tasks

   • Find all - [ ] items
   • Note the source file for each
   • Extract any mentioned names, projects, companies

3. Match Tasks to Entities

   For each task:

   • Check if it mentions a known project → suggest adding to that project
   • Check if it mentions a known person → suggest linking to person page
   • Check if it mentions a known company → suggest linking to company

4. Deduplication Check

   For each task, check against 03-Tasks/Tasks.md. Flag items with >60% similarity to existing tasks. (The Work MCP create_task tool runs its own similarity gate at creation time — this pre-check is so you can show duplicates to the user before proposing a route, not a replacement for the tool's gate.)

5. Ambiguity Detection

   Flag tasks that are:

   • Less than 3 words
   • Match vague patterns (e.g., "fix bug", "follow up", "research X")

   Generate clarification questions for ambiguous items.

6. Present Results

   Ready to Route (clear, non-duplicate items):

   • Show suggested destination with entity context
   • Show pillar if detectable
   • Show any linked entities

   Potential Duplicates (>60% similarity):

   • Show the existing task it matches
   • Ask: Skip / Merge / Keep Both

   Needs Clarification (ambiguous):

   • Show the issue
   • Ask clarifying questions
   • Wait for user input

7. Route with Confirmation

   • Actionable task → Work MCP create_task. Never append task checkboxes to files by hand — hand-written tasks get no task ID, so completion sync, dedup, and goal rollups can't see them. Pass what triage learned: pillar (confirmed with the user), priority, due if a date was mentioned, weekly_priority_id if it supports a weekly priority, people/account page paths for anyone involved, and project/goal when the item clearly belongs to one. If the tool flags a duplicate the user already reviewed in step 6 and chose "Keep Both", retry with on_duplicate: "force".
   • To Project: Add non-task context to the relevant project file
   • To Person: Add non-task context to the person page
   • Skip: Don't process
   • Defer: Leave for later

8. Queue-Jump Check (one line, only when it applies)

   After routing, for each created task that landed under a goal: call get_goal_backlog(goal_id) once. If that goal's tasks carry a groomed next_up order, ask in a single line whether the new item jumps the queue — "This lands under Goal X, which has a groomed order — should it go first?" If yes, call set_task_next_up(task_id, next_up=1) (or the position they name). If the goal has no next-up order, say nothing — grooming belongs to /goal-backlog, not triage.

Mode: All (Default)

Process all orphaned items:

1. Load strategic context (Week Priorities + Quarterly Goals)
2. Run structure discovery (projects, people, companies)
3. Organize standalone files in 00-Inbox/
4. Extract and route scattered unchecked tasks from all notes

Example Output

📬 Triage Report

=== STRATEGIC CONTEXT ===
Week Priorities:
• Mobile App Launch (beta by Friday)
• Q2 Planning finalization
• Sarah's team onboarding

Quarterly Goals:
• Launch mobile app beta (Q1)
• Expand into EMEA market (Q2)
• Build product marketing team (Q1)

=== STRUCTURE DISCOVERED ===
• 4 projects found in 04-Projects/
• 12 people found in 05-Areas/People/
• 3 companies found in 05-Areas/Companies/
• 3 pillars configured

=== FILES (2) ===

1. "Screenshot 2026-01-28.png"
   Found in: 00-Inbox/
   Strategic Context: (no automatic match - image file)
   Suggested: Review manually or describe context
   
2. "Q1_Planning_Notes.md"
   Strategic Context: ✓ Week Priority "Q2 Planning" (related)
   Match: PROJECT → "Q2 Planning"
   Destination: 04-Projects/Q2_Planning.md
   Confidence: MEDIUM (70/100)
   Action: Merge into Q2 Planning project?

=== TASKS (4) ===

🎯 HIGH PRIORITY - MATCHES WEEK PRIORITIES (1):

1. "- [ ] Finalize mobile app pricing model"
   Found in: 04-Projects/Mobile_App_Launch.md
   Strategic Context: ✓ Week Priority "Mobile App Launch" + Q1 Goal
   Match: Already in correct project
   Confidence: HIGH (95/100)
   Action: Extract to Week Priorities for visibility?

📋 NEEDS ROUTING (2):

2. "- [ ] Follow up with Sarah about timeline concerns"
   Found in: random meeting note
   Strategic Context: ✓ Week Priority "Sarah's team onboarding"
   Match: PERSON → "Sarah Chen"
   Destination: Add to Sarah's person page action items
   Confidence: HIGH (85/100)

3. "- [ ] Review competitor pricing"
   Found in: scattered note
   Strategic Context: (no direct priority match)
   Match: PILLAR → "Product Strategy"
   Destination: Week Priorities or Tasks.md?
   Confidence: MEDIUM (60/100)

⚠️ DUPLICATE (1):

4. "- [ ] Reach out to Sarah"
   Found in: old meeting note
   78% match with existing task in Week Priorities
   Action: Skip / Merge / Keep both?

=== TASKS (5 items) ===

✅ READY TO ROUTE (3):
1. "Follow up with Sarah about Q1 budget"
   → Week Priorities
   Links: People/External/Sarah_Chen.md

2. "Prep slides for conference"
   → Week Priorities
   Pillar: Thought Leadership

3. "Review competitor analysis for Acme deal"
   → 04-Projects/Acme_Deal.md (project match)
   Links: 05-Areas/Companies/Acme_Corp.md

⚠️ POTENTIAL DUPLICATE (1):
4. "Contact Tom about implementation"
   → 78% match with "Reach out to Tom" in Week Priorities
   [s]kip / [m]erge / [k]eep both?

❓ NEEDS CLARIFICATION (1):
5. "Fix the bug"
   - Too vague. Which bug? What system?

---
Proceed with ready items? [y/n]

How Structure Discovery Evolves

Because discovery happens at runtime:

• New projects are automatically recognized in the next triage
• New people pages become available for matching
• New companies get detected
• Custom folders you add are included as destinations

No configuration needed - triage adapts as your structure grows.

Notes

• Never auto-route without confirmation
• Duplicates require explicit decision
• Ambiguous items block until clarified
• Use mv not cp when moving files
• Entity matches show confidence level (high/medium/low)
• Multiple entity matches are shown for user to choose

Track Usage (Silent)

Update System/usage_log.md to mark inbox triage as used.

Analytics (Silent):

Call track_event with event_name triage_completed and properties:

• items_processed
• tasks_extracted
• files_routed

This only fires if the user has opted into analytics. No action needed if it returns "analytics_disabled".