How do I install the Overcast Timeline skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add kdr/overcast-timeline in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Overcast Timeline safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Overcast Timeline?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Overcast Timeline free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Overcast Timeline?

kdr (@kdr) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Overcast Timeline by kdr — Agent Skill

Name: Overcast Timeline
Author: kdr

File contents

overcast-timeline

Use this skill to "walk through what happened" across several recordings of one event (bystander videos, multiple cameras, a sequence of clips): build one ordered, cited timeline and flag where accounts disagree. Use the broad overcast skill and overcast/reference/verbs.md for exact flags.

Workflow

Sense every clip — watch for the visual timeline, listen where audio carries the account:

overcast doctor --json
overcast case init --json
overcast watch ./cam1.mp4 --json
overcast watch ./phone-clip.mp4 --json
overcast listen ./phone-clip.mp4 --json

Cross-anchor shared moments with span notes — a visible clock, a shared sound, a lighting change lets you line clips up on one timeline:

overcast note "wall clock reads 21:14 as the door opens" --ref <cam1-record-id> --at 12-15 --tag anchor --json
overcast note "same doorbell chime as cam1@13 — clips overlap here" --ref <phone-record-id> --at 3-6 --tag anchor --json

Corroborate and contradict across clips. File a conflict finding ONLY when the answer actually reports a disagreement — don't invent one every run; if the accounts agree, record that and skip the finding:

overcast ask "order the events across all clips with timestamps; where do accounts agree or conflict? cite record.id + media.at" --json
# only if the answer reports a real conflict:
overcast finding create "conflict: cam1 shows the car arriving BEFORE the shout; phone-clip audio has the shout first" --ref <cam1-record-id> --at 12-15 --confidence low --json

Produce the chronological deliverable, and always leave a tldr note first:

overcast note "reconstructed <n> clips into one timeline; <k> firm anchors; <c> unresolved conflicts" --tag tldr --json
# Wait for the note result before exporting, so the TL;DR is included.
overcast brief --export ./timeline.html --json

Output

One ordered chronology of the event, each entry cited to a record.id + media.at, the anchor moments that let clips be aligned, and an explicit list of unresolved contradictions. Where clips can't be ordered relative to each other, say so rather than guessing.

Caveats

Device clocks and upload times drift — prefer content anchors (a shared sound, a visible clock, a synchronized event) over file timestamps when aligning clips. Absence of a moment in one clip is not evidence it didn't happen — it may be off-frame. Keep observed facts (in note) separate from inferred ordering; a contradiction is a finding to review, not a settled conclusion.

---name: overcast-timelinedescription: Reconstruct a single event from multiple clips — sense each one, cross-anchor shared moments, surface corroborations and contradictions, and produce one cited chronological brief.---# overcast-timelineUse this skill to "walk through what happened" across several recordings of oneevent (bystander videos, multiple cameras, a sequence of clips): build one ordered,cited timeline and flag where accounts disagree. Use the broad `overcast` skill and`overcast/reference/verbs.md` for exact flags.## Workflow1. Sense every clip — `watch` for the visual timeline, `listen` where audio carries the account:```bashovercast doctor --jsonovercast case init --jsonovercast watch ./cam1.mp4 --jsonovercast watch ./phone-clip.mp4 --jsonovercast listen ./phone-clip.mp4 --json```2. Cross-anchor shared moments with span notes — a visible clock, a shared sound, a lighting change lets you line clips up on one timeline:```bashovercast note "wall clock reads 21:14 as the door opens" --ref <cam1-record-id> --at 12-15 --tag anchor --jsonovercast note "same doorbell chime as cam1@13 — clips overlap here" --ref <phone-record-id> --at 3-6 --tag anchor --json```3. Corroborate and contradict across clips. File a conflict finding ONLY when the answer actually reports a disagreement — don't invent one every run; if the accounts agree, record that and skip the finding:```bashovercast ask "order the events across all clips with timestamps; where do accounts agree or conflict? cite record.id + media.at" --json# only if the answer reports a real conflict:overcast finding create "conflict: cam1 shows the car arriving BEFORE the shout; phone-clip audio has the shout first" --ref <cam1-record-id> --at 12-15 --confidence low --json```4. Produce the chronological deliverable, and always leave a `tldr` note first:```bashovercast note "reconstructed <n> clips into one timeline; <k> firm anchors; <c> unresolved conflicts" --tag tldr --json# Wait for the note result before exporting, so the TL;DR is included.overcast brief --export ./timeline.html --json```## OutputOne ordered chronology of the event, each entry cited to a `record.id` + `media.at`,the anchor moments that let clips be aligned, and an explicit list of unresolvedcontradictions. Where clips can't be ordered relative to each other, say so ratherthan guessing.## CaveatsDevice clocks and upload times drift — prefer content anchors (a shared sound, avisible clock, a synchronized event) over file timestamps when aligning clips.Absence of a moment in one clip is not evidence it didn't happen — it may beoff-frame. Keep observed facts (in `note`) separate from inferred ordering; acontradiction is a finding to review, not a settled conclusion.

Frequently asked questions

Overcast Timeline