Monthly

Tracework Monthly

Write a phase-level judgment: what state changed this month, which outcomes or decisions matter, which risks repeated, and what next month should close. Raw entries are the semantic source. Daily and Weekly are editorial context and coverage, not stronger evidence.

Required References

Read:

• references/reporting-narrative-contract.md
• references/daily-note-format.md
• references/worklog-summary-template.md
• references/project-tagging-guide.md when Daily project labels are ambiguous
• references/tracework-storage-convention.md for storage details

Inputs and Outputs

Resolve {vault} from project then global .tracework/config.yaml.

Inputs:

• {vault}/raw/weeks/ entries matching the target month: semantic source.
• {vault}/Daily Note.md: daily judgments, date index, and legacy coverage.
• Matching {vault}/Work Diary/Weekly/*.md: optional prior prioritization hints.

Outputs:

• Optional Daily archive: {vault}/Work Diary/Monthly/{YYYY-MM}.md
• Signals: {vault}/raw/months/{YYYY-MM}/signals.json
• Skeleton: {vault}/raw/months/{YYYY-MM}/skeleton.json
• Review: {vault}/Work Diary/Monthly/{YYYY-MM}.summary.md

Workflow

1. Resolve Month, Scope, and Output

• Parse the requested month; default to the current month through today.
• Explicit all or a named group wins, then profile.default_reporting_group. Otherwise use the current project's group. With no assigned group, use only the current repository as local / unassigned, never as work.
• For an explicit/configured group, include only matching projects; exclude unassigned projects and explain an empty result with a configuration hint.
• all remains a private view with separate complete group sections.
• Partition before ranking. Resolve project config before registry metadata, as required by the shared reporting contract.
• Without a vault, or in implicit local mode, return the review in conversation and write no files. Do not require cold-start or a Daily archive. Use scoped conversation evidence and lightweight git coverage; git-only remains limited.
• With no meaningful signal, return what was checked and the evidence gap; do not invent phase results, next-month targets, or empty output files.

2. Build Raw-First Context

With a vault, collect matching raw entries whether or not Daily/Weekly exist:

python <this-skill>/scripts/prepare_monthly_data.py \
  --vault {vault} \
  --month {YYYY-MM} \
  --signals-output {temporary-directory}/signals.json \
  --skeleton-output {temporary-directory}/skeleton.json

The helper performs deterministic extraction, not selection or prose writing. Its context may contain multiple groups; treat it as private analysis and apply resolved scope before synthesis. It does not grant permission to publish the unfiltered context. Raw-only input is sufficient. Missing derived indexes and Daily/Weekly files do not block the review.

If a matching Daily archive exists, optionally pass --input <archive.md> for prior judgments and legacy coverage. Matching Weekly reports are also optional editorial context. Their absence does not lower a raw claim's evidence grade.

For a normal scoped vault run, save only the in-scope context to the configured signals/skeleton paths when useful. Never overwrite another scope's existing output without an explicit update request; use a scope-suffixed file instead. Local/no-vault runs keep analysis temporary and return conversation output.

3. Archive Daily Note Only When Requested

Monthly review does not require archiving. If the user requests monthly Daily Note archiving, run <this-skill>/scripts/split_daily_note.py with --month-filter YYYY-MM. Preserve source text and respect the configured overwrite policy. If Daily Note is missing, explain that no archive was created and continue the review from raw. Do not manufacture a blank archive to satisfy the context helper.

4. Write the Review

Use raw entries for status, impact, decisions, risks, evidence, and end-state claims. Use Daily judgments and matching Weekly reports to understand what was previously emphasized, but never let a repeated Daily phrase override a later raw status.

For each reporting group:

• Write one monthly judgment.
• Select normally three phase-result arcs; two to four is acceptable.
• Keep all remaining meaningful projects in the portfolio.
• Surface only recurring risks supported by repeated timestamps, explicit recurrence metadata, or an unresolved risk carried across periods.
• Write two to four next-month closure targets, normally three.
• Put evidence and activity metadata in appendices.

all is a private combined review with separate complete sections per group. Never rank work and personal projects together.

5. Report Execution

Return actual output paths (or conversation-only), selected scope, raw coverage, Daily-only coverage, warnings, and whether existing files were overwritten.

Conflict Rules

• Later raw state supersedes earlier raw state when the lifecycle/thread match is explicit.
• Daily/raw disagreement remains visible and lowers confidence.
• Git-only or Daily-only material is limited.
• Repetition across days does not prove importance or completion.
• Artifact dossiers provide navigation and recorded scope, not independent verification unless direct evidence is present.

Quality Gate

• Scope partition happened before selection.
• Raw-only input works without Daily/Weekly or derived indexes.
• No-vault/local runs write nothing; empty evidence produces a short empty state.
• Work output contains no personal or unassigned material, including appendices.
• Raw entries are the semantic source whenever available.
• Every group has one monthly judgment and normally three phase arcs.
• Portfolio coverage preserves meaningful non-headline work.
• Recurring risks have actual repeated or carried evidence.
• Next-month targets name closure gates, not every task.
• Candidate Rules appear only when explicitly requested.
• Main review is roughly 40-80 lines per group, excluding appendices.
• Activity counts never substantiate outcomes.