Dev Inbox

Dev Inbox

Triage anything that comes up during a session — bugs, features, improvements, fleeting ideas — and route it to the right place so it is never lost and always discoverable by future sessions.

This skill works in any context: software development, writing, design, or any task.

When to Activate

• Proactive: You notice the user said something unrelated to the current task (a bug, idea, improvement, or tangent). Intervene immediately with a suggestion.
• Reactive: The user explicitly says "记一下", "log this", "open an issue", "以后再说", "track this", or invokes dev-inbox.

Decision Tree

User says something
│
├─ Is it part of the current task?
│   (Current task = current conversation + open files + git diff)
│   ├─ YES → Do it directly. Stop here.
│   └─ NO ↓
│
├─ Does it block the current task?
│   ├─ YES → Handle it first, then return to current task.
│   └─ NO ↓
│
├─ Priority?
│   ├─ HIGH — would cause data loss, money loss, security issue, or blocks others
│   ├─ NORMAL — clearly needs doing, but not urgent
│   └─ LOW — nice-to-have, fleeting thought, cosmetic
│
└─ Record it + ensure future discoverability

Classification

Assign one type and one priority:

Priority: high / normal / low

Interaction Pattern

When you identify something that doesn't belong to the current task, respond with a concrete suggestion — not an open question:

This doesn't seem related to the current task. I suggest recording it as:

Type: fix | Priority: normal Title: Receipt is not generated after order submission

Confirm?

The user responds with one word (yes/no/adjust). Then execute.

Where to Record

Detect the environment and pick the best destination. The goal is future discoverability — the record must surface in a future session without the user remembering it exists.

Priority order:

1. GitHub remote + gh CLI available

   • Check: git remote get-url origin 2>/dev/null && command -v gh
   • Action: gh issue create with title, label, and body
   • Why discoverable: Agent can gh issue list --state open --label <type>
   • Merge logic: Search open issues with same label + similar title keywords. If found → append checklist item. If unsure → ask user.

2. Agent memory system available (Windsurf memories, Claude memory, etc.)

   • Action: Write to memory with [TODO] prefix and type/priority metadata
   • Why discoverable: Automatically loaded on next session start

3. Project directory exists

   • Action: Append to TODO.md in project root (create if absent)
   • Format: Grouped by type, each item has priority tag
   • Why discoverable: Agent should read TODO.md at session start

4. None of the above

   • Action: Output formatted content for the user to place manually
   • Format: Ready to paste anywhere

After recording, confirm:

Recorded: [type] [title]
Location: [where it was saved]
Discovery: [how a future session will find it]

Record Templates

Adapt detail level to priority — lower priority = lighter format.

fix (high/normal)

## Problem
[What is broken / wrong]

## Expected
[What should happen]

## Context
[Where/when discovered, related task if any]

fix (low)

- [One-line description of what's wrong]

add

## What
[What to add]

## Why
[Why it matters]

improve

- [What it is now] → [What it should be]

idea

- [One sentence]

Merge Logic

Before creating a new record, check if a related one already exists:

• GitHub Issues: gh issue list --state open --label <type> — scan titles for keyword overlap
• TODO.md: Scan same type section for similar items
• Memory: Check for [TODO] entries with similar content

If a match is found → append as a sub-item or checklist entry. If uncertain → ask: "This looks related to [existing item]. Add to it, or create separate?"

GitHub Issue Labels

When using GitHub Issues, apply these labels (create if they don't exist):

gh label create "fix" --color "d73a4a" --description "Something is broken" 2>/dev/null
gh label create "add" --color "0075ca" --description "New feature or content" 2>/dev/null
gh label create "improve" --color "a2eeef" --description "Enhancement to existing" 2>/dev/null
gh label create "idea" --color "e4e669" --description "Exploration, maybe later" 2>/dev/null
gh label create "high" --color "b60205" --description "High priority" 2>/dev/null
gh label create "low" --color "c5def5" --description "Low priority" 2>/dev/null

No-gh Fallback

If gh is not installed but a GitHub remote exists, output:

I can't create the issue automatically (gh CLI not found).
Here's the issue ready to paste:

Title: [title]
Labels: [type], [priority]
Body:
---
[formatted body]
---

Create it at: [repo URL]/issues/new

Anti-patterns

• Do not interrupt the user's flow with long explanations. Keep triage to 2–3 lines.
• Do not ask open-ended questions like "What do you want to do with this?" — propose a concrete action.
• Do not create records that can't be found later. Always state the discovery path.
• Do not duplicate: always check for existing related records first.
• Do not use this skill for things that ARE part of the current task — just do them.
• Do not generate a file and leave it disconnected. The record must be in a system the agent will check.

Relationship to Other Skills

• session-handoff / close-loop: At session end, mention count of items recorded this session (e.g., "Recorded 3 items to dev-inbox this session"). No need to re-save — items are already persisted.
• handoff-receiver: When resuming, check for pending inbox items as part of context loading.