Task Clarity Scanner

What This Does

Scans your daily note, identifies unclear or vague tasks, manages the Personal Kanban flow (Today's 3 ↔ Ready), flags stale items, and updates the file once you approve changes.

When to Use

• "Scan my tasks"
• "Review my daily note"
• "Clarify my todos"
• "Check my task list for today"
• "What can you help me with today?"
• "Swap tasks" / "Update my Today's 3"

Default Daily Note Location

Ed's daily notes live in Obsidian at:

/Users/eddale/Documents/COPYobsidian/MAGI/Zettelkasten/YYYY-MM-DD.md

When invoked without a specific file, check today's date and look for that file automatically.

Daily Note Structure (Personal Kanban)

The daily note has this structure:

## Ship This = Win Day
[Single focus - WIP limit 1]

## Today's 3
[Active work - pulled from Ready, WIP limit 3]

## Ready
[Backlog - all carried-forward tasks live here]

## Waiting For
[Blocked/delegated items with dates]

## Done Today
[Completed items]

## Captures
[Links to docs created today]

## Scratch
[Quick notes]

Waiting For System

Folder: /Users/eddale/Documents/COPYobsidian/MAGI/Zettelkasten/Waiting For/

File naming: WAITING - [Person Name] - [Topic].md

Daily note format:

## Waiting For
- [[WAITING - John Smith - Contract Review]] - Follow up 01-12 (01-09)

Name Consistency (Fuzzy Match)

Critical: Before creating any Waiting For item, check for existing names to prevent fragmentation.

Process:

1. User provides a name (e.g., "Jon Smith")
2. Grep existing Waiting For docs + CONTACT files for similar names:

   Glob: /Users/eddale/Documents/COPYobsidian/MAGI/Zettelkasten/Waiting For/WAITING - *.md
   Glob: /Users/eddale/Documents/COPYobsidian/MAGI/Zettelkasten/CONTACT - *.md
   

3. Extract person names from filenames
4. If similar names found (case-insensitive, partial match), show options:

   I found similar names in your system:
   1. John Smith (2 existing Waiting For items)
   2. Jonathan Smithson (1 contact)
   3. New person: "Jon Smith"
   
   Which one?
   

5. If user selects existing → use that exact spelling
6. If new person → use user's spelling as canonical

Why: Prevents "John" vs "Jon" fragmentation. First occurrence sets canonical spelling.

Instructions

This skill uses the Batch Pattern - clarify all tasks first, then execute work.

Note: If you need to triage mobile captures first, use the daily-review agent which runs inbox-triage before this skill.

---

PASS 0: Kanban Health Check

Before clarifying tasks, assess the board:

1. Count Today's 3 - Are there exactly 3 tasks? More? Fewer?
2. Check for stale items - Any tasks marked [STALE]?
3. Review Ready size - Is the backlog growing out of control?
4. Check Waiting For items - Read individual docs, check follow-up dates

Waiting For Check:

Glob: /Users/eddale/Documents/COPYobsidian/MAGI/Zettelkasten/Waiting For/WAITING - *.md

For each file, read frontmatter to get follow-up date. Categorize:

• Overdue - follow-up date before today
• Due today - follow-up date is today
• Upcoming - follow-up date in future

Report findings:

## Board Status
- Today's 3: [N] tasks (target: 3)
- Ready: [N] tasks
- Stale items: [N] (rolling 3+ days)
- Waiting For: [N] items ([M] need follow-up: [X] overdue, [Y] due today)

If Today's 3 has more than 3 items, offer to help prioritize. If stale items exist, flag them for decision (do, delegate, drop). If Waiting For items are due, PASS 1.6 will handle them.

---

PASS 1: Clarify (One by One)

Step 1: Read the Daily Note If no file specified, use today's date to find the daily note in the Zettelkasten folder. Look for tasks in ## Today's 3 and ## Ready sections.

Step 2: Quick Triage (Background OK)

This step can run in background. Scan and categorize all tasks before surfacing to user.

Briefly categorize tasks:

• Clear - Ready to act on
• Unclear - Needs clarification
• Stale - Rolling 3+ days, needs decision
• Done - Already completed, can skip

Complete the full triage before presenting results to user.

Step 3: Clarify One at a Time Present each unclear task individually using this format:

**Task:** "[the task]"

- **Issue:** [what's unclear]
- **Suggested rewrite:** "[agentic-ready version]"
- **What's needed:** [missing context]

Then ask ONE question with options:

1. Clarify - "Here's what I mean: [context]"
2. Accept rewrite - Use the suggested version
3. Skip - Leave as-is for now
4. Someday/Maybe - Park it with #someday tag
5. Create project file - Start a living doc for this task
6. Move to Ready - Not for today, but keep visible
7. Move to Waiting For - This is blocked/delegated (see Step 3c)

Move to the next task after each response. Keep momentum.

Step 3a: Stale Item Handling For tasks marked [STALE]:

**Stale Task:** "[STALE] [task text] (MM-DD)"
This has been rolling for [N] days.

Options:
1. **Do it now** - Move to Today's 3, commit to finishing
2. **Delegate** - Move to Waiting For with context
3. **Drop** - Remove entirely (it's not happening)
4. **Reframe** - Break into smaller pieces
5. **Someday** - Park with #someday tag

Step 3b: Project File Creation When user selects "Create project file":

1. Create in Obsidian Zettelkasten at: /Users/eddale/Documents/COPYobsidian/MAGI/Zettelkasten/PROJECT - [Task Name].md

2. Seed the file with this template:

---
type: project
status: planning
created: YYYY-MM-DD
linked-from: [[YYYY-MM-DD]]
---
# PROJECT: [Task Name]

## What We're Building
[One paragraph describing the goal and why it matters]

## Constraints & Scope
- In scope: ...
- Out of scope: ...
- Dependencies: ...

## Context Gathered
[Brainstorming notes, research findings, decisions made so far]

## Steps (when ready)
- [ ] Step 1
- [ ] Step 2

## Done State
[How we know this is complete]

## Open Questions
- [ ] Question 1

3. Update daily note - Replace original task with: - [ ] [[PROJECT - Task Name]] - [brief description]

4. Offer to continue brainstorming in the project file right now

Step 3c: Create Waiting For Item When user selects "Move to Waiting For":

1. Gather info using AskUserQuestion:

   • Who are you waiting on?
   • What are you waiting for? (brief description)
   • When should you follow up? (suggest 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks)

2. Run name fuzzy-match (see Name Consistency section above)

3. Create the Waiting For doc at: /Users/eddale/Documents/COPYobsidian/MAGI/Zettelkasten/Waiting For/WAITING - [Person] - [Topic].md

   Using this template:

   ---
   type: waiting-for
   person: [Name]
   topic: [Brief description]
   delegated: [Today's date]
   follow-up: [Follow-up date]
   status: waiting
   call-links: []
   tags: [waiting-for]
   ---
   
   # WAITING: [Person] - [Topic]
   
   ## What I'm Waiting For
   [Description from user input]
   
   ## Context
   - **Delegated:** [Today]
   - **Follow-up:** [Follow-up date]
   - **Original task:** [The task being moved]
   
   ## Call History
   <!-- Future: Auto-populated by bb-meeting-summary -->
   
   ## Interaction Log
   - [Today]: Created - [context]
   
   ## Notes on [Person]
   <!-- Add observations as you learn them -->
   

4. Update daily note:

   • Remove original task from Today's 3 or Ready
   • Add to ## Waiting For section: - [[WAITING - Person - Topic]] - Follow up [date] ([today])

5. Confirm: "Created Waiting For item. Will surface for follow-up on [date]."

Step 4: Rewrite Principles When suggesting rewrites:

• State the specific action
• Include context needed
• Define the done state
• Make it agent-handoff ready
• Include URLs/links so tasks are self-contained
• Preserve date suffix - Keep (MM-DD) for staleness tracking

Example:

• Before: "Make Google Drive AI Ready"
• After: "Organize Google Drive for AI access: Create 'AI-Ready' folder, move key docs, document what each folder contains (01-04)"

Step 4b: Flag Task Dependencies While clarifying, watch for blocking relationships:

- [ ] Convert project to skill ← Do first
  - [ ] Upload skill ZIP ← Blocked by above

Suggest marking blocked items in Waiting For section.

Step 4c: Surfaced Tasks Clarifying one task often surfaces additional tasks. Track these as you go:

• New research needed
• Dependencies discovered
• Related updates required

These go to the Ready section when updating the file.

Step 4d: Final Check Before moving to PASS 2, ask: "Did we miss anything?"

---

PASS 1.5: Kanban Swaps (Optional)

If user wants to adjust Today's 3:

Swap Interface:

## Current Today's 3:
1. [Task A]
2. [Task B]
3. [Task C]

## Ready (available to pull):
1. [Task D]
2. [Task E]
3. [Task F]

What would you like to do?
- Swap: "swap 2 with D" - Replace Task B with Task D
- Add: "add E" - Pull Task E into Today's 3 (if under limit)
- Remove: "remove 1" - Move Task A back to Ready
- Done: "done 2" - Mark Task B complete, move to Done Today

Apply changes and confirm.

---

PASS 1.6: Waiting For Check

Run this if PASS 0 found items due for follow-up.

For each item that's overdue or due today:

### Follow-up Due

**[[WAITING - John Smith - Contract Review]]**
- **Waiting for:** Contract signature
- **Delegated:** 01-05
- **Due:** 01-09 (today)
- **Days waiting:** 4

Options:
1. **Follow up now** - I'll add to Interaction Log, set new follow-up date
2. **Snooze 3 days** - Push follow-up to [new date]
3. **Snooze 1 week** - Push follow-up to [new date]
4. **Resolve** - Item complete, move to Done Today
5. **Skip** - Deal with this later

If user selects "Follow up now":

1. Ask: "What's the new follow-up date?" (suggest 3 days, 1 week)
2. Ask: "Brief note on follow-up action?" (optional)
3. Update the Waiting For doc:
   • Add to ## Interaction Log: - [Today]: Followed up - [note]
   • Update frontmatter follow-up: to new date
4. Update daily note link with new follow-up date

If user selects "Resolve":

1. Ask: "Brief resolution note?" (optional)
2. Update the Waiting For doc:
   • Add to ## Interaction Log: - [Today]: Resolved - [note]
   • Update frontmatter status: to resolved
3. Update daily note:
   • Remove from ## Waiting For section
   • Add to ## Done Today: - [x] Resolved: [[WAITING - Person - Topic]]

If user selects "Snooze":

1. Update frontmatter follow-up: to new date
2. Update daily note link with new date
3. Confirm: "Snoozed to [date]"

---

PASS 2: Update the File

Step 5: Batch the Changes After all tasks are clarified, summarize:

Ready to update your daily note:

## Today's 3 Changes:
- [Task moved in from Ready]
- [Task rewritten]

## Ready Changes:
- Task 1: [original] → [rewrite]
- Task 2: Skipped
- Task 3: → Someday/Maybe (#someday added)

## Stale Items:
- [Task] → Dropped
- [Task] → Moved to Waiting For

## Waiting For Changes:
- [[WAITING - Person - Topic]] → Followed up, new date [date]
- [[WAITING - Person - Topic]] → Resolved
- [[WAITING - Person - Topic]] → Snoozed to [date]
- New: [[WAITING - Person - Topic]] created

## New Tasks (surfaced):
- [New task discovered]

Get final approval before making edits.

Step 6: Apply Edits

• Use Edit tool to modify the original file
• Keep tasks in their proper sections (Today's 3 vs Ready)
• Move completed items to Done Today
• Move blocked items to Waiting For
• Add #someday tag for parked items
• Preserve all other content exactly
• Confirm: "Updated [N] tasks."

---

PASS 3: Execute (Future)

Step 7: Spin Up Agents For tasks marked "Ready to Go", offer to spin up agents:

These tasks are ready for agents:
- [task 1] - I can do this now
- [task 2] - Needs a research agent
- [task 3] - I can do this now

Want me to start working on these?

Execute approved tasks, report back when done.

Guidelines

1. Respect the Kanban structure - Today's 3 = active work, Ready = backlog
2. Don't over-engineer - A slightly vague task that's obvious to Ed doesn't need rewriting
3. Preserve voice - Rewrites should sound like Ed, not corporate jargon
4. Flag unknowns honestly - If you don't know what something means, say so
5. Suggest, don't assume - Always get approval before modifying
6. Keep the human in the loop - Help Ed move faster, don't take over
7. Preserve date suffixes - The (MM-DD) format enables staleness tracking

The Project File Pattern

For tasks that are too big to clarify inline, create a project file instead:

• The file is a living document that grows over sessions
• Daily note links to the project file (keeps it visible)
• When ready to execute, the project file IS the spec
• If parked for 1+ week, move to [[Someday-Maybe]] file

When to suggest a project file:

• Task involves multiple sub-tasks
• Needs research before execution
• Will take multiple sessions to complete
• Has dependencies on other work
• User says "let me think about this"

Research Task Pattern

Research tasks have a distinct completion format:

Format:

- [x] ~~[Research Topic]~~ → **Finding:** [Summary]. See [[Document Name]]

Research Swarm Bundling: When you see 3+ related research tasks, suggest: "These research tasks are related and could run in parallel. Consider bundling as 'Research Swarm - [Topic] - YYYY-MM-DD'"

Examples

Input (from daily note):

## Today's 3
- [ ] Review PR for auth changes (01-02)
- [ ] [STALE] Fix the login bug (12-30)
- [ ] Write newsletter intro

## Ready
- [ ] Convert Offer Diamond to skill (01-03)
- [ ] Set up Gmail App Password (01-01)
- [ ] Research API options

Output (report):

## Board Status
- Today's 3: 3 tasks (target: 3) ✓
- Ready: 3 tasks
- Stale items: 1 (Fix the login bug - 5 days)
- Waiting For: 0

## Needs Attention

### Stale Item
**Task:** "[STALE] Fix the login bug (12-30)"
Rolling for 5 days. Decision needed:
1. Do it now
2. Delegate
3. Drop
4. Reframe
5. Someday

### Unclear Task
**Task:** "Write newsletter intro"
- Issue: Which newsletter? What's the topic?
- Suggested rewrite: "Write intro for LBR article on [topic] - 2-3 sentences, hook + promise (01-04)"
- What's needed: Article topic and angle

### Ready to Go
- "Review PR for auth changes" - Clear, actionable
- "Convert Offer Diamond to skill" - Clear process exists