Skills › Knowledge Work Plugins › inbox-manager › handoffs.md

handoffs.md

77 lines · small-business/skills/inbox-manager/reference/handoffs.md at 2574e29

Names a skill

Most marks come from matching words in the file, so treat them as pointers.

1# Handoffs

3The inbox is where most business events first appear. A bill, a new lead, a scheduling request, and a customer complaint all arrive as email before they exist anywhere else. That makes this skill the trigger surface for the rest of the plugin.

5**Every handoff gets a line in the digest.** An item that disappears into another skill without being mentioned reads to the owner as a lost email, and one of those undoes a week of trust.

7---

Handoffs

The inbox is where most business events first appear. A bill, a new lead, a scheduling request, and a customer complaint all arrive as email before they exist anywhere else. That makes this skill the trigger surface for the rest of the plugin.

Every handoff gets a line in the digest. An item that disappears into another skill without being mentioned reads to the owner as a lost email, and one of those undoes a week of trust.

Raw lines 1 to 8

9## What goes where

11| What arrived | Goes to | What that skill does with it |

12|---|---|---|

13| Vendor bill, invoice, statement, receipt over the owner's threshold | `ap-processor` | Extracts line items, codes them, stages the entry, and proposes a payment run for separate approval |

14| Web form notification, inbound inquiry, "do you handle…" from a stranger | `speed-to-lead` | Qualifies, writes the instant reply with real meeting times, flags hot ones for a human |

15| Meeting request, calendar back-and-forth, agenda for something already booked | stays in this skill — no handoff | The scheduling reply is drafted here, per `reply_drafting.md`, with any calendar conflict named |

16| Customer replying about an overdue invoice | `invoice-chase` | Owns the collection thread and the payment arrangement |

17| Contract, NDA, MSA, or agreement attached | `contract-review` | Flags non-standard terms and produces a redline |

19Anything that does not match stays here and gets triaged normally.

21**A handed-off inquiry is still draft-only.** `speed-to-lead` never sends on its own either; a reply that starts life in this inbox waits for the owner's yes like every other draft here. The handoff moves the qualifying work, not the send permission.

23**Nor does a scheduling thread ever leave the owner's hands.** This skill drafts the reply; it never books, accepts, or declines anything. Say the reply is drafted and waiting.

25---

What goes where

What arrived	Goes to	What that skill does with it
Vendor bill, invoice, statement, receipt over the owner's threshold	`ap-processor`	Extracts line items, codes them, stages the entry, and proposes a payment run for separate approval
Web form notification, inbound inquiry, "do you handle…" from a stranger	`speed-to-lead`	Qualifies, writes the instant reply with real meeting times, flags hot ones for a human
Meeting request, calendar back-and-forth, agenda for something already booked	stays in this skill — no handoff	The scheduling reply is drafted here, per `reply_drafting.md`, with any calendar conflict named
Customer replying about an overdue invoice	`invoice-chase`	Owns the collection thread and the payment arrangement
Contract, NDA, MSA, or agreement attached	`contract-review`	Flags non-standard terms and produces a redline

Anything that does not match stays here and gets triaged normally.

A handed-off inquiry is still draft-only. speed-to-lead never sends on its own either; a reply that starts life in this inbox waits for the owner's yes like every other draft here. The handoff moves the qualifying work, not the send permission.

Nor does a scheduling thread ever leave the owner's hands. This skill drafts the reply; it never books, accepts, or declines anything. Say the reply is drafted and waiting.

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Names a skill ap-processor :13

Names a skill speed-to-lead :14

Names a skill invoice-chase :16

Names a skill contract-review :17

27## How to spot each one

29**A bill, not a receipt.** A bill asks for money that has not moved yet: an invoice number, a due date, an amount owed, payment instructions. A receipt confirms money that already moved. Receipts are handled and filed; bills go to `ap-processor`. Getting this backwards means a bill sits in the archive until it goes past due.

31**A real inquiry, not a sales pitch.** An inquiry describes their own problem and asks whether the owner can help. A pitch describes the sender's product. Pitches are handled and never surfaced. When it is genuinely ambiguous, treat it as an inquiry — the cost of one wasted qualification is far below the cost of one missed customer.

33**A scheduling thread, not a mention of a date.** "Can we do Thursday at 2" is scheduling. "We finished Thursday" is not.

35---

How to spot each one

A bill, not a receipt. A bill asks for money that has not moved yet: an invoice number, a due date, an amount owed, payment instructions. A receipt confirms money that already moved. Receipts are handled and filed; bills go to ap-processor. Getting this backwards means a bill sits in the archive until it goes past due.

A real inquiry, not a sales pitch. An inquiry describes their own problem and asks whether the owner can help. A pitch describes the sender's product. Pitches are handled and never surfaced. When it is genuinely ambiguous, treat it as an inquiry — the cost of one wasted qualification is far below the cost of one missed customer.

A scheduling thread, not a mention of a date. "Can we do Thursday at 2" is scheduling. "We finished Thursday" is not.

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Names a skill ap-processor :29

37## What to pass along

39Hand over the whole thread, not a summary. The receiving skill needs the attachment, the sender's address, the full history, and the timestamps. A summary loses the invoice PDF, which is the only part `ap-processor` actually needs.

41**In pasted mode, hand over the full pasted text exactly as the owner gave it**, and say plainly that the attachment is not there:

43```

44Ferguson bill → ap-processor. I only have the pasted text, not the PDF, so

45the line items will have to come from what's below or from the file itself.

46```

48Also pass what you already know, so the work is not repeated:

50- Which bucket you had put it in

51- Any deadline or amount you extracted

52- Whether anyone at the business already replied

54---

What to pass along

Hand over the whole thread, not a summary. The receiving skill needs the attachment, the sender's address, the full history, and the timestamps. A summary loses the invoice PDF, which is the only part ap-processor actually needs.

In pasted mode, hand over the full pasted text exactly as the owner gave it, and say plainly that the attachment is not there:

Ferguson bill → ap-processor. I only have the pasted text, not the PDF, so
the line items will have to come from what's below or from the file itself.

Also pass what you already know, so the work is not repeated:

Which bucket you had put it in
Any deadline or amount you extracted
Whether anyone at the business already replied

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Names a skill ap-processor :39

56## When the receiving skill is not installed

58Say so by name and keep the item. Do not drop it and do not pretend it was handled.

60```

612 vendor bills came in (Ferguson USD 1,847, Sid Harvey USD 612). ap-processor isn't

62installed, so I've left them in "needs you" with the due dates pulled out.

63```

65The owner can then decide whether to install it or handle the bills by hand. Either way nothing is lost, which is the promise this skill is making.

67---

When the receiving skill is not installed

Say so by name and keep the item. Do not drop it and do not pretend it was handled.

2 vendor bills came in (Ferguson USD 1,847, Sid Harvey USD 612). ap-processor isn't
installed, so I've left them in "needs you" with the due dates pulled out.

The owner can then decide whether to install it or handle the bills by hand. Either way nothing is lost, which is the promise this skill is making.

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69## Worked example — Okonkwo Mechanical

71Ray's Tuesday triage produced three handoffs:

73- **Ferguson Enterprises invoice #88214, USD 1,847, net 30, due Aug 12** → `ap-processor`. Full PDF attached, coded nothing yet.

74- **Sid Harvey statement, USD 612** → `ap-processor`. Statement, not an invoice, so flagged for Ray to confirm it matches the two bills already paid.

75- **Web form — Alamo Heights homeowner, "AC not cooling upstairs"** → `speed-to-lead`. Arrived 11:40 pm, unanswered, so it is the oldest thing in the queue by response-time.

77All three appeared in the digest under "handed off," with one line each. Ray knows where they went.

Worked example — Okonkwo Mechanical

Ray's Tuesday triage produced three handoffs:

Ferguson Enterprises invoice #88214, USD 1,847, net 30, due Aug 12 → ap-processor. Full PDF attached, coded nothing yet.
Sid Harvey statement, USD 612 → ap-processor. Statement, not an invoice, so flagged for Ray to confirm it matches the two bills already paid.
Web form — Alamo Heights homeowner, "AC not cooling upstairs" → speed-to-lead. Arrived 11:40 pm, unanswered, so it is the oldest thing in the queue by response-time.

All three appeared in the digest under "handed off," with one line each. Ray knows where they went.

Raw lines 69 to 77

Names a skill ap-processor :73

Names a skill speed-to-lead :75