update
The facts
Its description
Sync tasks and refresh memory from your current activity. Use when pulling new assignments from your project tracker into TASKS.md, triaging stale or overdue tasks, filling memory gaps for unknown people or projects, or running a comprehensive scan to catch todos buried in chat and email.
The description the agent reads to decide when to use it.
When it starts
The agent picks this skill when someone wants their task list and memory brought up to date — pulling new assignments from a project tracker into TASKS.md, triaging stale or overdue tasks, filling in context for unknown people or projects, or running a deeper scan of chat and email for todos that were never captured.
Things a person might say (the model's guesses)
- “Sync my tasks from Linear into TASKS.md”
- “My task list is stale — help me triage what's overdue”
- “Scan my chat and email for anything I said I'd do but never tracked”
A model's summary of when it is used.
What it takes when started
[--comprehensive]
What to type after its name when you start it.
What it leads to
Other skills this one hands off to, calls, requires or offers instead, as a model read them.
What leads to it
- start hands off to this start, line 39
Other skills that hand off to this one, call it, require it or offer it instead, as a model read them.
Licence
Apache-2.0, from productivity/LICENSE
The terms its author shares it under, which let it be shown here.
The text
Most marks come from matching words in the file, so treat them as pointers.
Update Command
If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see CONNECTORS.md.
Keep your task list and memory current. Two modes:
- Default: Sync tasks from external tools, triage stale items, check memory for gaps
- **
--comprehensive:** Deep scan chat, email, calendar, docs — flag missed todos and suggest new memories
Default Mode
Raw lines 23 to 241. Load Current State
Read TASKS.md and memory/ directory. If they don't exist, suggest /productivity:start first.
2. Sync Tasks from External Sources
Check for available task sources:
- Project tracker (e.g. Asana, Linear, Jira) (if MCP available)
- GitHub Issues (if in a repo):
gh issue list --assignee=@me
If no sources are available, skip to Step 3.
Fetch tasks assigned to the user (open/in-progress). Compare against TASKS.md:
| External task | TASKS.md match? | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Found, not in TASKS.md | No match | Offer to add |
| Found, already in TASKS.md | Match by title (fuzzy) | Skip |
| In TASKS.md, not in external | No match | Flag as potentially stale |
| Completed externally | In Active section | Offer to mark done |
Present diff and let user decide what to add/complete.
Raw lines 29 to 473. Triage Stale Items
Review Active tasks in TASKS.md and flag:
- Tasks with due dates in the past
- Tasks in Active for 30+ days
- Tasks with no context (no person, no project)
Present each for triage: Mark done? Reschedule? Move to Someday?
Raw lines 48 to 564. Decode Tasks for Memory Gaps
For each task, attempt to decode all entities (people, projects, acronyms, tools, links):
Task: "Send PSR to Todd re: Phoenix blockers"
Decode:
- PSR → ✓ Pipeline Status Report (in glossary)
- Todd → ✓ Todd Martinez (in people/)
- Phoenix → ? Not in memoryTrack what's fully decoded vs. what has gaps.
Raw lines 57 to 715. Fill Gaps
Present unknown terms grouped:
I found terms in your tasks I don't have context for:
1. "Phoenix" (from: "Send PSR to Todd re: Phoenix blockers")
→ What's Phoenix?
2. "Maya" (from: "sync with Maya on API design")
→ Who is Maya?Add answers to the appropriate memory files (people/, projects/, glossary.md).
Raw lines 72 to 866. Capture Enrichment
Tasks often contain richer context than memory. Extract and update:
- Links from tasks → add to project/people files
- Status changes ("launch done") → update project status, demote from CLAUDE.md
- Relationships ("Todd's sign-off on Maya's proposal") → cross-reference people
- Deadlines → add to project files
7. Report
Update complete:
- Tasks: +3 from project tracker (e.g. Asana), 1 completed, 2 triaged
- Memory: 2 gaps filled, 1 project enriched
- All tasks decoded ✓Comprehensive Mode (--comprehensive)
Everything in Default Mode, plus a deep scan of recent activity.
Raw lines 104 to 107Extra Step: Scan Activity Sources
Gather data from available MCP sources:
- Chat: Search recent messages, read active channels
- Email: Search sent messages
- Documents: List recently touched docs
- Calendar: List recent + upcoming events
Extra Step: Flag Missed Todos
Compare activity against TASKS.md. Surface action items that aren't tracked:
## Possible Missing Tasks
From your activity, these look like todos you haven't captured:
1. From chat (Jan 18):
"I'll send the updated mockups by Friday"
→ Add to TASKS.md?
2. From meeting "Phoenix Standup" (Jan 17):
You have a recurring meeting but no Phoenix tasks active
→ Anything needed here?
3. From email (Jan 16):
"I'll review the API spec this week"
→ Add to TASKS.md?Let user pick which to add.
Raw lines 116 to 139Extra Step: Suggest New Memories
Surface new entities not in memory:
## New People (not in memory)
| Name | Frequency | Context |
|------|-----------|---------|
| Maya Rodriguez | 12 mentions | design, UI reviews |
| Alex K | 8 mentions | DMs about API |
## New Projects/Topics
| Name | Frequency | Context |
|------|-----------|---------|
| Starlight | 15 mentions | planning docs, product |
## Suggested Cleanup
- **Horizon project** — No mentions in 30 days. Mark completed?Present grouped by confidence. High-confidence items offered to add directly; low-confidence items asked about.
Raw lines 140 to 161Notes
- Never auto-add tasks or memories without user confirmation
- External source links are preserved when available
- Fuzzy matching on task titles handles minor wording differences
- Safe to run frequently — only updates when there's new info
--comprehensivealways runs interactively
From anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins at 2574e29, 2026-10-27. Skills read by DeepSeek V4.1 Flash on 2026-11-04. Summary and techniques by Claude Opus 5.5 on 2026-11-06.