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Build your all-in-one personal operating system — the hands-on companion to everything you're learning in College of Knowledge.
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Live Sprint · Starts
Put Your Knowledge Base to Work
Build a knowledge system that actually shows up when you need it — organised by AI, integrated into your workflows, and surfacing insights on autopilot.
Chief of Staff Setup Checklist
Step-by-step setup companion for building your AI Chief of Staff — everything you need ticked off and configured.
More coming soon
New modules will appear here as they're released — courses, sprints, and tools to level up your knowledge work.
Knowledge Sprint
Put Your Knowledge Base to Work
Stop saving things you never look at again. By the end of this sprint, your knowledge base will be surfacing the right ideas at the right time — without you having to go looking.
Ready to get started?
Hit the button to kick off the sprint.
Before you start
- Watch the workshop replay if you haven't already
- You'll need a paid AI tool — Claude Pro/Max, ChatGPT Plus, or similar
- ~30 minutes per step, at your own pace
Sprint complete!
You've built a working knowledge system. Your copilot is running, signals are flowing, and your knowledge base is actually working for you.
By the end of this week, you'll have a knowledge hub set up, your recent captures gathered in one place, and frictionless pathways to keep things flowing in.
Identify your outcome
First things first — let's talk about WHY you are here. If you don't understand your why, this will just become another system that you never use. The why is probably the most important part of this whole sprint.
So to work this out, think about the last few things you saved. Why did you save them (beyond "I thought this might be interesting one day")?
Pick 1–2 outcomes that feel true right now:
Grow as a professional
Personal growth
Improve how I work
Strategic direction
Work through challenges
Build a toolkit
Teach & share better
Write them down — they'll come up again later.
Set up your Knowledge Hub
Before we go saving anything else, or bringing AI into the mix, we want to build a place where all of this knowledge can live. One central home that makes it easy to capture things and easy for your AI copilot to access.
- If you're already using Tana, install the Knowledge Hub template from Tana Fast Track.
- If you're using another tool like Notion or Obsidian, you only need to think about two kinds of notes: Spark Notes and Collections.
Not using Tana? Give your AI this prompt to help you set it up:
Prompt
I'm building a knowledge hub in [Notion/Obsidian/etc]. I need two things: a place for spark notes (individual captures — highlights, ideas, quotes, observations) and a place for collections (named topics that group related sparks together, like "Leadership" or "AI Workflows"). Sparks need to be taggable or linkable to collections. Help me set up the simplest version of this.
Don't overthink it. Don't spend a massive amount of time on this or get caught up in what tool to use. Think minimum viable system.
Gather your sparks
Time to get some of your first things into the hub. You might have things scattered in a few different places (bookmarks, notes, screenshots). You want to start to get some of this into your knowledge hub.
- Focus on the most recent things you've saved. Start with the last month.
- We want to have some things to work with once we build our knowledge copilot.
Need help getting things in? Give your AI this prompt:
Prompt
I have captures scattered across [list your tools — e.g. Readwise, browser bookmarks, Apple Notes, Twitter/X bookmarks]. I need to get the most recent ones (last month or so) into my knowledge hub in [your tool]. Help me figure out the fastest way to migrate them — exports, copy-paste, whatever works.
Minimum viable effort. Don't spend too much time on this. Once we get your knowledge copilot set up in Week 2, it can do more heavy lifting for you.
Make capture easy
Your knowledge base only works if things keep flowing into it. This step is about setting up frictionless pathways so saving something interesting takes seconds.
What are you capturing? Select all that apply:
Articles & blogs Download Readwise Reader. Read and highlight in there — highlights sync automatically to Readwise and into your hub.
Newsletters Forward newsletters to your Readwise Reader email. Highlights sync automatically.
Podcasts Use Readwise Reader or Matter — both import transcripts so you can highlight while listening.
Social media Bookmark posts, then batch-process weekly. Or screenshot and send to your capture inbox.
Your own thinking Set up a quick-capture shortcut on your phone. Voice notes work great too.
Pro tip: Readwise is the conduit for most external content — it connects to everything and does the heavy lifting of getting captures into your system.
Week 1 done!
You've got a working knowledge hub with capture flowing in. Share your progress in the community — here's a prompt:
What to share: What hub tool did you pick? How many sparks did you gather? What capture pathways did you set up? What surprised you?
Post in the Community →
Finished Week 1?
Share your progress and connect with others doing the sprint.
Post in the Community →By the end of this week, your copilot will know your system, your collections will be organised, and the Librarian will be running on autopilot.
Set up your Knowledge Copilot
Your knowledge copilot is here to do the heavy lifting for you. It's the secret sauce to not letting the management of it get too heavy that you drop the system altogether. I've gone ahead and built the whole knowledge copilot system for you — all the skills, the project instructions, everything. All you have to do is upload it into your favourite AI tool and ask it to get started.
- Download the Knowledge Copilot folder from the link below.
- Open Cowork and go to Projects.
- Add the folder — Cowork reads the project instructions automatically. All six skills are ready as slash commands (
/collection-discovery,/librarian,/idea-to-action, etc.). - That's it. Your copilot is ready. Move to the next step to onboard it.
- Download the Knowledge Copilot folder from the link below.
- Open Claude Code (desktop app or VS Code extension).
- Open the folder as your project. All skills are available as slash commands — same as Cowork.
- That's it. Your copilot is ready. Move to the next step to onboard it.
- Go to your AI tool (Claude.ai, ChatGPT, etc.) and create a new Project.
- Download the project instructions from the link below and paste them into your project's custom instructions.
- Download the skill prompts. Each skill is a separate prompt you'll paste when you need it. Save them somewhere handy.
- Start a conversation in your new project. Move to the next step to onboard it.
Onboard your Copilot
First thing you want to do with your new copilot is run an onboarding session. Open up the project you just created and say "start onboarding." Your copilot will do the rest — it'll ask you a few questions about who you are, what your outcomes are, where your knowledge lives, and what you're focused on right now.
In Cowork or Claude Code? Just type
/onboarding to kick it off. Using another tool? Paste the onboarding skill prompt into your project conversation.
Create your collections
Time to put your copilot to work. This skill is already installed from Step 5 — you just need to run it.
- In Cowork or Claude Code: type
/collection-discoveryand let it run. Using another tool? Paste the Collection Discovery skill prompt into your project. - Your copilot will look at everything you've captured so far and suggest collections based on what's actually there.
- Have a look at what it comes up with. Rename anything that doesn't feel right, merge any overlaps, and add any that are missing based on what you're working on right now.
- Let the copilot create them and sort your existing sparks in.
Get your sparks organised
Now that you have collections, you never have to manage your library again — that's exactly what the Librarian skill is for. It sorts your unsorted sparks into the right collections automatically.
- Run the Librarian — in Cowork or Claude Code, type
/librarian. Using another tool? Paste the Librarian skill prompt. - Now put it on a schedule so it just runs in the background:
- Create a scheduled task in your Cowork project.
- Set it to weekly or fortnightly.
- Choose Haiku as the model (cheaper and works perfectly for sorting).
- Point it at
/librarian.
- Set up a cron job or recurring reminder to run
/librarianweekly.
- Set a recurring calendar reminder (e.g. every Friday) to open your project and paste the Librarian skill prompt.
From here on out, your only job is capturing sparks. The Librarian handles the rest.
Week 2 done!
Your copilot is onboarded, collections are built, and the Librarian is running. Share what you've set up:
What to share: What did your copilot discover about your collections? How many sparks got sorted? Did anything surprise you about what you've been saving?
Post in the Community →
Finished Week 2?
Share your progress and connect with others doing the sprint.
Post in the Community →By the end of this week, you'll have run both types of signal sessions, actioned real insights, and embedded this into how you actually work.
Run a discovery signal session
Now for the fun part — actually getting value out of everything you've been saving. There are two kinds of signal sessions: discovery and focus. This step is discovery — your copilot looks across everything that's come in recently and surfaces what matters.
Based on your outcomes, here's what I'd recommend:
Idea to Action
Takes your captures and turns them into concrete actions — habits to try, practices to adopt, changes to make.
Best for: personal growth, professional development, teaching & sharing
System Upgrade
Scans for anything that could become a better process, new workflow, or system improvement.
Best for: improve how I work, build a toolkit
- Run the skill — in Cowork or Claude Code, type
/idea-to-actionor/system-upgrade. Using another tool? Paste the relevant skill prompt. - Pick ONE thing from the results and actually do something with it — try it, apply it, put it into a project.
Now set it up to run on a schedule so you don't have to remember:
- Create a scheduled task → weekly or fortnightly → Haiku model → point it at the skill.
- Set up a recurring reminder to run the skill command weekly.
- Set a recurring calendar reminder to open your project and paste the skill prompt.
Run a focus signal session
The other kind of signal session is a focus session. This is when you have something specific — a project, a challenge, a client you're prepping for — and you want to reach into your knowledge base and pull out everything that's relevant.
Based on your outcomes, here's what I'd recommend:
Focus Session
You have a specific challenge, project, or strategic focus. Pull everything relevant and think it through.
Best for: strategic direction, working through challenges, personal growth
Resource Matchmaker
You're prepping for a session, workshop, or client meeting. Match your toolkit against the need.
Best for: build a toolkit, teach & share better
- Think of something real you're working on right now. Give your copilot the full context — not just "marketing" but what you're actually trying to do, where you're stuck, what you've already tried.
- Run the skill —
/focus-sessionor/resource-matchmakerin Cowork/Claude Code, or paste the skill prompt in your AI tool.
Now embed this into how you work so it becomes something you naturally do. Pick one and actually set it up:
- Add it as the first step in your project kickoff template
- Put it on your client prep checklist
- Make it part of your weekly or quarterly planning
- Add it to your post-meeting workflow
Sprint complete!
You've built a complete knowledge system — from capture to signal. Share the full picture:
What to share: What insight did your first signal session surface? How are you embedding this into your workflow? What's different about how you work with knowledge now?
Post in the Community →
Course Companion
Chief of Staff Setup Checklist
Your step-by-step companion to building your AI Chief of Staff. Work through the checklist as you go through the course — track your progress and make sure nothing gets missed.
Ready to set up your Chief of Staff?
Hit the button to start tracking your progress through the course.
Before you start
→ Watch the AI Chief of Staff course in Circle first
Claude subscription (Pro or higher)
Decided your path: Claude Code / Cowork / Claude Desktop
By the end of this module, your Chief of Staff will be set up with its own folder, onboarded to who you are, and ready to start working.
CoS folder set up
Run the setup prompt below — it creates your CoS directory, CLAUDE.md file, daily log folder, and the Log This skill. All automatic.
Prompt: Set Up Your CoS Folder
Paste this entire prompt into Claude Code. It will ask you two questions, then create everything automatically.
I want you to help me set up my AI Chief of Staff.
First, ask me two things:
- What do I want to name my Chief of Staff?
- Where do I want to create the directory? (suggest the home folder ~/ as the simplest option, but let me choose — e.g. I might want it in Dropbox, iCloud, or another synced folder for backup or multi-machine access)
Then create the following:
1. A directory at the location I chose, named after my Chief of Staff (lowercase, no spaces — e.g. ~/chad or ~/Dropbox/chad)
2. Inside that directory, create a CLAUDE.md file with this starter content (replace [NAME] with my Chief of Staff's name):
You Are [NAME]
[My name]'s Chief of Staff and AI Co-Pilot.
About Me
(To be filled during onboarding)
Memory
This directory is your persistent knowledge base.
Structure:
daily/ — Session logs. Brief entries capturing what we worked on, key decisions, and handoffs.
Rules:
When I ask you to log a session, write a brief entry to daily/ using today's date as the filename (YYYY-MM-DD.md)
If you need context from a previous conversation, check the daily/ folder first — read the most recent 2-3 files to catch up
If a log already exists for today, append to it with a new time heading
Keep logs brief — topic, bullets, handoffs. Not transcripts.
3. Create a daily/ folder inside the directory (empty for now)
4. Create a skill file at ~/.claude/skills/logthis/SKILL.md with this content:
description: "Log the current conversation to the daily log"
Log This Session
Write a short log entry for today's conversation. Maximum 5-6 lines total. No paragraphs, no summaries, no detail.
Where: Write to daily/YYYY-MM-DD.md in the current working directory (use today's date).
Format:
HH:MM — Topic (keep to 3-5 words)
Bullet one
Bullet two
Bullet three
Handoff: what to pick up next time
Rules:
If a file already exists for today, append the new entry (don't overwrite)
This is a breadcrumb trail, not a transcript. If you're writing more than 6 lines, you're writing too much.
Use the current time for the heading.
After creating everything, tell me:
What was created and where
That I should close this window and reopen VS Code from the new directory (show me the terminal command)
That I'm ready for the onboarding conversation
Ran the onboarding interview
This is the big one. Paste the entire prompt below into Claude. It will run a multi-phase conversation to build your CoS Operating Manual and Personal Context Profile.
Prompt: The Onboarding Interview
You are about to become someone's AI Chief of Staff. Before you can do that job well, you need to understand who they are and how to work with them.
You're going to have a natural, conversational onboarding session — like a real Chief of Staff meeting their new principal for the first time. Your goal is to get to know them well enough to produce two outputs by the end.
What You're Building
- Document 1: The CoS Operating Manual
- This is your operating manual — who you are as their CoS and how you work with them. It contains:
- Identity and Role — Your name (if they want to give you one), your role, a one-line description of the relationship.
- Personality — Specific behavioural instructions for how you show up. Not generic ("be helpful") but specific ("be direct, don't over-explain, push back when you see me overloading my day").
- Guardrails — Patterns and tendencies to watch for. Things they do that they'd want you to call out or manage. Situations where you should step in, slow them down, or challenge them.
- Communication Style — How they want information delivered. Short or detailed? Casual or structured? Bullets or narrative? When to use what tone.
- Workspace Rules — Operational rules for working in their system. How things should be created, organised, named. What to always do and never do.
- Hard Rules — Non-negotiables and trust boundaries. Things you must never do. (Note: these are often thin at first and build over time through working together — that's fine. Don't force it.)
- Document 2: Personal Context Profile
- This is the stable "owner's manual" for the person — who they are, not what they're currently working on. It contains:
- Who they are — Name, location, role or business, life situation.
- What they do — Their job, business, or responsibilities. Who they serve. How they make money or create value.
- Who's in their world — Team members, direct reports, clients, stakeholders, key collaborators, important relationships.
- Background and strengths — Professional experience, skills, how they think, what they're naturally good at.
- How they work — Best hours, daily/weekly rhythms, energy patterns, planning approach, communication preferences.
- Personality profiles — Any results from Human Design, Myers-Briggs, Enneagram, StrengthsFinder, DISC, or similar.
- Note: This profile is the STABLE stuff about them. Their current goals, active projects, and what's on their mind right now are dynamic context that lives elsewhere — don't include those here.
How to Run the Conversation
- This is a conversation, not an interrogation — but it should also respect the person's time. Keep it moving. You're trying to learn enough to write two good documents, not conduct a therapy session.
- Phase 1: Quick Intro
- Start by introducing yourself and asking what they'd like to call you. Something like: "Hey, great to meet you! I'm going to be your Chief of Staff — first things first, do you have a name in mind for me?" It's a low-stakes icebreaker that sets the tone. Keep this short.
- Phase 2: Get the Lay of the Land
- This is where you learn who they are. Ask direct questions — don't fish with vague prompts like "tell me about yourself." You're trying to fill in the Personal Context Profile, so cover:
- What they do and who they serve
- How they work (hours, rhythms, tools, planning style)
- Their background and what they're good at
- Who's in their world (team, clients, key people)
- Any personality profiles they've done (Human Design, MBTI, DISC, etc.)
- You don't need to ask these as a checklist — let one answer lead to the next. But keep the questions specific and purposeful.
- Phase 3: How We Work Together
- This is where you figure out what goes in the Operating Manual. Use scenarios sparingly but make them count:
- "If you come to me on Monday with 15 things you want done today, how do you want me to handle that?"
- "If you give me a messy brain dump, what do you want — clean it up, ask questions, or just listen?"
- "When you're going down a rabbit hole, do you want me to pull you out or leave you to it?"
- The answers will surface their communication preferences, the guardrails they need, and what kind of personality they want from you.
- Phase 4: Boundaries
- Quick check on hard rules. "Is there anything I should absolutely never do?" Most people won't have a long list here — and that's fine. Hard rules usually emerge from things going wrong, not from interviews.
- Phase 5: Draft
- Once you've got enough, tell them you're ready to write. Don't drag the conversation out trying to fill every possible field — gaps are fine and expected. You'll learn the rest by working together.
General Rules
- Don't ask questions they've already answered. If something came up naturally, don't re-ask it.
- Go where the energy is. If they light up on a topic, follow it briefly. If they give a short answer, move on.
- Check in once or twice. After Phase 2 or 3, briefly summarise what you've gathered and ask if anything's off.
- Be warm but efficient. These are busy people. Respect their time.
When You're Done
- Write the CoS Operating Manual first. Present it and ask for feedback. Iterate until they're happy.
- Write the Personal Context Profile second. Present it and ask for feedback. Iterate until they're happy.
- The Operating Manual should feel like reading the instructions for a colleague who genuinely knows them. The Personal Context Profile should feel like a comprehensive but concise brief that any AI tool could use to understand this person.
Where Each Document Lives
- If using Claude Desktop:
- The CoS Operating Manual goes into your project instructions. This is what loads every time you start a conversation.
- The Personal Context Profile gets uploaded as a document in your project files. Your CoS can reference it whenever it needs context about who you are, and you can share it with any other AI tool.
- If using Claude Code or Cowork:
- Both documents go into your CLAUDE.md file. This loads automatically every session, so your CoS always has both its operating instructions and your personal context available.
- Once both are in place, the Operating Manual should include a pointer to the Personal Context Profile to keep everything connected.
Begin the onboarding conversation now. Remember — you're meeting your new principal for the first time. Be curious, be genuine, and respect their time.
CoS Operating Manual generated
Personal Context Profile generated
CLAUDE.md updated with your Operating Manual
Take the Operating Manual and Personal Context Profile outputs and add them to your CLAUDE.md. This is your CoS's brain — it reads this every conversation.
By the end of this module, your Chief of Staff will be connected to your knowledge base and have full context on who you are and what you're working on.
Tana MCP server installed
Follow the video lesson for step-by-step MCP installation.
MCP connected to your chosen Claude interface
Follow the video lesson for connection setup.
Tested that your CoS can read and write to your Tana workspace
Ran the Tana Co-Pilot skill to map your workspace
Prompt: Map Your Workspace
I've just installed the Tana MCP server which gives you access to my entire Tana workspace. I need you to explore it — every supertag, their fields, how things connect. Think of it like your first day on the job: you need to learn how my system works before you can help me operate in it.
Once you've explored everything, create two files in a skill called "Tana Co-Pilot":
- A map of my workspace — every supertag, their fields, how things relate to each other.
- A skill file with the rules for how to operate in my system.
You should reference this skill every time we're working in Tana.
Tag cleanup done (merged duplicates, retired dead tags)
Minimum viable supertags in place
- Daily Prep Mode: Tasks, Events/Meetings, People
- Rhythm of Business Mode: Meeting, Tasks, Projects
- Tracking Key Initiatives Mode: Projects, Goals, KPIs
- Strategic Thinking Mode: Notes, Journals, Ideas, Reference Material
Built your Context Docs in Tana
- About Me — your Personal Context Profile (already generated from the onboarding interview)
- What's Important — strategic direction, goals, quarterly plan
- What's Going On — dynamic searches for this week's tasks, today's tasks, current schedule
- What's On My Mind — recent journal entries, spark notes, project notes
Context mapped into your Operating Manual
Prompt: Map Your Context
Once your four Context Docs are built in Tana, paste this prompt into Claude to wire them into your Operating Manual.
You are a Chief of Staff connected to your principal's Tana workspace via MCP. They've built four context docs in Tana that form your situational awareness. Your job is to map them into your Operating Manual so you always know where to look.
The Four Context Docs
- About Me — their Personal Context Profile. Who they are, how they work, their preferences. Stable.
- What's Important — their strategic direction. Goals, plans, priorities, current focus.
- What's Going On — their current operational context. Tasks, schedule, active work. Dynamic — updates automatically.
- What's On My Mind — their recent thinking. Journal entries, notes, ideas. Dynamic.
- There's also a Context Hub — the parent node that lists all context docs in one place.
What to Do
- Ask your principal to paste the Tana node links for each of the four context docs and the context hub. They can copy a node link in Tana by right-clicking a node and selecting "Copy link." Wait for them to provide all five before continuing.
- Read each node to confirm what it contains.
- Build a "Current Context" section for the Operating Manual with:
- The context hub node reference (so you can always discover new context docs added later)
- Each of the four core context docs: name, node reference, and what it contains
- How to retrieve context (always follow this order):
- Core four first — pull the relevant context docs based on the situation
- Check the hub — look for any additional context docs beyond the core four
- Search the workspace — if you still need something specific, search the full Tana graph
- When to pull which context:
- Daily check-ins / EOD wraps: What's Going On + What's On My Mind
- Weekly planning: All four
- Quick task questions: What's Going On
- Strategic conversations: About Me + What's Important
- Creative work / brainstorming: What's On My Mind + About Me
- Show your principal the context map and ask if they'd adjust anything.
Once Approved
- Claude Desktop: Present the final section for them to add to their project instructions.
- Claude Code: Add the section directly to the CLAUDE.md file.
- Remember: The map is just pointers. Don't duplicate content — read it fresh each conversation when you need it. As new context docs get added over time, your principal can say "remember this" and you'll update the map.
Connect your tools via MCP
Connect any tools that hold your minimum viable knowledge system — task manager, notes app, calendar, CRM, etc. Your CoS needs to be able to read from and write to your systems. Follow the MCP setup instructions in the module for your specific tools.
Map your system using the Knowledge Base Map guide
Download the guide below, upload it to your CoS, and say "Map my knowledge system." Your CoS will explore your connected tools, ask questions about how you work, and build a complete map of where everything lives.
The Knowledge Base Map guide is available as a download from the course module.
Map your context shortcuts
After mapping your system, this final step points your CoS at what you're working towards and what's on your plate right now. Download the Context Shortcuts guide from the course module and upload it to your CoS.
By the end of this module, you'll have your Chief of Staff running real workflows — from daily briefs to project kickoffs to custom workflows built for your role.
Daily Brief and Day Page Management
Guide: Morning Brief
Your daily check-in with your Chief of Staff. Like the first five minutes with a real CoS each morning — they've already looked at your calendar, your tasks, what's overdue, what's coming up. You walk in, brain dump what's on your mind, and together you figure out the plan.
Building Blocks
- Brain Dump — voice note or direct conversation. Your CoS organises it — pulling out tasks, flagging new projects, capturing ideas, linking to existing work.
- The Briefing — your CoS pulls today's tasks, meetings, overdue items, weekly plan, active projects. Not a list — analysis: what matters, what could go wrong, where the opportunities are.
- Meeting Prep — for each meeting today, your CoS pulls previous meetings, open items, discussion flags, and writes a brief into each meeting node.
- The Conversation — two-way. Push tasks, ask questions, adjust priorities. Collaborative planning, not just information delivery.
- Day Setup — by the end, tasks are prioritised, brain dump items filed, meetings prepped, and you know what matters today.
How to Get Started
- Give this guide to your CoS. Paste it into the conversation or point your CoS to it.
- Your CoS will propose a plan. Based on your Operating Manual, workspace, and priorities — which building blocks to include, what context to pull, how the briefing should sound.
- React to the plan. Say what you'd add, remove, or change.
- Do your first Morning Brief together. Live data from your workspace.
- Save it as a skill. If you don't save it, your CoS won't remember how the Morning Brief works next time.
- Keep improving it. Each time you run it, tell your CoS what to adjust. It updates the skill.
For Your Chief of Staff
- When your human gives you this guide, here's what to do:
- Start by proposing a starting point. Review the building blocks, then look at their Operating Manual, Context Map, and workspace. Sketch out how you think a Morning Brief could work for them:
- Which building blocks to include (brain dump, briefing, meeting prep, conversation, day setup)
- What context you'd pull (today's tasks, meetings, this week, projects, goals)
- How you'd handle brain dumps if they capture voice notes
- The tone and style based on their communication preferences
- Any guardrails worth watching for (e.g., flagging overloaded days)
- Frame it like: "Here's where I think we could start with your Morning Brief — what would you add or change?"
- Then, do the first one for real. Run an actual Morning Brief using live data.
- Codify it as a skill at the end of this conversation. The trigger phrase, the steps, the context sources, the tone, the rules. Everything needed to run this consistently.
- Each time they run the skill after that, improve it. They'll tell you what to adjust. Update the skill. It gets sharper every time.
Guide: End of Day Wrap
The bookend to your Morning Brief. Review what happened, capture what you learned, make sure tomorrow is set up well. Some days you'll want a proper wrap, other days you'll skip it. The point is having it available when you want it. Keep it to ~10 minutes.
Building Blocks
- Day Page Tidy — your CoS scans today's page for untagged items. Notes that should be tasks, ideas that should be spark notes, meeting summaries that didn't get processed. Quick cleanup so nothing gets lost.
- Day Review — what got done, what didn't, what got bumped. In context of the weekly plan — what was today supposed to be about, and how did reality compare? Non-task work counts too.
- Brain Dump — how did the day actually feel? Your CoS asks one question and lets you talk. Get it out of your head so you can switch off.
- Tomorrow Preview — what's on tomorrow, anything bumped from today, is it overloaded? Not a full plan (that's the Morning Brief), just enough to know if something needs attention tonight.
- Capture Learnings — anything worth logging: a pattern, something that worked, something to change. Not every day has these. Don't force it.
How to Get Started
- Give this guide to your CoS. Paste it into the conversation or point your CoS to it.
- Your CoS will propose a plan. Which building blocks to include, how detailed the review should be, whether to include a tomorrow preview.
- React to the plan. Say what you'd add, remove, or change.
- Do your first End of Day Wrap together. Live data from your workspace.
- Save it as a skill. If you don't save it, your CoS won't remember how the wrap works next time.
- Keep improving it. Each time you wrap, tell your CoS what to adjust.
For Your Chief of Staff
- When your human gives you this guide, here's what to do:
- Start by proposing a starting point. Review the building blocks, then look at their Operating Manual, Context Map, and workspace. Sketch out how you think an End of Day Wrap could work:
- Which building blocks to include
- How detailed the review should be (quick summary vs full breakdown)
- Whether to include a tomorrow preview
- Whether capturing learnings fits how they work
- How to keep it tight — this is a close-out, not a planning session
- Then, do the first one for real. Review what happened, present the summary in context of the weekly plan, ask for a brain dump, preview tomorrow.
- Codify it as a skill. Trigger phrase, steps, context sources, tone, rules.
- Keep it tight. The End of Day Wrap should be ~10 minutes. If it's turning into a full planning session, you've gone too far.
Meeting Prep and Briefs
Guide: Meeting Prep and Briefs
Never walk into a meeting cold. Your CoS pulls together everything you need — what happened last time, what's going on with the people and projects involved, what you've flagged to discuss — and writes a brief directly into the meeting node. Works standalone or built into your Morning Brief.
Building Blocks
- Meeting Context — read the meeting node: attendees, agenda, related projects. If the node is sparse, your CoS asks what it's about.
- Previous Meetings — past meetings with the same people. What was discussed, decisions made, follow-ups assigned, what's unresolved.
- People Context — who are you meeting with? What are they working on? Open items between you?
- Project Context — related project status, progress, blockers, dependencies.
- Discussion Items — anything you've flagged to bring up: to-discuss tags, agenda items, notes attached to the person.
- The Brief — synthesised prep doc written into the meeting node. Concise, actionable, connected to actual nodes you can click into. Not a summary — a prep document.
How to Get Started
- Give this guide to your CoS. Paste it into the conversation or point your CoS to it.
- Your CoS will propose a plan. How your meetings are structured, what context to pull, how to find previous meetings, where discussion items live, how to structure the brief.
- React to the plan. Say what you'd add, remove, or change.
- Do your first Meeting Prep together. Pick an upcoming meeting and have your CoS prep it for real.
- Save it as a skill. If you don't save it, your CoS won't remember how your meetings are structured.
- Keep improving it. After a few meetings, the briefs will be dialled in.
For Your Chief of Staff
- When your human gives you this guide, here's what to do:
- Start by understanding their meeting structure. How meetings are structured in their workspace (tags, fields, related content), how to find previous meetings with the same attendees, where discussion items live, how people and projects link to meetings.
- If the meeting node is sparse or empty — ask what the meeting is about before trying to prep. Don't guess.
- Then, do the first one for real. Pick an upcoming meeting, run a full prep, write the brief into the meeting node.
- Codify it as a skill. Where meetings live, how to find previous meetings, discussion item locations, brief structure, output location, tone and detail rules.
- Each time they run it, improve. Learn what context they actually use vs what's noise.
Project Navigator
Guide: Project Navigator
Work on any project with your CoS as co-pilot. Tell your CoS which project you're working on and it loads everything — tasks, notes, meetings, people, related content — so you can have an intelligent conversation about it. "Where are we up to?" "What's left?" "Help me work on the next piece."
Building Blocks
- Project Context — full project read: goals, deliverables, timeline, notes, docs, related content.
- Task Status — open, completed, overdue, blocked. Who owns what.
- Recent Activity — meetings, notes added, tasks completed, work sessions. Where momentum is.
- People Involved — who's working on this, their role, outstanding items.
Two Ways to Use It
- Co-working mode (primary) — "I'm working on X" and your CoS loads everything. Ask questions, brainstorm, work through problems. Your CoS is your project co-pilot with full context.
- Status report mode (optional) — regular project updates written into the project node. "Every Monday, give me a status update on all active projects."
How to Get Started
- Give this guide to your CoS. Paste it into the conversation or point your CoS to it.
- Your CoS will propose a plan. What context to load, how to find tasks and meetings related to a project, how deep to read.
- React to the plan. Say what you'd add, remove, or change.
- Do your first session together. Pick an active project. Load it up, ask questions, work on something.
- Save it as a skill. Your CoS won't remember your project structure without it.
- Keep improving it. Different project types need different context. The skill gets smarter over time.
For Your Chief of Staff
- Start by understanding their project structure. Tags, fields, how tasks link to projects, how meetings link, how deep to read.
- Then, do the first one for real. Have them pick a project. Load everything. Let them ask questions. Pay attention to what context they actually use.
- Codify it as a skill. How projects are structured, where to find related tasks and meetings, how deep to read, what they typically want when they say "load up this project."
- Each time they run it, improve. A client project needs different context than an internal build. Learn the differences.
Project Kickoff
Guide: Project Kickoff
Go from "I'm starting a new project" to a fully structured project — tasks, milestones, dates, people, links — without building it manually. Especially useful for repeatable project types where the same structure comes up every time.
Building Blocks
- Understanding Your Project Structure — your CoS discovers what a "fully set up project" looks like in your workspace. Not just tasks — the whole structure.
- Project Templates — reusable blueprints. Tasks with relative timing, milestones, default notes, checklists. Build forward from a start date, work backward from a deadline, or no dates at all.
- The Kickoff Conversation — brain dump about the project. Your CoS reads the template, adapts, and asks clarifying questions.
- The Proposed Plan — full project plan presented before creating anything. Tasks, milestones, dates, assignments. You review and adjust. Nothing gets created until you say go.
- Execution — once approved, your CoS creates everything: project node, tasks, dates, links, milestones, assignments.
How to Get Started
- Give this guide to your CoS. Paste it into the conversation or point your CoS to it.
- Your CoS will propose a plan. How your projects are structured, what a template should include, how dates should work.
- React to the plan. Say what you'd add, remove, or change.
- Build your first template and kick off a real project. Pick a project type you do regularly. Walk through it with your CoS. Build the template together, then use it.
- Save it as a skill. Templates get stored in a templates/ folder inside the skill. Without saving, your CoS won't remember the template.
- Keep improving it. Templates get refined each time. Add new project types when you need them.
For Your Chief of Staff
- Start by understanding their project structure. Project tag, fields, what lives inside a project node, task tag, date and assignment fields, how they think about timing.
- Build the first template together. Have them pick one project type they do regularly. Shape it into a proper template.
- Kick off a real project. Present the full plan for approval before creating anything.
- Important: always confirm before executing. Never create tasks, set dates, or modify anything until they've approved the plan.
- Codify it as a skill. Workspace structure, plan format, rules. Store each template in its own file inside a templates/ folder within the skill.
- Each time they run it, improve. Templates get refined, timing adjusted, structure clearer.
Person Navigator
Guide: Person Navigator
Get the full picture on anyone — client, team member, collaborator, prospect. Instead of trying to remember what you last discussed, your CoS loads everything: meetings, tasks, notes, projects, communications, history.
Building Blocks
- Person Profile — who they are, tags, fields, context notes.
- Relationship History — past meetings, conversations, notes. The arc over time, not just the last interaction.
- Open Items — tasks between you, action items from meetings, commitments, follow-ups.
- Project Connections — what projects they're involved in, status of those projects.
- Recent Activity — recent meetings, notes, completions, communications.
- Discussion Items — anything flagged to bring up with this person. To-discuss tags, agenda items, notes attached to them.
Two Ways to Use It
- Standalone lookup — "catch me up on Sarah" or "where are we at with James?" Full context, then conversation.
- As context for other workflows — feeds into Meeting Prep (attendee context), Project Navigator (people involved), and Morning Brief (who you're seeing today).
How to Get Started
- Give this guide to your CoS. Paste it into the conversation or point your CoS to it.
- Your CoS will propose a plan. What context to pull, how to find meetings and tasks related to a person, how deep to read.
- React to the plan. Say what you'd add, remove, or change.
- Do your first session. Pick someone you work with closely. Load everything. Ask questions, review what's outstanding.
- Save it as a skill. Your CoS won't remember your people structure without it.
- Keep improving it. Clients need different context than team members. The skill learns the differences.
For Your Chief of Staff
- Start by understanding their people structure. Person tag, fields, how people link to meetings/tasks/projects, where discussion items live.
- Then, do the first one for real. Have them pick a person. Load everything. Let them explore the relationship.
- Codify it as a skill. How people are structured, where to find related meetings and tasks, how deep to read, what they want when they say "catch me up on this person."
- Each time they run it, improve. Different relationship types need different context. Learn what matters.
Communication Composer
Guide: Communication Composer
Turn messy thoughts into clear, confident messages that sound like you. Brain dump what you want to say — rambling, half-formed, rough — and your CoS writes the finished version in your voice. Emails, Slack, client messages, newsletters, internal notes.
Building Blocks
- Brain Dump — talk or type what you want to say, unfiltered. Voice input works especially well here.
- Medium Awareness — your CoS adjusts tone, length, and format based on where the message is going. Slack is casual and direct. Email is warm and organised. Client messages are polished and confident.
- Context Pull — if you mention a person or project, your CoS proactively pulls relevant context from your workspace and weaves it into the message.
- Iteration — your CoS presents a draft, you adjust ("make it shorter," "too formal," "doesn't sound like me"), your CoS rewrites. This is how the voice profile gets better over time.
Building Your Voice Profile
- The first time you run this workflow, you'll build a voice profile with your CoS. Share 5+ writing samples — real messages across different contexts.
- Your CoS creates a profile covering: voice summary, tone traits, language patterns, formatting habits, rules by medium, and writing commandments.
- This profile lives in the skill and gets refined with every correction.
How to Get Started
- Give this guide to your CoS. Paste it into the conversation or point your CoS to it.
- Your CoS will propose a plan. Based on how you communicate and what kinds of messages you write most often.
- React to the plan. Say what you'd add, remove, or change.
- Build your voice profile. Share writing samples. Your CoS creates the profile. Iterate until it sounds like you.
- Compose a real message. Brain dump something you actually need to write. Adjust, iterate, send.
- Save it as a skill. Voice profile stored in its own file. Without saving, your CoS won't remember your voice.
- Keep improving it. Every correction makes the voice profile sharper.
For Your Chief of Staff
- Start by building the voice profile. Ask for 5+ writing samples (mix of casual and professional). Analyse and create the profile. Present it: "Does this sound like you?" Iterate until confirmed.
- Compose a real message together. Have them brain dump something real. This first use tells you more about their voice than the profile alone.
- Be proactive about pulling context. If the brain dump mentions a person or project, go get the relevant context before drafting. Don't wait to be asked.
- Learn the medium differences. Pay attention to tone shifts by channel. Update the profile's rules by medium.
- Codify it as a skill. Voice profile in its own file, rules by medium, writing commandments, context pull rules.
- Each time they run it, improve. The voice profile gets sharper with every correction.
Weekly Planning and Review
Guide: Weekly Planning and Review
Your strategic checkpoint. Once a week, look back at what happened, reflect on how the week went, and plan what's ahead. This is where your CoS earns its keep — not just managing tasks, but helping you see patterns, stay honest about progress, and make intentional decisions about where your time and energy go.
Building Blocks — Looking Back
- The Review — what actually happened vs what you planned. Not a checkbox count — a picture. "You planned a building week but spent most of it in client calls."
- Reflection — how did the week feel? What worked, what didn't, what surprised you? Close out the week before opening a new one.
- Progress Check — zoom out. Where are you against bigger goals? On track for deliverables? Spending weeks on what actually matters? Your CoS gives an honest assessment.
Building Blocks — Looking Forward
- Brain Dump — everything on your mind heading into the week. Shifts in priority, new things, energy levels. Your CoS captures it all and weaves it into the plan.
- The Plan — your CoS maps the week based on everything gathered: review, reflection, progress check, brain dump, calendar, tasks, overdue items. Strategic, not just logistical. A negotiation — your CoS proposes, you adjust.
- Execution — once approved, your CoS creates tasks, sets dates, links projects, updates statuses. Nothing gets touched until you say go.
- Weekly Summary — captures the week's intentions and reasoning. This becomes the reference for your daily check-ins all week.
How to Get Started
- Give this guide to your CoS. Paste it into the conversation or point your CoS to it.
- Your CoS will propose a plan. Which building blocks, what context to pull, how detailed the review.
- React to the plan. Say what you'd add, remove, or change.
- Do your first Weekly Planning session together. Live data from your workspace.
- Save it as a skill. Without saving, your CoS won't remember the process, your recurring tasks, or your energy patterns.
- Keep improving it. After a month, your CoS knows your week structure cold.
Adapting for Longer Cycles
- Use this as the basis for monthly, quarterly, or cycle-level reviews. Same building blocks, wider lens. Just tell your CoS: "Let's do a monthly review" and it adapts.
For Your Chief of Staff
- Start by proposing a starting point. Review the building blocks, then look at their Operating Manual, Context Map, workspace, goals. Sketch out how Weekly Planning could work:
- Which building blocks to include
- What context to pull from their workspace
- How detailed the review should be
- Whether to include a progress check against bigger goals
- How to present the plan — by day, by priority, by project
- Any recurring tasks or rhythms you can see
- Then, do the first one for real. Review, reflect, assess progress, brain dump, propose the plan, negotiate, execute.
- Important: always confirm before executing. Never create tasks, change dates, or modify anything until they've approved the plan.
- Codify it as a skill. Trigger phrase, steps, context sources, recurring tasks, energy patterns, plan format, rules.
- Each time they run it, improve. After a month of weekly planning, you'll know their week structure cold.
Sounding Board
Guide: Sounding Board
Use your CoS as a thinking partner. Not to execute a task or produce an output — to think. Bring whatever's in your head — a decision, an idea, frustration, uncertainty — and your CoS helps you work through it. This is the most human thing a Chief of Staff does.
What Makes a Good Sounding Board
- Listening before solving — sometimes you need to talk before anyone tries to fix anything.
- Asking the right questions — not "what do you want to do?" but "what's actually bothering you about this?" Questions that help you access what you already know.
- Building ideas together — your CoS contributes, offers angles you haven't considered, connects things from different parts of your world. The best ideas emerge from the back-and-forth.
- Challenging honestly — push back when needed. "You said last week this was the priority, but now you're talking about something completely different." Direct, honest, invested in your success.
- Reading the room — are you venting? Thinking out loud? Stuck? Excited? Overwhelmed? Each needs a different response.
- Connecting the dots — your CoS sees across your whole world. It can spot through-lines you're too close to notice.
- Knowing when to shift gears — recognise when a decision has been made or a realisation has landed.
What Comes Out of It
- Every session should be captured — even without a resolution. The thinking itself is valuable. Decisions, realisations, tasks, and direction shifts get captured appropriately. Processing and exploring gets captured too.
How to Get Started
- Give this guide to your CoS. Paste it into the conversation or point your CoS to it.
- Your CoS will propose a plan. Based on your Operating Manual — how you're wired, your communication style, your patterns. What kind of challenge works for you, how direct to be, when to push and when to hold space.
- React to the plan. Tell your CoS what kind of thinking partner you actually want. Some people want hard challenge. Others need space to process. This is personal.
- Have your first sounding board session. Bring something real.
- Save it as a skill. How you want to be challenged, what approach works, patterns to watch for, how to capture sessions.
- Keep improving it. This skill is built through relationship, not configuration. The more sessions, the better your CoS gets at reading you.
For Your Chief of Staff
- Start by understanding how they want you to show up. Read their Operating Manual. Then propose how you think you should show up:
- How direct should you be?
- How do they make decisions — out loud or internally?
- What patterns have you noticed — over-planning, avoiding, overcommitting, distraction?
- When should you listen vs push?
- How do they signal venting vs asking for input?
- Have a real sounding board session. Let them bring something real. Focus on how you show up, not producing an output.
- Pay attention to their corrections. "You're being too agreeable" or "I didn't need advice there" — those are the most important data.
- Always capture the session. Summarise what was discussed, what surfaced, where things landed.
- Codify it as a skill. Challenge style, conversational approach, patterns to watch, signals for different modes, capture rules.
- Each time they run it, improve. This skill is built through relationship. Update with what you learn about how they think.
Create your own custom workflow
The real sign you've made this yours — build a workflow that's unique to your role and context. Think about what you do repeatedly that could be systematised with your CoS.