folder-curator

name

folder-curator

description

Curate any watched directory with a purpose-bound ruleset — classify, rename (datetime prefix), enrich (YAML frontmatter), and route each incoming file to its home; keep a cross-medium recency/context stack (newest on top); and evolve the ruleset itself. Driven by a per-directory contract (.curator/taxonomy.yaml) declaring the directory's purpose and categories; ships with an Automatic AI client/prospect profile (threads/, workshop/, client_dropbox/). Use when a file lands in a curated or watched directory and needs naming, frontmatter, or placement; to organize, file, sort, triage, or curate documents, transcripts, emails, voice notes, or work products; to normalize filenames/frontmatter; to regenerate the context stack (_context-stack.md); to quarantine an uploaded credential; or to propose and apply a taxonomy change. Do NOT use to author the n8n workflow or node (use delonet-n8n-architecture), define Bloodbank schemas (bloodbank-integration), or for BMAD artifacts under _bmad-output/.

Folder Curator

A purpose-bound curator for any watched directory. Each arriving file is deterministically classified → renamed → enriched → routed to its home, and every folder stays ordered by document freshness (newest on top). One declarative contract per directory — .curator/taxonomy.yaml — declares that directory's purpose and its categories/rules; the shipped default (assets/taxonomy.default.yaml) is the Automatic AI client/prospect profile. The CLI is the executor — you invoke it, you don't re-implement its rules; when the rules can't decide, you judge in light of the directory's stated purpose.

Operating principles

• Flat categories, labels over nesting. Structure lives in frontmatter (kind, tags), not deep folders. Add a folder only when a whole class of docs earns one.
• The contract is the source of truth. Classification/naming/enrichment rules are data in taxonomy.yaml. Don't hardcode judgments the contract should own — edit the contract (see structure-evolution).
• Deterministic first, judgment second. Run the CLI. It routes confident cases and parks ambiguous ones in the review queue (pipeline-status: new) for you to decide. Only override when you have real evidence.
• Purpose guides judgment. Each curated directory declares a purpose in its contract (and plan echoes it on low-confidence items). When the rules can't classify deterministically, choose what best serves that purpose — never guess mechanically.
• Never fabricate provenance. Preserve existing frontmatter; use unknown/unconfirmed; a newer updated is a relevance signal, not proof of correctness.
• Secrets never get filed. A credential/secret is quarantined and blocked — never renamed-into-place, committed, or synced.

Quick navigation

Task	Read
Full category rules, naming, and frontmatter schema	references/taxonomy-spec.md
Propose/apply a change to the taxonomy itself	references/structure-evolution.md
Wire the Bloodbank-fed n8n automation	references/automation-runbook.md
Set up the Google Drive inbound/outbound syncs	references/drive-sync.md

The curation procedure

Run from (or point --client-root at) the target directory. The installed CLI is folder-curator (on PATH); the portable form is uv run <skill-root>/scripts/folder_curator.py.

1. Plan (no writes) — see where a file will go and how it will be named/enriched. This is also the exact "file in → destination out" contract the n8n workflow consumes:

   folder-curator --client-root . plan "<file>"
   

   It returns JSON: {action, category, destination, normalized_name, kind, title, confidence, pipeline-status, frontmatter}.
2. Judge only if confidence: low. Low confidence means the file matched zero or multiple categories and was parked in the review category (the ingest folder — client_dropbox in the default profile) as pipeline-status: new; plan echoes the directory's purpose to guide you. Decide the real category from evidence, then either move it yourself with correct frontmatter or adjust .curator/taxonomy.yaml so the rule generalizes.
3. Apply — move + rename + enrich, idempotently (a content-hash ledger + pipeline-status prevent re-processing). Sidecars (*.meta.json) travel with their partner:

   folder-curator --client-root . apply "<file>"
   

4. Reindex — regenerate _context-stack.md (newest-first, cross-medium) and restore each file's mtime from its updated field so ls -lt/llr agree. apply does this automatically; run it explicitly after hand-edits:

   folder-curator --client-root . reindex
   

To migrate a repo's existing files to the standard in one pass, dry-run first, then apply:

folder-curator --client-root . normalize            # dry-run: prints the rename+enrich plan
folder-curator --client-root . normalize --apply    # writes it

Point it at a new directory

folder-curator curates any directory, not just client repos. To adopt a new one:

1. Create <dir>/.curator/taxonomy.yaml — set at least a purpose and categories (folder → classification rules). Anything omitted inherits the shipped default. Same engine, different purpose.
2. folder-curator --client-root <dir> normalize (dry-run) to preview, then --apply.
3. Thereafter plan/apply new arrivals and reindex to refresh the stack.

The default profile — Automatic AI client folders

The shipped default profile's categories (flat, at the directory root; override per directory). Full rules in references/taxonomy-spec.md.

Folder	Holds	Typical kind
threads/	Communications involving more than one person — transcripts, email, Slack, meetings	communication, transcript, email
workshop/	Single-author work products — strategy, pricing, plans, proposals, research, updates	work-product
client_dropbox/	The client's raw uploads + the review queue for ambiguous items	raw-upload, voice-note, transcription

• profile.md, TASKS.md, docs/, _bmad-output/ are not intake targets — leave them.
• Canonical filename: YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.<ext> (timestamped dropbox items use YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS-<slug>). The semantic date (captured/frontmatter) wins over a filename date. Old medium tokens (xscript, email) become the kind field, not part of the name.
• Frontmatter (unified): category, kind, title, source, captured, updated, pipeline-status are core; confidence, owner, tags, and per-medium keys (attendees, duration) are optional. Keys are kebab-case, dates ISO. pipeline-status ∈ {new, processing, processed, blocked} — exactly one active.
• updated is the freshness field (bumped on every touch); it drives the recency stack and mtime restore.

Safety guardrails

• Secrets: files matching credential patterns (name or content) go to .curator/quarantine/ with pipeline-status: blocked. Never enrich, commit, or sync them; tell the user, and point to the 1Password DeLoSecrets vault for the real destination.
• Never scan or route into .git/, dot-dirs, _bmad*, node_modules, or worktrees/ (the contract's ignore_dirs/ignore_hidden).
• Confidentiality: all client material is confidential. Do not read/quote .env*; do not send content externally without authorization.

Out of scope

• Authoring the n8n workflow or the n8n-nodes-folder-curator node → delonet-n8n-architecture (this skill provides the plan contract the node consumes; see references/automation-runbook.md for wiring).
• Defining/validating Bloodbank event schemas → bloodbank-integration.
• Infra paths, rclone remotes, container/service names → delonet-conventions.
• BMAD planning/implementation artifacts under _bmad-output/ — never intake or reorganize those.