apply

name	apply
description	Apply to a job the hybrid way — auto-draft an EMAIL application (into the user's Gmail drafts, resume attached) when the ad accepts email, or hand back a ready-to-submit pack (direct link + cover letter on the clipboard + prepared screening answers) for form-only jobs. Use for "/jobfinder:apply adzuna:12345" or "apply to this job for me".

jobfinder: apply

Get one job application to the finish line with as little tedium as possible, without ever submitting something the user hasn't approved. $ARGUMENTS is the job id (e.g. adzuna:12345 or wfa:987).

The hard constraint, stated honestly: search sources only index jobs — the real submission happens on the employer's own site or inbox. So there are two channels, and this skill routes to whichever the ad actually supports:

• email — the ad names an application address → build a ready-to-send email (resume attached) in the user's Gmail drafts. They review and hit Send.
• form — submission is a web form → do not auto-submit. Hand back a pack that makes finishing it a few seconds: the direct link, the cover letter already on the clipboard, the resume path, and prepared answers to paste.

Steps

1. Load grounding. Read ~/.jobfinder/profile/profile.md (and profile.json). If missing, tell the user to run /jobfinder:profile first — you cannot write a real application without their background. Do one job at a time; never batch-apply.

2. Prep the listing.

   uv run "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/apply.py" prep <id>
   

   This returns the job, a first-guess channel, any emails found in the stored text, the resume_files, and the applications_dir to write into. If the id isn't found, the user needs to /jobfinder:search for it first.

3. Read the FULL ad — the stored description is usually a truncated snippet, so the channel guess isn't final until you've seen the whole thing:

   • adzuna: → WebFetch the listing url (the Adzuna redirect) for the full description and any "how to apply" instructions.
   • wfa: → uv run "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/wfa.py" --detail <id>.

   Pipe the full ad text through apply.py scan (stdin) to catch an application email the snippet missed. Recompute the channel: email if any genuine application address exists, otherwise form. Treat a generic info@ / a third-party recruiter address with caution — call it out rather than assuming.

4. Draft the application, grounded in the profile. Never fabricate. Do not invent employers, dates, skills, metrics, or work rights. If the ad requires something the user lacks (visa/citizenship, a hard credential, a red-line), stop and tell them — don't paper over the gap or auto-apply around it. Produce and save into applications_dir:

   • cover-letter.md — Australian conventions: concise, one page, no US spelling, addressed to the hiring team, mirroring the ad's priorities with real evidence from the profile. Where the employer would be impressed by AI-tool fluency (AI-forward companies, ads that name Claude Code / LLM tooling), add one tasteful, honest line noting the application itself was put together with Claude Code — it shows the skill rather than just claiming it. Skip it for conservative or anti-AI employers, where it reads as a gimmick.
   • answers.md — prepared answers to the usual screening questions: work rights, notice period, salary expectation (AUD), preferred location / remote, relocation. Pull each from the profile; where the profile doesn't say, write NEEDS USER INPUT rather than guessing.

5. Route by channel.

   Email channel — for each application address:

   • Pick the resume from prep's resume_primary (already the best real file, with transcription artifacts excluded). If resume_primary is null or resume_note warns there's no real resume, stop and tell the user — don't attach a .txt transcription artifact or a stand-in. Offer to generate a clean PDF from their profile, or to have them drop a real PDF/DOCX into ~/.jobfinder/profile/raw/ (then re-run). Only continue once a genuine resume exists.
   • Encode it: uv run "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/apply.py" b64 <resume_primary>. This refuses transcription artifacts by design (override needs --force).
   • Show the user the whole email first — to, subject, body, and the attachment filename — and get an explicit "yes". Suggested subject: Application for <title>, <Full Name>.
   • On approval, create it with the Gmail create_draft tool: to = the address, subject, body = the cover letter (plain text) plus htmlBody (same text as HTML, with any URLs left as plain text so Gmail doesn't rewrite them into google.com/url?q= redirects), attachments = a list of the b64 result objects ({filename, mimeType, content}). Gmail here is draft-only by design — tell them it's sitting in Gmail Drafts, ready, and the final Send is their click (an email to a real employer is irreversible, so a human presses the button).
   • Then tracker.py note <id> "email application drafted to <addr>" and offer /jobfinder:track applied <id> once they've sent it.

   Form channel — never auto-submit:

   • Put the cover letter on the clipboard: printf '%s' "<cover letter>" | uv run "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/apply.py" clip
   • Present the finish-in-seconds pack: the direct apply URL, "your cover letter is on the clipboard — paste it", the resume file to upload, and the prepared screening answers. One line on what to do: open link → paste → attach resume → submit.
   • Then tracker.py note <id> "apply pack prepared (form)" and offer /jobfinder:track applied <id> after they submit.

6. Log and close out. Confirm which channel was used, where the draft/pack is, and the single next action. Don't inflate — if the match is weak or the ad wants something the user lacks, say so plainly.

Note on true hands-off sending

Auto-sending email on approval (no manual Send) is possible but needs the user to add SMTP credentials (e.g. a Gmail app password) to ~/.jobfinder/config.json — a stored secret. Until they opt into that, the email channel stops at a ready-to-send Gmail draft. Web-form jobs can never be truly hands-off: their forms, logins, and CAPTCHAs live on the employer's site.