start-workday

name	start-workday
description	Start the workday. Calendar check, inbox overview, day planning, action menu. Use when: 'start workday', 'morning review', 'let's start the day' on a work day (Tue-Fri). For Mondays, use /start-work-week instead.
disable-model-invocation	true

Start Workday (Tue-Fri morning, ~10 min)

You are running the user's workday startup. Follow these steps in order, presenting findings conversationally. Present options — never mandates.

The startup has four phases: Ground (capture current state), Orient (see everything), Choose (collaboratively select), Commit (write decisions).

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Phase 1: Ground (capture current state — no system data yet)

Step 1: Daily note setup

Read today's daily note. This command creates the note from the configured template if it doesn't already exist — do NOT call obsidian create for the daily note.

obsidian daily:read vault="{{VAULT_NAME}}"

Read yesterday's daily note for context (especially Reflection and Observations sections).

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Step 2: Morning check-in

Guide through 3 prompts and write responses to ## Morning State in today's daily note:

• "How are you feeling right now?"
• "What feels most alive for you right now?"
• "What would make today feel good?"

Update energy and mood frontmatter with natural-language values (e.g., "steady", "foggy", "optimistic").

These answers capture the user's current state. Use them as loose context for tone and suggestions later — they do NOT auto-drive Today's Options selection.

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Step 3: Calendar check

Read today's events using mcp__apple-events__calendar_events (filter by today's date range). Summarize obligations and note open time blocks for deep work.

Also read the next 60 days of calendar events (startDate: tomorrow, endDate: today + 60 days) and Apple Reminders (mcp__apple-events__reminders_tasks, incomplete with due dates). These feed the ## Upcoming horizon overview in Step 9. Today's events inform action menu context but are NOT written to the daily note.

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Step 4: Day-specific routines

Read [[Day-Specific Routines]]. Filter for today's day of the week + the ## Daily section. Present applicable items.

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Phase 2: Orient (full system awareness — read-only, no decisions)

Step 5: Inbox overview (counts only — NOT processing)

Gather counts from all three inboxes:

• Drafts inbox: mcp__drafts__drafts_inbox — count items
• Obsidian inbox: obsidian search query="path:Inbox/" vault="{{VAULT_NAME}}" — count results
• Unread email: mcp__mail__get_emails (unread, limit 1) — get unread count

Report: "X Drafts, Y inbox notes, Z unread emails. Full processing happens during deep review."

Workbench: Count files in Workbench/ (obsidian search query="path:Workbench/" vault="{{VAULT_NAME}}"). Report: "X workbench items active" (add "Y ready to graduate" if any have status: ready). Information-only — no processing.

Do NOT process inboxes here.

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Step 6: Full project landscape

Read ALL active project notes (search by categories: ["[[Projects]]"] and status: active) + [[Action Pool]]. Check Apple Reminders for approaching deadlines.

Present a high-level dashboard. For each active project:

• Project name + area
• Brief status snapshot (open action count, any waiting/blocked items)
• Approaching deadlines or time-sensitive items
• Last notable activity (from Completed section dates)

Group by area (work first, then personal). Include Action Pool standalone items as their own section.

Carry-forward: Read yesterday's daily note ## Today's Options and note which items weren't completed (still - [ ], not in ## Done Today). Present carry-forward items inline with their parent projects rather than as a separate list.

This is a read-only overview — no recommendations yet. End with: "That's the full landscape. What stands out to you?"

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Phase 3: Choose (collaborative — user drives)

Step 7: Action menu

Present a work-biased menu of suggested actions drawn from the landscape. Weight by enjoyable usefulness. Consider energy/calendar loosely. Highlight:

• Critical/deadline items
• Personal items the user tends to deprioritize
• Friction patterns from prior reviews

Stance awareness

Watch for these patterns and respond concretely (grounded in shadow-awareness rule — Tier 1 only):

• Lots of planning, little execution → "What's the very next physical action?"
• Grinding through tasks, ignoring meaningful work → Surface something important and enjoyable
• Paralysis or "nothing matters" → Offer one small, concrete, useful thing
• Refining options instead of choosing → "These are good enough — which one first?"

One observation max. If the user doesn't engage, drop it completely. Check off-switch criteria before surfacing (productive flow, low energy, already surfaced).

Frame as a discussion menu, not a final list. End with something like: "These are some options that stand out. What would you like on today's plate? Anything to add, drop, or swap?"

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Step 8: Collaborative selection

Wait for user input. The user picks, adjusts, discusses. Iterate as needed.

This step is conversational — no vault writes happen here. Only proceed to Phase 4 once the user confirms their choices.

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Phase 4: Commit (write based on user's choices)

Step 9: Write daily note dashboard + Intentions

Write the daily-note dashboard per the shared write-spec in .claude/shared/daily-startup-dashboard.md, with these parameters:

• Today's Options — groups Work / Personal / Quick; a work-biased menu of the items confirmed in Step 8, weighted by enjoyable usefulness.
• Upcoming — all critical items (work + personal); sources are the Step 3 60-day calendar scan and milestones spotted in Step 6.
• Intentions — the user's stated priorities and desired feel for the day.
• Inbox relevance pass — include unread email (mcp__mail__search on chosen work topics).

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Step 10: Yesterday's observations + Summary + Commit

If yesterday's daily note exists and doesn't already have an ## Observations section, append one with 2-3 sentences noting patterns Claude detected — energy trends, friction signals, mood patterns, or anything noteworthy from yesterday's data.

Defense pattern tracking (Tier 2 — appropriate in Observations): If yesterday's data shows a pattern from the shadow-awareness rule — repeated deferral of a specific action type, planning-heavy day with low completion, avoidance of a particular domain — note it using the Wise Feedback Structure (observation + capacity evidence). Cross-reference with prior Observations sections when the pattern spans multiple days. If a documented pattern didn't activate when expected (e.g., high-stakes day handled with ease), note the contradiction — this is highest-value data for the Defense Pattern Living Record.

Present a brief summary:

• Two-month horizon snapshot (written to ## Upcoming)
• Chosen actions by area (written to ## Today's Options)
• Any follow-ups or waiting items
• Day-specific routine items (written to ## Routines)

Commit all vault changes.