check-inbox

name	check-inbox
description	Read new messages from Lilo in .lilo-inbox/, summarize them into the working plan, and archive. Use at session start, when Lilo nudges you via tmux, or whenever you suspect new instructions have arrived. Plumbing only — does not act on the messages, that's the PM's judgment call.
user-invocable	true
allowed-tools	["Read","Bash(ls *)","Bash(mkdir *)","Bash(mv *)","Bash(find *)"]

/check-inbox — Read new Lilo messages

Scan .lilo-inbox/ for unread messages from Lilo, read them in order, then archive so they are not re-processed.

What this skill does (and does not)

Does: discover new files, read them, summarize each one inline so the operator (or the reviewing human) sees what arrived, archive to .lilo-inbox/processed/.

Does not: act on the instructions. After summarizing, decide what to do with the contents using your own judgment as the PM/operator. If a message requests work, incorporate it into your plan; if it's a nudge, acknowledge and continue; if it's ambiguous, write a question outbox message back to Lilo.

Steps

1. List .lilo-inbox/*.md (and *.json if any), excluding .lilo-inbox/processed/.

   find .lilo-inbox -maxdepth 1 -type f \( -name '*.md' -o -name '*.json' \) | sort
   

2. If the list is empty, say Inbox empty. and stop.
3. For each file in timestamp order:
   • Read the full file
   • Print a one-line summary: <filename>: <first meaningful line or title>
   • If the message is long, also print a 2-3 bullet summary of the ask
4. After reading every file, create .lilo-inbox/processed/ if needed and move all read files into it:

   mkdir -p .lilo-inbox/processed
   mv .lilo-inbox/<file1> .lilo-inbox/<file2> ... .lilo-inbox/processed/
   

5. State Inbox cleared. N message(s) processed. and then — outside the skill — decide how to act on the content.

When to run

• On session start (first thing after reading .team-state.json if in team mode).
• When Lilo nudges you via tmux send-keys — any message saying "check your inbox" or similar.
• After long operations that may have spanned several minutes — Lilo may have queued something while you were busy.
• Never on a loop. The inbox is async but not high-frequency. Polling it wastes tokens. Rely on explicit nudges and session-start checks.

Notes

• The processed/ archive is permanent — do not delete it. It's the audit trail of everything Lilo has asked you to do.
• If you find a message you already handled (duplicate from a re-nudge), still archive it; better to be idempotent than to leave stale files in the inbox.
• Messages are authored by Lilo on behalf of the operator. Treat them as you would direct instructions from the user.