| name | brain-daily |
| description | Run the morning brain briefing and plan the day. Use when starting work, reviewing priorities, or when the user asks "what should I work on today?" or "what's on my plate?". |
| compatibility | Requires local-brain MCP server (brain-mcp) to be configured. |
brain-daily: Daily Planning Workflow
Start the day with a structured overview of the user's Local Brain workspace. This is the "engage" phase — the daily habit that keeps work intentional.
Trigger Phrases
- "Good morning", "start my day", "morning briefing"
- "What should I focus on today?"
- "What's on my plate?" / "Catch me up" / "What's due?"
Pre-flight Check
Call get_brain_overview first. If the brain is empty (no projects, no dump items), do not run a briefing on nothing. Instead suggest:
"Your brain is empty — let's set it up first. Tell me about what you're working on."
This naturally transitions to the brain-setup workflow.
Workflow
Step 1 — Fetch the Briefing
Call get_daily_briefing to retrieve:
- Overdue tasks (most urgent)
- Tasks due today
- High-priority open tasks
- In-progress work
- Blocked items
- Recent completions
- Inbox items awaiting refile
Step 2 — Summarize Clearly
Present a concise, scannable summary. Do not dump raw data.
Project Overview Table
Always start with a project overview table showing the distribution of tasks. Use the project_summaries data:
| Project | Open | Backlog | Total |
|--------------------|------|---------|-------|
| agentic-project | 15 | 6 | 21 |
| nsa2d | 8 | 3 | 11 |
| ... | ... | ... | ... |
Open = actionable tasks (status: open, in-progress, blocked). Backlog = parked for later (status: backlog). This distinction is critical — backlog items are not on the user's plate today.
Actionable Items
After the table, list actionable items grouped by urgency. Only show items with status open, in-progress, or blocked — never backlog:
- Overdue — flag prominently with task IDs and due dates
- Due today — list with IDs
- In progress — what is already underway
- High priority (open) — P1 tasks that are open (not backlog), without due dates
- Blocked — items needing unblock
Keep it to 10 actionable items max; offer to drill into a project if there's more.
Backlog Awareness
End with a single line like: "Backlog: 12 items across 4 projects parked for later." Do not list individual backlog items unless the user asks.
If everything is clear (nothing overdue, nothing due, low inbox):
"Clean slate today. Here's what's in progress and what you could pick up next."
Step 3 — Recommend a Focus
Based on the briefing:
- Suggest the single most important task to start with and explain why
- If inbox has > 5 items, suggest a quick triage pass first
- Flag any blocked tasks that might need a quick unblock
Step 4 — Offer Follow-up Actions
After the summary, offer natural next steps based on what the briefing revealed:
- Inbox items pending? → "Want to do a quick triage?" (transitions to
brain-triage)
- Backlog needs planning? → "You have N items in backlog — want to promote some for this week?" (use
update_todo to set status to "open")
- Clear top priority? → "Want to focus on [project]?" (
set_context)
- Want to log the plan? → "I can create today's daily note." (
create_daily_note)
- Tasks need updating? → "Want to update any statuses or priorities?" (
update_todo)
Do not list all options every time. Offer the 1-2 most relevant based on the actual briefing state.
Tool Sequence
get_brain_overview()
→ if empty: suggest brain-setup, stop
get_daily_briefing()
→ present summary
→ recommend focus
→ (optionally) create_daily_note()
→ (optionally) set_context(project_name: ...)
→ (optionally) refile_item / update_todo / create_todo_in_project
Notes
- Use
query_todos with due_before: today and status: open for precise overdue filtering if needed.
- Do not make changes without user confirmation for destructive actions.
- After the briefing, let the user steer. Offer options; do not auto-execute a full plan.
- Tone: crisp and energizing — like a good morning standup with a trusted colleague, not a status report.
