| name | codex-project-pulse |
| description | Use when asking project status, next priority, sprint health, blockers, deadlines, risk register, or daily brief generation. |
| load_priority | on-demand |
TL;DR
Project dashboard brain. Maintains persistent state in .codex/pulse/ — sprint, priorities, blockers, risks, milestones. When user asks "hôm nay thế nào?" or "$today", read all state files, run quality check, and generate a comprehensive daily brief. This is the skill that makes the agent know WHERE the project is and WHAT to do next.
Activation
- Activate on
$pulse, $today, $daily, $status, $brief.
- Activate on "hôm nay thế nào?", "status update", "what's next?", "what should I work on?", "project status", "daily standup", "morning brief".
- Activate on
$sprint-init, $done, $block, $unblock, $milestone, $priority, $risk.
- Activate on "bắt đầu sprint", "hoàn thành story", "bị block", "deadline", "rủi ro".
- Auto-load with
codex-workflow-autopilot when routing daily check-ins.
- Auto-load with
codex-scrum-subagents during sprint ceremonies.
- Auto-suggest on session start if
.codex/pulse/sprint-state.json exists.
Announce at start: "Loading project pulse — checking sprint state, priorities, and blockers."
State Files
All project state lives in .codex/pulse/ at the project root:
.codex/pulse/
├── sprint-state.json # Current sprint: goal, stories, status, dates
├── priority-queue.json # Ordered list of what to do next
├── blockers.json # Active blockers with owners and age
├── risk-register.json # Risks with severity, probability, mitigation
├── milestones.json # Deadlines and milestone tracking
└── daily-brief.md # Latest generated morning brief
Command Reference
Daily Operations
| Command | Action | Example |
|---|
$today / $pulse | Generate daily brief | "Hôm nay thế nào?" |
$priority | Show priority queue | "Việc gì cần làm trước?" |
$priority reorder | Reorder priorities | "Đổi thứ tự ưu tiên" |
Sprint Management
| Command | Action | Example |
|---|
$sprint-init | Initialize new sprint | "$sprint-init Sprint 4 --goal 'Complete payment flow' --end 2026-05-10" |
$sprint-close | Close current sprint, calculate velocity | "$sprint-close" |
$add-story | Add story to sprint backlog | "$add-story PAY-001 'Stripe checkout' --points 5 --owner @dev-a" |
$done <id> | Mark story complete | "$done PAY-001" |
$wip <id> | Mark story in-progress | "$wip PAY-002" |
Blocker Management
| Command | Action | Example |
|---|
$block <id> <reason> | Add blocker | "$block PAY-001 'Waiting for Stripe API key'" |
$unblock <id> | Remove blocker | "$unblock PAY-001" |
$blockers | List all active blockers | "$blockers" |
Risk & Milestone Management
| Command | Action | Example |
|---|
$risk <desc> | Add risk | "$risk 'Payment integration delay' --severity high" |
$risk resolve <id> | Close a risk | "$risk resolve RISK-003" |
$milestone <name> <date> | Add milestone | "$milestone 'Demo day' 2026-05-15" |
$milestones | Show all milestones with proximity | "$milestones" |
Daily Brief Protocol
When $today or $pulse is triggered:
Step 1: Read State
1. Read .codex/pulse/sprint-state.json → sprint progress
2. Read .codex/pulse/priority-queue.json → what's next
3. Read .codex/pulse/blockers.json → what's stuck
4. Read .codex/pulse/risk-register.json → active risks
5. Read .codex/pulse/milestones.json → upcoming deadlines
Step 2: Gather Signals
6. Check git log --since=yesterday → recent commits
7. Run quality check if project has test/lint commands
8. Read latest .codex/sessions/ summary → yesterday's context
9. Count open TODOs/FIXMEs if available
Step 3: Generate Brief
10. Calculate sprint progress (stories done / total, time elapsed / total)
11. Identify overdue milestones
12. Identify stale blockers (> 2 days old)
13. Generate priority recommendations
14. Write .codex/pulse/daily-brief.md
15. Present to user
Step 4: Recommend Action
16. If blockers exist → recommend unblocking action first
17. If deadline < 3 days → flag urgency
18. If quality degrading → recommend quality fix before features
19. Otherwise → recommend top priority from queue
Daily Brief Output Format
# 📊 Daily Brief — [Date]
## Sprint [N]: [Goal]
**Progress:** [X/Y stories] ([Z]%) | **Time:** Day [D/T] ([P]%)
**Velocity risk:** [On track / Behind / Ahead]
[Progress bar visualization]
## 🔴 Blockers ([count])
| Story | Blocker | Age | Owner | Action Needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [id] | [reason] | [days] | [who] | [next step] |
## ⚠️ Risks ([count active])
| Risk | Severity | Probability | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| [desc] | 🔴/🟡/🟢 | H/M/L | [action] |
## ⏰ Upcoming Deadlines
| Milestone | Date | Days Left | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| [name] | [date] | [N days] | 🟢/🟡/🔴 |
## 📈 Quality Pulse
| Signal | Status | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Tests | [pass rate] | [↑/↓/→] |
| Lint | [error count] | [↑/↓/→] |
| Tech debt | [signal count] | [↑/↓/→] |
| Security | [finding count] | [↑/↓/→] |
## 📋 Today's Priorities
1. 🔴 [Urgent: unblock/fix] — [reason]
2. 🟡 [High: continue/start] — [story or task]
3. 🟢 [Normal: next in queue] — [story or task]
## 💡 Yesterday's Progress
[Summary from latest session or git log]
Sprint State Management
Sprint Lifecycle
stateDiagram-v2
[*] --> Planning: $sprint-init
Planning --> Active: Stories added
Active --> Active: $done, $wip, $block
Active --> Closing: All stories done or sprint end date
Closing --> Review: $sprint-close
Review --> [*]: Velocity recorded
Active --> Active: Daily $pulse
Velocity Tracking
After each sprint close, record:
{
"sprint": "Sprint 3",
"planned_points": 21,
"delivered_points": 18,
"velocity": 18,
"stories_planned": 7,
"stories_completed": 6,
"carryover": ["PAY-003"]
}
Use velocity history to forecast future sprint capacity:
recommended_commitment = average(last 3 sprints velocity) × 0.85
Priority Calculation Rules
When ordering the priority queue:
Priority Score = base_priority + urgency_bonus + blocker_penalty + deadline_bonus
base_priority:
- critical: 100
- high: 70
- medium: 40
- low: 10
urgency_bonus:
- blocked_dependency: +30 (something else waiting on this)
- stale_wip > 3 days: +20
blocker_penalty:
- currently_blocked: -50 (deprioritize until unblocked)
deadline_bonus:
- milestone < 3 days: +40
- milestone < 7 days: +20
- milestone < 14 days: +10
State Initialization
When no .codex/pulse/ exists, on $sprint-init:
- Create
.codex/pulse/ directory
- Ask user for:
- Sprint name and number
- Sprint goal (one sentence)
- Start date and end date
- Stories to include (or import from backlog)
- Generate initial state files
- Generate first daily brief
When .codex/pulse/ already exists but sprint is closed:
- Archive previous sprint to
.codex/pulse/archive/sprint-N/
- Initialize new sprint state
- Carry over incomplete stories (if user confirms)
Integration with Other Skills
| Skill | Integration |
|---|
codex-project-memory | Read session summaries for "yesterday's progress"; read decisions for context |
codex-execution-quality-gate | Run quality scripts for "quality pulse" section of daily brief |
codex-scrum-subagents | Use ceremony workflows for sprint events; share sprint state |
codex-workflow-autopilot | Route $today to pulse; use priority queue for "what next?" decisions |
codex-context-engine | Load genome.md for project structure awareness alongside sprint state |
codex-verification-discipline | Verify story completion claims with evidence before marking $done |
codex-document-writer | Use report templates for sprint reports and progress updates |
Hard Rules
- Never mark a story
done without verification evidence (tests, build, demo).
- Never remove a blocker without confirming the blocking condition is resolved.
- Never ignore a milestone < 3 days away — always flag in daily brief.
- Always read state files before generating any brief — no guessing from memory.
- Always persist state changes to files — memory alone decays between sessions.
- Stale blockers (> 2 days) get escalation flag automatically.
- Sprint velocity is calculated from actual delivered points, not planned.
- When quality degrades (test failures, new critical debt), flag before feature work.
Reference Files
references/state-schemas.md: JSON schemas for all .codex/pulse/ state files.references/daily-brief-template.md: daily brief format, quality rules, and examples.references/priority-engine.md: priority calculation, reordering rules, and queue management.
