project-health-check

name	Project Health Check
description	Analyze project health when User asks "project status", "how are my projects", "check project health", or "what's blocked". Scans all projects, identifies blockers, assesses velocity, and provides actionable next steps.

Project Health Check

Perform a comprehensive health assessment of all active projects, identifying blockers, velocity issues, and providing specific next steps.

When to Use This Skill

Auto-invoke when User says any of:

• "project status"
• "how are my projects"
• "project health check"
• "what's blocked"
• "check projects"
• "project overview"

What to Analyze

1. Read Project Index

• Parse projects/INDEX.md for all active projects
• Extract current status, milestones, blockers, priorities

2. Assess Each Project

For each project, determine:

Health Status:

• 🟢 Healthy - On track, no blockers, momentum good
• 🟡 At Risk - Minor blockers or slow velocity
• 🔴 Blocked - Significant blockers, no recent progress
• ⚪ Paused - Intentionally on hold

Velocity Check:

• When was last update/progress?
• Is velocity appropriate for priority level?
• Primary projects should show weekly progress
• Secondary projects should show bi-weekly progress
• Maintenance can be monthly

Blocker Analysis:

• Technical blockers (dependencies, bugs, architecture)
• Resource blockers (time, money, skills)
• Decision blockers (unclear requirements, strategy)
• External blockers (waiting on others)

Next Action Clarity:

• Is next milestone clearly defined?
• Is it actionable (can be started immediately)?
• Is it appropriately scoped (achievable in 1-2 weeks)?

3. Cross-Project Analysis

Priority Alignment:

• Are projects getting attention proportional to priority?
• Primary should get 40-50% of project time
• Secondary should get 25-30% of project time
• Is User overcommitted?

Resource Conflicts:

• Are any projects competing for same resources?
• Time conflicts in weekly schedule?
• Financial constraints limiting progress?

Skill Gaps:

• Are any projects blocked by missing skills?
• Should User learn, delegate, or pivot?

Portfolio Balance:

• Mix of revenue vs learning vs legacy projects?
• Short-term wins vs long-term bets?

Output Format

# Project Health Report - [DATE]

## 📊 Executive Summary

**Overall Health:** [Healthy/At Risk/Needs Attention]
**Projects On Track:** X/Y
**Critical Blockers:** X
**Recommended Actions:** X

---

## 🎯 Project Status

### 🔬 YourProject (Primary)
**Health:** 🟢 Healthy
**Status:** `In Development`
**Velocity:** Good - shipped feature X this week
**Next Milestone:** [milestone from INDEX.md]
**Blockers:** None
**Recommendation:** Continue current pace

### 📜 SecondProject (Secondary)
**Health:** 🔴 Blocked
**Status:** `Blocked`
**Velocity:** Stalled - no progress in 2 weeks
**Next Milestone:** [milestone]
**Blockers:**
- ⚠️ [blocker from INDEX.md]
**Recommendation:** [Specific action to unblock]

[Continue for all projects...]

---

## 🚨 Critical Issues

1. **[Project Name] - [Issue]**
   - Impact: [How this affects goals]
   - Action: [Specific next step]
   - Timeline: [When to address]

---

## 📈 Priority Recommendations

**This Week Focus:**
1. [Specific action - project name]
2. [Specific action - project name]
3. [Specific action - project name]

**This Month:**
- [Strategic adjustment if needed]

**Consider:**
- [Any project scope/priority changes]

---

## ⚖️ Capacity Check

**Time Allocation (Weekly):**
- Primary project: [X hours - is this enough?]
- Secondary project: [X hours - is this enough?]
- Maintenance: [X hours]

**Assessment:** [Overcommitted/Balanced/Underutilized]

**Recommendation:** [Adjust capacity or priorities]

---

*Generated by Project Health Check*
*Reference: projects/INDEX.md*

Implementation Approach

1. Read projects/INDEX.md

   • Parse all project sections
   • Extract status, milestones, blockers, priorities

2. Check for project files (optional enhancement)

   • Look for individual project markdown files
   • Check git activity if repo exists
   • Scan for recent updates

3. Read recent daily notes (optional)

   • Check reflections/daily/ for recent mentions
   • Identify actual work vs planned work
   • Spot patterns (consistently skipping a project?)

4. Synthesize and recommend

   • Be specific (no "make progress on X")
   • Provide next action ("Debug API auth issue in YourProject")
   • Flag real problems honestly

Context Files to Reference

• projects/INDEX.md (required) - Project metadata
• projects/[project-name].md (if exists) - Detailed project docs
• reflections/daily/*.md (recent 7 days) - Actual work done
• .system/context/preferences.md - Time allocation philosophy

Decision Framework

When to flag a project as Blocked:

• No progress in 2+ weeks for Primary
• No progress in 1+ month for Secondary
• Explicit blocker listed in INDEX.md
• Next milestone is vague or unclear

When to recommend priority changes:

• Primary project consistently getting <5 hours/week
• Maintenance project consuming >10 hours/week
• New opportunity significantly better than current project

When to recommend pausing a project:

• Blocked for 1+ month with no clear path forward
• No longer aligned with goals
• Resource constraints make progress impossible
• Better opportunity identified

Tone

• Honest and data-driven (no sugar-coating)
• Specific and actionable (no generic advice)
• Strategic (connect to long-term goals)
• Pragmatic (acknowledge real constraints)
• Direct (this is Atlas-level operational assessment)