Proactive-Do
by @hyharry
Proactive todo execution, heartbeat-driven review, and structured follow-up for a markdown todo system. Use when the agent needs to review `todo/todo.md`, pi...
clawhub install proactive-doπ About This Skill
name: proactive-do description: >- Proactive todo execution, heartbeat-driven review, and structured follow-up for a markdown todo system. Use when the agent needs to review
todo/todo.md, pick the
top 3 [new] items, do tasks that look doable within about 1 hour, draft simple
plans for tasks likely to take over 1 hour, update [new|wip|done] labels,
maintain per-task journals under agent_work/, reconcile work after about 2.5
hours, and send concise start/finish reports by email instead of chat. Strong
triggers include: heartbeat prompts, system events mentioning todo/todo.md,
[new] / [wip] / [done], "proactive-do", "review todos", "pick top 3",
"do it now if under 1 hour", "draft a plan", "reconcile statuses", and
"agent_work" journals.
Proactive-Do
A lightweight workflow for proactive execution of a human's todo list with recurring reviews, clear state labels, structured documentation, and concise reporting.
Quick start
1) Source of truth
2) Initialize phase (install-time only; do not run on every review)
3) Cadence (recommended)
2) Cadence (recommended)
3) Decision policy
4) Selection heuristics (for "top 3") Default ranking when not specified by the owner/requester: 1) Explicit priority hints in the text (e.g., "priority: high"), 2) Fit for β€1 hour (quick wins first), 3) Recency/clarity of the item. When in doubt, take the first three [new] items in file order.
5) Per-task journal (agent_work/)
6) Reporting
Categorization policy
When the owner/requester says "add a todo":]"
Update prioritization: quick search/setup tend to be picked more often; prototype/try out medium; learn/write lower for push.
Persist this behavior in the local workspace policy/memory files when that is appropriate for the environment. Notification delivery (heartbeat)
Prefer email over chat for heartbeat notifications.
Send email via gog CLI (Gmail / Google Workspace CLI) when it is available.
Resolve sender, recipient, and fallback behavior from a local preference file when present:
- agent_work/proactive-do/delivery_prefs.md
If no preference file exists, ask once for delivery settings or use the current chat as a temporary fallback.
Start email (at 3h review start):
- Subject: "[assistant] start doing on 3 todos + " (abbr = short names of the 3 todos)
- Body: full text of the 3 selected todos; concise (β2-minute read)
Follow-up email (at 2.5h reconciliation):
- Subject: "[assistant] finish 3 todos + " (same abbr)
- Body: brief summary of what was done, results, failures, and done/not-done per task (β2-minute read)
Archive a copy of each email under agent_work/heartbeat_emails/.
Keep local preferences out of the published skill package unless they are intentionally shared. 3h Review β Execution flow
1) Parse todo/todo.md for the latest date section and list all items marked [new].
2) Rank candidates using the selection heuristics and pick the top 3 for this pass.
3) For each of the top 3:
- Estimate difficulty/time. If β€1h:
- Flip to [wip], create agent_work folder, execute.
- On success, flip to [done] and report.
- If blocked twice, keep [wip], record why + next action, and report.
- If >1h:
- Draft a short plan (steps + estimate), store it in agent_work folder template (can be pre-created without kickoff), and report.
4) Summarize what was done/planned, referencing the todo lines.
5) Notification: send the Start email using gog CLI per the template above.2.5h Follow-up β Reconciliation flow
1) Review items touched in the last 2.5h (from your journal and recent edits).
2) If finished: mark [done] and report the completion.
3) If not yet finished: ensure [wip] with a one-line reason and next action; update the journal accordingly; report.
4) Notification: send the Finish email using gog CLI per the template above.Cron payloads (copy/paste)
3h review payload text:
"Heartbeat: review todo/todo.md for [new] items. Pick the top 3 to act on this pass. For each selected [new]: if β€1h, do it now and report; if >1h, draft a simple plan with estimate and report. Maintain agent_work/ journals and include the todo/project name in every report. Deliver the start report by email per the proactive-do skill notification policy."2.5h follow-up payload text:
"Follow-up heartbeat: review all work performed in the past 2.5h. For each task, if completed mark [done]; else mark [wip] with a one-line reason and next action. Report the changes and reference the related todo/project. Deliver the finish report by email per the proactive-do skill notification policy."File conventions
Todo file: todo/todo.md (single source of truth; preserve all existing items, do not delete automatically)
States: [new], [wip], [done] (no other labels)
Date sections: markdown H2 "## YYYY-MM-DD"
Agent journals: agent_work/YYYY-MM-DD_HHMM_nickname/
- journal.md β running log (start time, intent, steps, errors, outputs)
- plan.md β for >1h tasks (steps + estimate + critical steps)
- outputs/ β any artifacts createdHeuristics for "β€1 hour"
Low external dependencies; small scope; familiar stack; no required approvals.
Examples: formatting/rewording docs, light scripting/automation, small data tidying, basic research + short writeup.
If uncertain, default to plan-first and request clarification. Safety / escalation
Halt and report for any action requiring explicit approval or external messaging on behalf of the owner/requester.
Never loop indefinitely. Two failed attempts on the same blocker β stop, label [wip], report.
Always include the todo/project name and journal path in reports. Templates and helpers
See references/templates.md for copy/paste templates:
- agent_work journal.md
- agent_work plan.md
- Report blocks for "done" and "plan" updatesNotes
Keep SKILL.md lean; store verbose templates in references/.
Prefer fewer larger edits to files (respect rate limits and avoid tight loops when writing externally).
π‘ Examples
1) Source of truth
2) Initialize phase (install-time only; do not run on every review)
3) Cadence (recommended)
2) Cadence (recommended)
3) Decision policy
4) Selection heuristics (for "top 3") Default ranking when not specified by the owner/requester: 1) Explicit priority hints in the text (e.g., "priority: high"), 2) Fit for β€1 hour (quick wins first), 3) Recency/clarity of the item. When in doubt, take the first three [new] items in file order.
5) Per-task journal (agent_work/)
6) Reporting