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name: update-dashboard description: This skill should be used when you need to refresh the Dashboard with current system status, pending actions, recent activity, and statistics. It automatically gathers data from action folders (Needs_Action, Plans, Done), checks watcher status, and updates the Dashboard.md file. Use this skill when the user asks to refresh/update the dashboard, check system status, or get an overview of pending tasks and recent activity.

Update Dashboard

Refresh the Dashboard with current system status and activity.

Before Implementation

Gather context to ensure successful execution:

Source	What to Gather
Project Structure	Use Glob to verify directories exist: Needs_Action/, Done/, Plans/, and Dashboard.md
Configuration	Ask user about base directory path if not standard (default: ./AI_Employee_Vault)
Watcher Logs	Identify watcher log location and format for status checking
User Preferences	Confirm display preferences (thresholds, item counts) on first use

If critical directories are missing, ask user to confirm project structure before proceeding.

Dependencies

Required Claude Tools:

• Read: For reading Dashboard.md and action files
• Glob: For finding and counting files in directories
• Bash: For checking timestamps and file operations
• Edit or Write: For updating Dashboard.md

Required File System Access:

• Read access: Action directories (Needs_Action/, Done/, Plans/)
• Write access: Dashboard.md file

File Format Requirements:

• Action files must have YAML frontmatter with status, priority, detected fields
• See references/file-format-spec.md for complete specification

Configuration

On first use or when user requests customization, clarify:

1. Base directory: Where is your AI Employee Vault? (default: ./AI_Employee_Vault)
2. Watcher status thresholds:
   • Running: Last entry < X minutes ago (default: 5)
   • Slow: Last entry X-Y minutes ago (default: 5-15)
   • Stopped: Last entry > Y minutes ago (default: 15)
3. Display preferences:
   • Recent activity count: How many items to show? (default: 5)
   • Stats time ranges: Today, this week (default)

Instructions

1. Validate Project Structure

Before gathering data, verify required directories exist:

# Check for required directories
ls [BASE_DIR]/Needs_Action/
ls [BASE_DIR]/Done/
ls [BASE_DIR]/Plans/

If any directory is missing:

• Report to user which directories are missing
• Ask if they want to create the missing directories
• Do not proceed with update until structure is valid

2. Gather Current Status

a. Count Files in Each Folder

Use Glob to count .md files:

• [BASE_DIR]/Needs_Action/*.md (pending actions)
• [BASE_DIR]/Plans/*.md (active plans)
• [BASE_DIR]/Done/*.md (completed tasks)

b. Check Watcher Status

Look for most recent log entry in today's log file:

• If last entry < 5 minutes ago (or configured threshold): 🟢 Running
• If last entry 5-15 minutes ago (or configured range): 🟡 Slow
• If last entry > 15 minutes ago (or configured threshold): 🔴 Stopped

Error handling:

• If log file doesn't exist: Show "🟡 Unknown" status
• If log format is unexpected: Use file modification time as fallback

3. Get Pending Actions List

Read all files in [BASE_DIR]/Needs_Action/:

For each file:

1. Read YAML frontmatter
2. Extract: filename, priority, detected timestamp
3. Only include files with status: pending or status: in_progress
4. Format as list item with emoji indicator:
   • 🔴 High priority
   • 🟡 Medium priority
   • 🟢 Low priority

Error handling:

• If frontmatter is missing: Skip file with warning, continue processing
• If priority is missing: Default to medium (🟡)
• If detected timestamp is malformed: Use file modification time

Empty state:

• If no pending actions: Display "No pending actions"

4. Get Recent Activity

Read all files in [BASE_DIR]/Done/:

1. Extract completed timestamp from frontmatter
2. Sort by completion timestamp (most recent first)
3. Take top 5 (or configured count) completed items
4. Format with completion timestamp and brief description

Error handling:

• If completed timestamp missing: Use file modification time
• If file has no title: Use filename as description

Empty state:

• If no recent activity: Display "No recent activity"

5. Calculate Today's Stats

Calculate three key metrics:

• Files Processed Today: Count log entries for today, or count Done files modified today
• Active Tasks: Count of pending + in_progress items from Needs_Action
• Completed This Week: Count Done folder items from past 7 days

6. Update Dashboard.md

Read current [BASE_DIR]/Dashboard.md:

1. If Dashboard.md doesn't exist, create from template in assets/dashboard-template.md
2. Update the frontmatter last_updated field to current UTC timestamp (ISO 8601 format)
3. Replace each section with fresh data:
   • System Status
   • Pending Actions
   • Recent Activity
   • Quick Stats

Use Edit tool for existing file, Write tool for new file.

Dashboard Structure

The Dashboard.md should follow this structure (see assets/dashboard-template.md):

---
last_updated: [ISO timestamp]
---

# AI Employee Dashboard

## System Status
- Watcher Status: [🟢 Running / 🟡 Slow / 🔴 Stopped]
- Last Check: [timestamp of most recent log entry]

## Pending Actions
[List of pending items with priorities, or "No pending actions"]

## Recent Activity
[List of last 5 completed items, or "No recent activity"]

## Quick Stats
- Files Processed Today: [count]
- Active Tasks: [count]
- Completed This Week: [count]

Error Handling

Handle common error scenarios gracefully:

Error Scenario	Response
Missing directory	Report to user, offer to create, do not proceed until resolved
Malformed markdown file	Skip file with warning, continue processing others
Missing frontmatter fields	Use defaults (status=pending, priority=medium, timestamp=file mtime)
Invalid timestamps	Use file modification time as fallback
Empty directories	Show appropriate empty state message
Dashboard.md missing	Create new file from template
One section fails	Update other sections successfully, log error for failed section

Always update last_updated timestamp even if some sections fail.

Examples

✅ Good: Well-formed action file

---
status: pending
priority: high
detected: 2026-01-10T14:23:01Z
title: "Process invoice for Client A"
---

# Invoice Processing Required

Details here...

❌ Bad: Missing required fields

---
# No status or priority fields!
---

# Some Task

This will be skipped or treated with defaults.

✅ Good: Empty state handling

When no pending actions exist:

## Pending Actions
No pending actions

Not:

## Pending Actions
[blank]

Anti-Patterns

Avoid these common mistakes:

❌ Don't manually edit counts - Always recalculate from source data ❌ Don't cache watcher status - Always check latest log entry ❌ Don't skip validation - Verify all directories before processing ❌ Don't use relative timestamps - Always use ISO 8601 format with UTC ❌ Don't proceed on errors - Gracefully handle and report issues ❌ Don't hardcode paths - Use configured base directory

Success Criteria

After running this skill, verify:

• Dashboard.md has current last_updated timestamp
• All file counts are accurate (verify with Glob)
• Watcher status reflects latest activity
• Pending actions list matches Needs_Action/ contents
• Recent activity shows latest items from Done/
• No errors or warnings in execution log

Advanced Topics

For detailed information, see:

• Dashboard design principles: references/dashboard-best-practices.md
• File format specifications: references/file-format-spec.md

Related Skills

• Use process-needs-action to process the pending items listed
• Use complete-task to move items to Done folder