/brief - Meeting Prep¶
| Runtime | ~2 minutes |
| Reads | tasks.md, theme status.md, last 3 meeting notes, people.md, discovery logs |
| Writes | Stdout only (ephemeral) |
| Model | Sonnet (4 parallel subagents) |
What It Does¶
Generates a fast, opinionated pre-meeting one-pager in under 2 minutes. Pulls tasks, recent meeting history, theme status, and stakeholder context into a single view you can scan before walking into a room.
Why It Matters¶
You know the feeling: meeting starts in 3 minutes, you can't remember what was agreed last time, what you owe them, or what they owe you. You scramble through notes and find nothing useful in time.
/brief solves this by assembling context from across the vault, filtered to the specific person and theme you're about to discuss. Speed over depth. This is a context reload, not a research project. (For deep research, build a custom /prep skill.)
How It Works¶
graph TD
A["/brief #theme @person"] --> B{Mode?}
B -->|Default| C[Self-Brief]
B -->|for:person| D[Pre-Brief]
C --> E1[Tasks Subagent]
C --> E2[Theme Files Subagent]
C --> E3[Last 3 Meetings Subagent]
C --> E4[Recent Discoveries Subagent]
E1 --> F[Brief Output]
E2 --> F
E3 --> F
E4 --> F
D --> G[Perspective Flip]
G --> H[Pre-Brief Output]Four parallel subagents gather context simultaneously:
| Subagent | Searches |
|---|---|
| Tasks | Open tasks tagged with the theme, @waiting() items involving the person, overdue items, @agenda() tags |
| Theme Files | status.md (Now/Next/Blockers), claude.md (political context), people.md (communication style), cross-theme connections |
| Meeting Notes | Last 3 meetings only - decisions, open questions, action items |
| Discoveries | Conversation discovery logs from the past 2 weeks mentioning the theme or person |
Output goes to stdout. No file created. This is ephemeral.
The Key Innovation¶
Two modes with a perspective flip.
Self-brief (default) answers: "What do I need to know walking in?" It shows what they owe you, what you owe them, the last meeting's outcomes, and a suggested agenda ranked by urgency.
Pre-brief (for:person) flips the question to: "What does this person need to hear from me?" The output changes completely:
- Their Current State - What they currently believe, when they last engaged
- What's Changed Since - Key shifts they don't know about yet
- The Message - 2-3 bullets framed for this person's priorities
- What NOT to Say - Topics to avoid or defer. Information that's premature or politically sensitive.
- Their Likely Questions - Based on their pattern in previous meetings
The "What NOT to Say" section is where pre-briefs earn their value. Knowing what to hold back is often more important than knowing what to share. This section draws from people.md sensitivities, political context in theme claude.md, and timing of decisions that aren't yet public.
Example Usage¶
Self-brief before a project meeting:
Pre-brief - what to tell your deal partner before Monday:
Person-focused brief across all themes:
Customisation Guide¶
- Stakeholder profiles - The richer your
people.mdfiles, the sharper the pre-brief. Include communication preferences, known concerns, and recurring questions. - Meeting depth - Defaults to last 3 meetings. Increase if your meetings are infrequent, decrease if you meet daily.
- Discovery window - Scans the last 2 weeks of conversation logs. Adjust if your pace of discovery differs.
- Agenda items - The suggested agenda picks the 3 most urgent items. Override by adding
@agenda(PersonName)tags to specific tasks.