Reports Skill

Contract

This skill guarantees:

• Reports saved with timestamped filenames and frontmatter
• Keyword routing: query → report category mapping
• Latest report loadable by category name
• Reports are searchable via gbrain search/query
• Outbound reports pass the Actionability Gate (below) before delivery

Phases

1. Save report. Write to reports/{category}/{YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM}.md with frontmatter:

   ---
   title: {report title}
   type: note            # a type the default pack declares; `report` is undeclared
   report_type: {category name}
   category: {category name}
   date: {YYYY-MM-DD}
   time: {HH:MM PT}
   ---
   

2. Load latest. Given a category, find the most recent report file.
3. Keyword routing. Map common queries to report categories:
   • "email" / "inbox" → ea-inbox-sweep
   • "social" / "mentions" → social-mentions
   • "briefing" / "morning" → morning-briefing
   • "meeting" → meeting-sync
   • Custom mappings configurable

Output Format

Saved: reports/{category}/{YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM}.md Loaded: full report content with metadata.

Actionability Gate

Before any report reaches the user — a morning briefing, a meeting digest, a research report — every link must answer one question: can the user click this and immediately act? The link canon (deterministic, never-guessed URLs) lives in skills/_output-rules.md under Deterministic Links; this gate adds the delivery-time failure taxonomy and the retry loop.

Four failure modes

Mode	What it means	Example
Broken	Link is fake or a placeholder	https://example.com, TODO-find-link
Dead	Link to a brain page that isn't committed/pushed	Page written but not pushed — the link 404s
Indirect	Link goes somewhere, but not the right place	x.com/alice-example (profile) instead of x.com/alice-example/status/<id> (the specific post)
Missing	Actionable item mentioned with no link at all	"the clip making the rounds (~800K views)" with no URL

Broken, Dead, and Indirect block delivery. Missing is a warning — flag it, don't block. A missing link is honest. An indirect link is a broken promise.

Blocked vs warning

Pattern	Status	Why it fails
x.com/<handle>	Blocked	Profile ≠ post. Link to x.com/<handle>/status/<id>
Bare publication domain	Blocked	Homepage ≠ article. Add the article path
youtube.com/@channel	Blocked	Channel ≠ video. Link to youtube.com/watch?v=...
Brain-page link, file uncommitted	Blocked	Link 404s until committed + pushed
example.com / TODO placeholder	Blocked	Not a real link
google.com/search?q=...	Warning	Search ≠ source. Link to the actual result
Actionable bullet with no URL	Warning	Where? Link it or describe how to find it

The retry loop (agent-run checks)

There is no enforcement script. The agent runs these checks itself before delivering any report with links:

1. Compose the report.
2. Scan every link against the failure modes above:
   • Brain-page links: run git status in the brain repo — an uncommitted page behind a link is a Dead link; commit + push first. gbrain get <slug> confirms the page exists at all.
   • External links: a profile, homepage, or channel URL standing in for specific content is Indirect.
3. If a check fails, fix the link:
   • Have the direct URL (post ID, article path, filing page)? Use it.
   • Don't have it? Search the source for the specific item.
   • Can't find it? Remove the link and describe the content instead: "clip on @alice-example's timeline, ~800K views — search there." Never leave a profile link as a substitute for a content link.
4. Re-check.
5. Max 2 retries → deliver with an explicit warning flag if Missing-class warnings remain. Broken, Dead, and Indirect links never ship.

LLM-prompt gate snippet

Paste into any report-generating prompt (subagent digests, research summaries, cron report jobs):

ACTIONABILITY GATE: Before finishing, verify every link answers "can the user
click this and act immediately?"
- Every X link → https://x.com/{user}/status/{post_id} — NEVER a profile link
- Every article → full URL with path — NEVER a bare domain
- Every brain-page link → committed + pushed, or don't link it
- If you don't have the direct URL → describe the content WITHOUT a link
- A missing link is better than an indirect link

Consumers

Report surfaces route through this gate by harness-routing convention (a routing rule the resolver applies, not a mechanical guarantee): morning briefings (skills/briefing/SKILL.md), meeting digests, research reports, and any saved report that carries external links.

When it fails

Follow the agent operator protocol for any gbrain error code, exit code, [AGENT] block or notice block. Specific to this skill:

• A report link fails the delivery scan (broken, dead, indirect): fix it before delivery; a missing link is a warning, not a blocker.
• Saving the report returns write_pending (exit 10): the link 404s until the write commits; poll gbrain write-request <request_id> before sharing it.
• A report lookup (gbrain search) is empty with a degraded notice: say the search was keyword-only rather than "no prior report".

Anti-Patterns

• Saving reports without frontmatter (makes them unsearchable)
• Using inconsistent category names across runs
• Loading all reports when only the latest is needed
• Not routing by keyword (forcing exact category name)
• Delivering a report with a profile/homepage/channel link standing in for specific content (Indirect links block delivery)
• Linking a brain page that hasn't been committed and pushed (Dead link)