Team Update
Post project updates to team chat, read and triage feedback, and plan next steps. Adapts to whatever communication and project tools are available.
The Playbook Pattern
This skill uses a playbook file at .claude/team-update-playbook.md in the project root.
- First run: Discover available tools, ask the user for preferences, execute, save a playbook
- Subsequent runs: Read the playbook, skip discovery, execute directly
- User edits playbook: Changes take effect immediately (channel, style, triage rules)
The playbook is plain markdown the user can edit. It captures tool configuration, channel preferences, message style, triage rules, and last-run metadata.
Phase 0: Playbook Check
Check if .claude/team-update-playbook.md exists in the project root.
If it exists: Read it. All tool configuration, channel info, message style, and triage rules are in there. Jump to Phase 1 with known config.
If it does not exist: Run Phase 0b (Discovery) first.
Phase 0b: Discovery (First Run Only)
Detect available capabilities by checking what MCP tools are connected and what local tools exist.
Read references/discovery-patterns.md for detection patterns.
Capability Detection
Check for each capability category:
| Capability | How to detect | Fallback if missing |
|---|---|---|
| Chat | MCP tools matching chat, slack, discord, teams | Output formatted text for manual posting |
| Git | git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree | Skip commit summaries |
| Issues | MCP tools matching github, linear, jira | Skip or output text list |
| Tasks | MCP tools matching tasks, todos, asana | Skip or output text list |
| Knowledge | Basalt Cortex (~/Documents/basalt-cortex/) | Search for related knowledge notes |
User Preferences (Ask)
After discovery, ask the user to confirm:
- Channel: Which chat space/channel to post updates to? (List discovered options)
- Identity: Post as yourself or a bot identity? (e.g. Anthro Morphic)
- Repo scope: Which repo(s) to track? (Default: current repo)
- Message style: Brief standup, detailed changelog, or conversational update?
- Team context: Any team members to be aware of? (Names, roles)
- Triage rules: Any custom rules for handling feedback? (Or use defaults)
Save Playbook
After discovery + user preferences, save the playbook to .claude/team-update-playbook.md.
Read references/playbook-format.md for the full template. Fill in all sections with discovered tools and user preferences. If a capability was not found, note it as "Not available" in the playbook.
Ensure .claude/ is in .gitignore (the playbook contains space IDs and preferences that shouldn't be committed).
Phase 1: Gather Context
Collect information from all available sources. Use the playbook's "Data Sources" section to know which tools to call.
1a. Determine Time Window
Check the playbook's "Last Run" section for the last update timestamp. If no previous run, ask the user how far back to go (default: 24 hours).
1b. Collect Data
Gather from each available source:
| Source | What to collect | Tool |
|---|---|---|
| Git commits | git log --oneline --since=<last-update> | Bash |
| Chat messages | Messages in the configured channel since last update | Chat MCP tool from playbook |
| Open issues/PRs | Recently updated or newly created items | Issue tracker from playbook |
| Active tasks | In-progress or recently completed tasks | Task tracker from playbook |
1c. Summarise for Drafting
Group commits by theme (not individual hashes). Note any issues closed, PRs merged, or tasks completed. Flag any team messages that need response.
Phase 2: Draft and Post Update
2a. Compose Message
Read references/message-composition.md for message patterns.
Follow the playbook's "Message Style" section. General principles:
- Lead with what shipped or changed, not process
- Group related commits into themes
- Mention specific people only when relevant
- Keep it scannable (short paragraphs, bullet points)
- Write like a teammate, not an AI — no emoji spam, no hedging, no over-explaining context the team already has. See the Communication Style section in references/message-composition.md.
2b. Preview and Approval
Show the draft to the user. Include:
- The composed message
- Which channel it will be posted to
- Whether it's a new message or thread reply
APPROVAL REQUIRED: Never post to external channels without explicit user approval.
2c. Post
Post the approved message using the chat tool from the playbook. If no chat tool is available, output the formatted message for the user to post manually.
2d. Update Playbook
After posting, update the "Last Run" section of the playbook with:
- Current timestamp
- Thread key (if applicable)
- Brief summary of what was posted
Phase 3: Read and Triage Feedback
3a. Read Responses
Read messages from the configured channel since the update was posted. Look for:
- Direct replies to the update
- New messages in the channel that reference the project
- Reactions or acknowledgements
3b. Classify Feedback
Read references/feedback-triage.md for classification patterns.
Use the playbook's "Triage Rules" section. Default classification:
| Type | Action | |---|---| | Bug report | Create issue (label: bug) | | Feature request | Create issue (label: enhancement) | | Question | Draft reply for user approval | | Blocker | Flag immediately, suggest resolution | | Acknowledgement | Note, no action needed | | Off-topic | Ignore |
3c. Present and Act
Present a summary of feedback with proposed actions:
## Feedback Summary
- Daniel: "Can we add dark mode?" -> Create issue (enhancement)
- Rabin: "Auth is broken on staging" -> Create issue (bug, priority)
- Karen: "Looks good!" -> No action
Proceed with these actions?
APPROVAL REQUIRED: Never create issues, post replies, or take external actions without explicit user approval.
Phase 4: Plan Next Steps
4a. Prioritise
From all gathered context (commits, issues, tasks, feedback), identify:
- Blockers: Things preventing progress
- High-priority: Bugs, urgent requests, deadlines
- Next up: Planned work, feature requests
- Backlog: Nice-to-haves, low-priority items
4b. Present (Not Posted)
Show the prioritised list to the user. This is for the user's planning only -- do NOT post it to any channel.
## Suggested Priorities
1. [BLOCKER] Fix auth on staging (from Rabin's feedback)
2. [HIGH] Complete API endpoint for user profiles (current sprint)
3. [NEXT] Dark mode support (from Daniel's request)
4. [BACKLOG] Refactor database queries
Autonomy Rules
| Action | Level | |---|---| | Read/create playbook | Just do it | | Discover tools (first run) | Just do it, confirm preferences with user | | Gather context (git, chat, issues) | Just do it | | Draft update message | Just do it, show preview | | Post to external channel | Approval required | | Create issues/tasks | Approval required | | Post replies to team | Approval required | | Update playbook "Last Run" | Just do it | | Present plan/priorities | Just do it |
Graceful Degradation
The skill works at any level of tool availability:
| Available tools | Experience | |---|---| | Git only | Summarise commits, output text for manual posting | | Git + Chat | Full post/read cycle, manual issue creation | | Git + Chat + Issues | Full cycle with automated issue creation | | Git + Chat + Issues + Tasks + Knowledge | Full cycle with persistent tracking |
Operating Modes
The skill responds to different trigger phrases:
| Trigger | Behaviour | |---|---| | "team update" / "post update" | Full cycle: gather, draft, post, read feedback | | "check team chat" / "what did the team say" | Phase 3 only: read and triage feedback | | "standup" / "sync with team" | Phase 1 + 2: gather and post, skip feedback | | "project update" | Phase 1 + 2 + 4: gather, post, plan (skip feedback triage) | | "feedback loop" | Phase 3 + 4: read feedback and plan |
Reference Files
| When | Read | |------|------| | First run — saving playbook | references/playbook-format.md | | First run — detecting tools | references/discovery-patterns.md | | Composing update messages | references/message-composition.md | | Classifying team feedback | references/feedback-triage.md |