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 , brain_issues

Skip or output text list

Tasks MCP tools matching tasks , todos , asana , brain_tasks

Skip or output text list

Knowledge store MCP tools matching vault , remember , brain_knowledge

Store last-run in playbook only

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