Get todos

Get Todos

Scan your recent communications — meetings, emails, and Slack messages — for action items you might have missed. Presents action item candidates with confidence levels, deduplicates against your existing task list, and adds the ones you approve.

The problem this solves: action items get buried in meetings, emails, and DMs. This skill surfaces them before they fall through the cracks.

Connectors

Connector	Required	Purpose
Google Workspace	Yes	Gmail (scan emails), Google Tasks (read existing + add new)
Meeting transcripts	Recommended	Scan meeting notes for action items (see setup below)
Slack	Optional	Scan DMs and @mentions for action items

Examples below show gws CLI syntax, but the workflow works with any Google Workspace connector. Claude will adapt the API calls for your setup.

Setup

See the Connectors Guide for meeting notes options (Granola, Otter, manual notes) and Slack setup.

Update env.md with your meeting notes source:

Setting	Value
Meeting notes source	granola / folder / none
Meeting notes path	(if using folder: path to your notes)

Configuration

Load env.md for accounts and sources. No skill-specific config needed.

From env.md:

• Google account (for Gmail + Tasks)
• Meeting notes source and path
• Default scan window (last 2 days)

Workflow

Step 1: Parse Scope

Default to last 2 days unless the user specifies otherwise:

User says	Scope
/get-todos	Last 2 days
"this week"	Start of week to now
"since Monday"	Monday to now
"last 3 days"	3-day window

Step 2: Scan Sources

Scan all available sources in parallel. Only scan sources you have connectors for — skip the rest gracefully.

Email:

1. Search recent emails for action patterns:

   gws gmail users messages list --params '{"userId":"me","q":"is:unread OR newer_than:2d","maxResults":50}'
   

2. For each message, get metadata (From, Subject, Date) and snippet
3. Look for action patterns: direct questions, "can you", "please", deadlines, question marks in subject

Meetings (if available):

1. Load meeting notes from the configured source for the date range
2. Scan notes AND any structured action item sections
3. Look for: "action item", "follow up", "next steps", "[Your name] will...", "[Your name] to..."

Slack (if available):

1. Check DMs and @mentions in the date range
2. Look for: @mentions, direct questions, threads awaiting your response

Step 3: Extract Action Items

For each candidate, extract:

Field	Description
action	What needs to be done
owner	Who is assigned (filter to the user)
deadline	If mentioned (by Friday, EOD, etc.)
source	Where it came from (meeting name, email subject, Slack channel)
confidence	HIGH, MEDIUM, or LOW

Confidence scoring:

Level	Pattern	Examples
HIGH	Explicit assignment	"[Name] will...", "Action item:", "@[name] can you..."
MEDIUM	Implied action	"Can you...", "Please...", direct question to you
LOW	Contextual	"Next steps" section, vague references, FYI emails with implied asks

Step 4: Deduplicate

Check extracted items against current todos to avoid duplicates:

1. Load existing tasks from Google Tasks
2. Compare action descriptions (fuzzy match — "Reply to Julie" ≈ "Follow up with Julie")
3. Skip items already tracked

Step 5: Present for Review

Show candidates grouped by confidence level:

Potential action items found (last 2 days):

HIGH CONFIDENCE:
1. Reply to Julie re: quarterly review (email, Mar 21)
2. Share feedback on draft proposal (team standup, today)

MEDIUM CONFIDENCE:
3. Review Sarah's design doc (email from Sarah, Mar 20)
4. Follow up on vendor pricing (Slack DM from Alex, Mar 21)

LOW CONFIDENCE:
5. Look into the dashboard issue mentioned in standup (meeting, Mar 20)

Already tracked (skipped):
- "Update project timeline" — already in your todos

Add to todos? [all / select numbers / skip]

Step 6: Add to Task List

For selected items, add to Google Tasks with source context:

gws tasks tasks insert --params '{"tasklist":"[LIST_ID]"}' \
  --json '{"title":"Reply to Julie re: quarterly review","notes":"Source: email from Julie, Mar 21\nConfidence: HIGH"}'

Include deadlines if detected:

--json '{"title":"...","notes":"...","due":"2026-03-25T00:00:00Z"}'

Action Item Patterns

High Confidence

• "[Name] will..." / "[Name] to..."
• "@[Name]" followed by an ask
• "Action item: ..."
• "TODO:" / "Follow up:"
• Explicit deadlines: "by Friday", "before EOD", "due March 25"

Medium Confidence

• Direct questions in email or Slack ("Can you...?", "Could you...?")
• "Please [verb]..."
• Items under "Next Steps" heading in meeting notes
• Unread emails with question marks in subject line
• Thread you haven't replied to yet

What to Skip

• Promotional emails and newsletters
• Automated notifications (CI, deployment, alerts)
• CC'd emails where you're not the primary audience
• Items assigned to someone else
• Calendar invites (those are events, not action items)

Error Handling

Scenario	Response
No email connector	Skip email scan, note it in output: "Skipped email — no connector"
No meeting source configured	Skip meetings, note it: "Tip: configure a meeting notes source to catch meeting action items"
No Slack connector	Skip Slack, note it: "Skipped Slack — no connector"
All sources unavailable	"I don't have access to any communication sources. Set up at least one connector (email is the most impactful)."
Zero action items found	"No missed action items in the last [N] days. You're on top of things."
Deduplication unclear	When a potential match is fuzzy, show both and ask: "Is this the same as your existing todo '[title]'?"

Customization Notes

How to adapt this skill to your own setup.

• Scan window — Default is 2 days. If you run this daily, 1 day is fine. If weekly, expand to 5-7 days.
• Action patterns — The pattern lists above are starting points. Add patterns specific to your workplace ("Per our conversation...", "[Your team]:" prefix).
• Confidence thresholds — Adjust what counts as HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW. If you get too many false positives at MEDIUM, tighten the criteria.
• Task list — Defaults to "My Tasks" in Google Tasks. Change if you use a different list or task management tool.
• Meeting source — The most impactful connector to add. Meeting action items are the most commonly missed. Whatever note-taking tool you use, connect it.
• Integration with daily planning — This skill pairs well with a morning planning routine. Scan for missed items → review your task list → plan your day.