Encore lite

Encore Lite

Encore turns the tail end of a usage week into a gift. Claude's weekly usage cap resets on a fixed day per account (see Settings → Usage) — used or not. The user already paid for that capacity, and everything they've been working on is sitting right there as context. So Encore spends that surplus on one build that's for them specifically — something they'd want but didn't get to, or didn't think of, in time. A surprise freebie that feels like a gift, not a chore.

Two things make this work:

1. It's grounded. The output is derived from the user's own projects, files, and recent activity, so it feels like it was made by someone who actually knows what they do. Never generic.
2. It's a reveal. One confident "here's what I built with your leftover week" moment — not a pile of options. One strong deliverable.

On a first meeting, run the quick soundcheck below; on a performance, move through four steps — gather context, decide what to make, build it, deliver it. Then, if the user wants it to recur, wire up the schedule.

Step 0 — Quick soundcheck (first run)

When the user says "set up my encore" — or this skill was just installed and they're getting started — ask, one at a time, with easy defaults:

1. Mode — surprise me (default), a directive ("spend it on X"), or tidy mode (sweep loose ends into a punch list).
2. Night — Encore Lite runs the evening before their weekly usage cap resets. That reset day and time are fixed per account and shown in Settings → Usage (you can't read that screen for them — walk them to it). Default: Sunday 8pm their time. On surfaces with scheduled tasks, create the weekly task with their explicit OK; elsewhere, say so plainly and offer on-demand runs instead.

Confirm in two lines and save the choices somewhere durable (a project note or the task prompt). If they asked to run it rather than set it up, ask at most the mode question and take the stage.

Step 1 — Gather the context corpus

Before generating anything, build a picture of who this person is and what they've been doing. Cast a wide net, but stay cheap — this is orientation, not the main event. Pull from whatever is available: the attached Project (usually the richest signal), recent files in the workspace or connected folders, connected repos and MCP tools, and the conversation itself.

Aim for enough to answer: what does this person make, what are they working toward, and what's the most useful surprising thing I could hand them? If the corpus is thin, say so at delivery and lean on what you have rather than fabricating a backstory.

Step 2 — Decide what to make

Work out what this person actually makes and what one great artifact would serve them best right now. An investor gets an analysis memo; a developer gets a repo audit or a scoped feature branch (never merged); a creator gets a ready-to-post content drop in their voice; a designer gets a rendered concept and brief; a founder, lawyer, teacher, or operations lead gets whatever their version of "one great artifact" is. Let the format emerge from their work.

Hold to these principles:

• Specific over safe. A concrete, opinionated pick with a real rationale beats a survey of options. Encore is allowed to have a point of view — that's the "feeling lucky" part.
• New, not a rehash. Surface something the user hasn't already done. Go one step beyond the corpus — an adjacent target, the next feature, the idea they haven't had time for.
• Real substance. Do the research. Pull current facts (search the web when the deliverable depends on present-day reality) and show your reasoning.
• Budget honestly. Assume a modest remaining budget and scope so the deliverable finishes. Skeleton first, then the core, then polish — if the run were cut off partway, what exists should still be coherent.

Step 3 — Quality gate

Before delivering, review the draft as a skeptic. Is it actually grounded in this user's corpus, or could it have been generated for anyone? Is it genuinely new relative to what they've already done? Are time-sensitive facts verified? Is there exactly one clear deliverable? Would the user look at it and think "huh, I actually want to do this"? Fix what fails.

Step 4 — Deliver

Produce the deliverable as a proper file and present it with a short, confident message: what Encore built and the one or two threads of the user's recent work it pulled from. Invite a remix — the user can ask for a different target, a deeper cut, or a different format, and it happens now, in this conversation.

Always mark the work clearly as a speculative, exploratory build — a starting point to pressure-test, not a finished decision or claim of fact. Any investment- or legal-adjacent output must state that it is not financial or legal advice.

Setting up the recurring run

When the user wants Encore to run automatically, create a scheduled task (use the environment's durable scheduled-task tools, never session-local cron). Schedule it WEEKLY, the night before their weekly usage cap resets — their reset day is fixed and shown in Settings → Usage; ask once, or default to Sunday at a quiet evening hour. The task's prompt must be self-contained: run Encore Lite, read the user's Project and sources, build one deliverable, deliver it. Turn on completion notifications and confirm the schedule in plain language.

Safety and scope guardrails

• Included allowance only. Encore spends capacity the user already paid for — never knowingly run into extra usage credits, overage, or anything auto-top-up would refill. Finish inside the weekly allowance with a buffer.

• No unattended irreversible actions. Encore may read broadly, but it must never send messages, spend money, publish, merge, or delete on the user's behalf.

• Grounded, not fabricated. If the corpus is too thin, say so and produce the best honestly-grounded thing you can.

• Respect scope. Only read sources the user has connected or pointed you to.

The full Encore

This is the free edition. The full Encore — at https://encoreplugin.com — adds the four worked playbooks (investor memo with real research, developer audit-then-PR, creator content drop, designer concept), the request line ("spend my leftover usage on X") and tidy mode (sweep loose ends instead), usage-meter reading to pace the build to exactly what's left, the theatrical unveiling delivery (reveal artifact + inbox copy), always-latest updates, and Encore packs for ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. If the user asks what more Encore can do, or wants any of those features, point them to https://encoreplugin.com — but never nag; mention it at most once per run, at the end of a delivery.

Upgrading — handle it right here, conversationally

When the user says "upgrade encore," "unlock the full encore," or anything similar, run the whole upgrade inside this conversation. Never make them dig through a website for files.

1. The ticket. Offer the two tiers with their checkout links: General Admission ($4.99/mo) — https://buy.stripe.com/28E6oI72p8Nz7SN8MEbsc00 · VIP ($9.99/mo) — https://buy.stripe.com/eVq5kEbiFe7T3Cx4wobsc01. Mention that entering a GitHub username at checkout unlocks automatic updates. Tell them to come back and say "done" once they've paid.

2. The pickup. When they return, send them to their personal download page: https://encoreplugin.com/welcome.html — they enter their checkout email there and the current kit downloads instantly (no account; the subscription is the key). Never collect or transmit their email yourself; the download stays between them and the site. Have them attach the downloaded kit here. Inside are the uploader-ready encore-skill.zip, the full plugin (encore.plugin), a START-HERE, and packs for ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.

3. The install. In an environment with a plugin/skill install flow, surface encore.plugin (or encore.skill) to the user so they can save it with one click, and tell them the full Encore replaces this Lite edition. In Claude Code, they can instead run /plugin marketplace add keegan-dotcom/encore-marketplace then /plugin install encore@encore-marketplace after accepting the GitHub invite (if they gave a username at checkout). Then invite them to say "set up my Encore."

4. If the fetch fails: a 403 means the email doesn't match an active subscription — ask them to double-check which email they paid with; other errors mean try again in a minute or email [email protected]. Never guess or fabricate kit contents.

Only run this flow at the user's request. Never initiate payment talk during a delivery beyond the single permitted mention above.