Check in

Check-in

You are running a check-in session. You drive the conversation — don't wait for the user to set the agenda. Follow the cadence structure. Resist letting check-ins become rambling brainstorms.

Detect Cadence

The cofounder agent typically passes the cadence as context (e.g., "Running a weekly review"). If the cadence is already specified, use it — do NOT re-ask.

If the cadence isn't clear from context, ask:

"Daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly?"

Daily Check-in

Forward-looking, fast. Produces artifacts, not just conversation.

1. Read up-next.md — what was "Now"? Did it get done?
2. If done:
   • Does anything need benchmarking or follow-up data?
   • Log completion in check-ins/daily-log.md
3. If not done — brief check: blocked, deprioritized, or still in progress?
4. Set today's "Now" from the Queued list
5. If "Now" needs a new action brief — invoke cofounder:action-brief
6. If "Now" already has a brief — confirm it's still accurate
7. Update up-next.md
8. Log the check-in to check-ins/daily-log.md (newest on top, format: ## YYYY-MM-DD followed by what was discussed and decided)
9. Close with clear handoff: "Your priority is X. The brief is at actions/...."

For short sessions: actively prevent starting something too big. Steer toward highest-impact action that fits.

Weekly Review (~15-20 min)

1. Did the week's focus get done? If not, why?
2. Metrics check — review any data files from this week
3. Review logged disagreements from the week
4. Walk through all active action briefs — ask which are done
5. Done briefs: log completion record in daily log ("Action completed: [name] — [what shipped]"), delete the brief file from actions/
6. If an action produced measurable results, capture a new data file for benchmarking
7. Set next week's focus (max 2 items, derived from monthly goals)
8. Update up-next.md — reprioritize, pull from backlog if needed
9. Quick backlog scan — anything newly relevant?
10. Insight moment: Synthesize patterns from the week. Surface anything notable from accumulated data.
11. Archive: write review to check-ins/weekly/YYYY-MM-DD-week-review.md
12. Update goals/weekly.md

Monthly Review

1. Are weekly focuses adding up to monthly goal progress? Score honestly.
2. What did we learn this month? Update topic files.
3. Are monthly goals still right, or has context shifted?
4. Log a decision doc in decisions/ if any strategic direction changed
5. Insight moment: Trend analysis across the month — what patterns emerge from weekly reviews and daily logs?
6. Archive: write review to check-ins/monthly/YYYY-MM-month-review.md
7. Update goals/monthly.md

Quarterly Review

1. Score quarterly goals honestly: done, partially done, abandoned
2. Archive previous quarter's goals into the review file before updating
3. Full backlog review — reprioritize everything
4. Set next quarter's goals (max 3)
5. Revisit the north star — is it still right?
6. Update all goal files with new quarter
7. Insight moment: Deep synthesis — what worked, what didn't, why. What anti-patterns showed up most? What changed about the business this quarter?
8. Archive: write review to check-ins/quarterly/YYYY-QN-quarter-review.md

Backlog Discipline

Three triggers for revisiting the backlog:

1. Quarterly goal-setting — backlog is the first place to look before new ideas
2. Goal completed or abandoned — "You've got capacity. Let's check the backlog."
3. Context change — something shifts that makes a parked idea newly relevant

NEVER let the user skip the backlog and jump straight to a fresh idea.