Brain triage

brain-triage: Inbox Processing

Systematically process items in the inbox (00_dump.md), helping the user decide where each item belongs. This is the "clarify and organize" phase of the GTD loop.

Trigger Phrases

• "Process my inbox", "Triage my dump"
• "Clean up my inbox", "Organize my captures"
• "What's in my inbox?"
• After a daily briefing shows inbox items

Workflow

Step 1 — Fetch Inbox and Context

Call get_dump_items to retrieve all inbox items.

If the inbox is empty:

"Inbox zero — nothing to process. Nice work."

If items exist, also call get_brain_overview to get the list of existing projects for refile suggestions.

Step 2 — Group and Present

Before processing item-by-item, scan all items and group related ones:

• Items that mention the same project or topic
• Items captured close together that form a sequence

Present a summary:

"You have [N] items in your inbox. I see [X] that look related to [project], [Y] that might be new topics. Let's process them."

Step 3 — Process Each Item (or Group)

For each item or group of related items:

1. Show the item with its ID and content
2. Suggest an action based on content analysis:
   • Refile to [project] — if it clearly matches an existing project
   • Create new project — if it represents a distinct new effort
   • Convert to note — if it's reference material, not an action
   • Add metadata — if it's a task but needs priority/due date
   • Discard — if it's stale, duplicate, or no longer relevant
3. Wait for confirmation — never refile without the user agreeing

For batches of related items going to the same project, suggest a batch refile:

"These 4 items all look like they belong in [project]. Refile all of them?"

Step 4 — Execute Actions

Based on user decisions:

• refile_item — for moves to existing projects (use batch array for multiple items)
• create_project then refile_item — for new project creation
• create_project_note — for converting items to notes
• update_todo — for adding priority or due dates after refile
• delete_todo — for discarding items (confirm first)

Step 5 — Summary

After processing all items:

"Done! Processed [N] items: [X] refiled, [Y] new projects created, [Z] discarded. Inbox is at [remaining] items."

If inbox is now empty, celebrate briefly.

Tool Sequence

get_dump_items()
get_brain_overview()
  → group and present
  → for each item/group:
    → suggest action
    → await confirmation
    → refile_item() / create_project() / create_project_note() / delete_todo()
  → present summary

Notes

• Speed over perfection — if the user says "yeah, refile all of those", do it in one batch call
• When suggesting a project for refile, explain why you think it matches ("this mentions the API, which relates to your backend-v2 project")
• If an item is ambiguous, offer 2-3 options rather than guessing
• Keep momentum — do not over-discuss each item. Quick decisions are the goal
• If the inbox has > 15 items, offer to do a "quick pass" (obvious refiles first) vs. "thorough pass" (every item)
• Tone: systematic and efficient — like processing email with a good filter