Morning brief: what needs a decision today

I want to set up a morning brief with you. I don't want a summary of
unread messages — I want a ranked list of what needs my decision today.

Context on me: I work as a [role] at a [type of company]. This month
I'm responsible for: [project 1], [project 2], [area]. Clients or
teams I manage: [list].

Sources to check: [Slack — channels X, Y, Z], [mail — inbox A],
[calendar], [Notion — workspace B].

Structure it like this:
1. Urgent items from the dashboard — anything red or trending down.
2. Slack threads where I'm mentioned — read them in full for context.
3. Threads I'm not in, but that I should know about based on my work.
4. Tasks and deadlines this week.

Before you start, tell me what you're missing and ask about anything
you need clarified. Only then build the first version.

Answers to your questions:

Time window: from 5pm yesterday to now. On Monday, from 5pm Friday.

Channels that actually matter: [channel 1] (product decisions happen
there), [channel 2] (client escalations). Only read [channel 3] and
[channel 4] for block 3 — don't pull anything from them directly.

Mail: only messages from people outside the company and from [role].
Ignore automated system notifications entirely.

People whose messages carry weight even without mentioning my name:
[names].

Once you have the brief, stick to this rule: no item without a
suggested action — either say what I should do about it, or leave
it out.

Here's my definition of urgency. Rank by this, not by the tone of
messages, thread length, or who sent it.

Urgent for me means:
- [rule 1 — what happens if I don't deal with this today],
- [rule 2 — who I'd be blocking],
- [rule 3 — what's irreversible].

Urgent does NOT mean:
- [category 1],
- [category 2],
- [category 3].

When you're not sure about an item, rank it lower and add a line at
the end of the brief called "uncertain calls" listing it, so I can
correct it.

The brief is too long. Narrow it like this, and keep doing this going
forward:

- Block 1 (dashboard): at most 3 items, only ones that crossed the
  [number/percent] threshold. Skip ordinary daily fluctuations.
- Block 2 (mentions): at most 5 items. If there are more, pick the
  ones where something's expected of me, and add a line at the end
  of the block: "N more mentions with no action expected."
- Block 3 (not mentioning me): at most 3 items, and only if they touch
  [project 1] or [project 2].
- Block 4 (deadlines): only through the end of this week, with days
  remaining until each.

The whole brief has to be readable in five minutes.

Format the brief like this:

- One line at the very top: "The main thing today: [one item]."
- Then four blocks with headings. Skip an empty block entirely —
  instead write one sentence: "Nothing from the dashboard today."
- Each item: a bold title (max 8 words), two sentences below it on
  what it's about, then a line "Expected of me: [action]" and a link
  to the source.
- No intro, no closing summary, no pleasantries.
- If two items are about the same thing, merge them and say so.

Save the whole output as one document, so it opens fine on mobile.

For block 1, I want data from our dashboard, which has no connector.
Use the Claude in Chrome extension.

Steps: open [address], switch to the [tab name] tab, set the time
range to [last 7 days], and read these metrics: [metric 1], [metric 2],
[metric 3], [metric 4].

For each one, write today's value, the percentage change from last
week, and whether it crossed the threshold I gave you.

If the page doesn't load or looks different from what I described,
don't guess the numbers — write a line in the brief: "couldn't read
the dashboard."

Whenever you flag a number in block 1 that's gotten worse, always
check whether it's already being discussed somewhere, and note that.

Specifically: search [channels] and mail from the last 48 hours for
mentions of that metric, that service, or that part of the product.
If you find a thread, add a line to the item: "already being discussed
here: [link], status: [one sentence]."

If nothing's being discussed anywhere, write "no discussion yet" —
that's more important information to me than the number itself.

Never include these in the brief again:

- [message type 1 — e.g. automated digests from tool X],
- threads where my name only appears in the recipient list or a
  signature, but nobody's actually asking me anything,
- messages like "thanks," "ok," "agreed" with no other content,
- a recurring alert that's fired more than three times a week and
  never amounted to anything,
- [channel or label I watch, but not in the morning].

If you're not sure whether something falls under this, put it last
and add "borderline — should I filter this?"

Block 3 (threads I'm not in) is currently returning things I don't
need. Narrow it like this.

A thread belongs in block 3 if at least one of these is true:
- a decision got made about [project/area] I'm responsible for,
- the deadline or scope changed on something I depend on,
- there's a complaint or escalation from [client/team],
- it's about a problem I've already dealt with once before.

A thread doesn't belong if it's just a discussion of options, planning
for next quarter, or a debate between people who own that decision.

For each item, add a closing line: "why I think you need to know this"
— so I can tune this judgment.

On Mondays, build the brief with these adjusted rules:

- Time window: from 5pm Friday to now, so it includes the weekend.
- Expand block 1: add how the metrics moved over the weekend, not
  just today's state.
- Expand block 4 to the full week, sorted by day, not by importance.
- Add a block at the end, "carrying over from last week": items that
  appeared in the brief at least three times and still aren't closed.
- Raise the item caps by half — the Monday brief is allowed to be
  longer.

At the very end, add three suggestions for what to start the week
with, with one sentence of reasoning for each. I'll make the call
myself.

On Tuesday through Friday, run the shortened version:

- Time window: from 5pm yesterday to now.
- At most 8 items total across all blocks.
- Block 4: only items due by Friday.
- No suggestions for what to start with — just the ranking.
- On a quiet morning with nothing urgent, write one line: "nothing
  urgent today, the biggest item is [X]" and nothing else.

A short brief is a good brief. Don't pad it with items just to have
something to read.

I was away for [7] days. Build me a return brief covering the whole
period. Don't sort it by time — sort it by what actually concerns me.

Structure:
1. Decisions made without me that touch [my area] — what got decided
   and by whom, one sentence each.
2. Things waiting on me that nobody picked up — this is the most
   important block, go through it thoroughly.
3. Things someone else handled for me — just a list, so I know who
   to thank and what not to double-check.
4. What changed in the numbers over that period (dashboard, comparing
   the first and last day).
5. Deadlines that came and went while I was away, and where they
   stand now.

Read threads in full. If a thread is longer than 20 messages, write
one sentence up front on how it turned out, then the details.

I want this brief ready every morning before I sit down at my computer.
Set it up as a recurring task in a remote session, so it runs even
with my laptop closed.

Schedule: weekdays at [6:45am], output as a document I can open on
mobile and on my computer.

Have Mondays run the Monday version, Tuesday through Friday the
shortened one. If a source fails to read, build the brief anyway from
the rest and note at the top what's missing.

Take the briefs from the last ten business days and give me a
breakdown:

- Which items showed up in three or more briefs? For each, say why
  you think it keeps coming back.
- Which categories of items did I apparently ignore — they were in
  the brief but I never acted on them or mentioned them afterward?
- Which block was most often empty or shortest?
- Where were you least confident about how to rank something?

Based on that, suggest three specific changes to the brief. For each,
say what would be lost — I don't want changes that just shrink it.