Generate Work Summary
Overview
Creates a comprehensive summary of work completed on a plan or project, including timeline, accomplishments, and impact. Summaries can be generated from daily notes or conversation context. Used for performance reviews, year-end documentation, and project retrospectives.
⚠️ CRITICAL REQUIREMENT: Preserve Existing Content
When working with summary files:
- •ALWAYS read the existing file first before making changes
- •NEVER overwrite unrelated content
- •APPEND new summaries if the file already contains other data
- •Preserve all existing sections and metadata
- •Add clear separators between different summaries
What This Generates
A structured work summary document with:
- •Project overview and context
- •Timeline of key milestones
- •Detailed accomplishments
- •Business and technical impact
- •Challenges and solutions
- •Links to related resources
File Locations
Summaries are saved to:
- •Knowledge Base:
~/.gemini/knowledge/summary/{YYYY}/ - •Year Index:
~/.gemini/knowledge/summary/{YYYY}/index.md
Parameters
- •project (required): Project or feature name (e.g., "user-authentication", "api-optimization")
- •date (optional): Date or date range for this work (defaults to today)
- •from_notes (optional): Set to "true" to generate summary from daily notes instead of conversation context
Workflow
Step 1: Gather Context
Collect information about the work completed.
From Notes (when from_notes=true):
- •Search for notes in
~/workplace/LimonoctNvim/src/LimonoctNvim/notes/journal - •Filter notes by date range (if provided) or search for project mentions
- •Extract relevant work items, accomplishments, and decisions
- •Keep track of note file paths for linking
- •Look for patterns: completed tasks, decisions made, problems solved
From Conversation Context (when from_notes=false):
- •Review current conversation context
- •Identify key accomplishments and deliverables
- •Note any code reviews, deployments, or milestones
- •Capture technical decisions and their rationale
- •Look for references to plans, tickets, MCMs
Step 2: Check for Existing Summary File
CRITICAL: Before creating or updating a summary:
- •Check if file exists:
~/.gemini/knowledge/summary/{YYYY}/{YYYY-MM-DD}-{project}.md - •If file exists:
- •Read the entire file
- •Identify existing sections and content
- •Determine if content is related to current summary
- •If unrelated content exists, prepare to append with clear separator
- •If file doesn't exist:
- •Proceed with creating new file
Step 3: Create Summary Document
Generate a structured summary with the following format:
Summary Document Template:
markdown
---
project: {project-name}
date: {YYYY-MM-DD}
generated_from: {notes|context}
---
# Work Summary: {Project Name}
## Overview
{Brief description of the project/feature and its purpose}
## Timeline
- **Start Date**: {YYYY-MM-DD}
- **{Milestone 1}**: {YYYY-MM-DD} - {Description}
- **{Milestone 2}**: {YYYY-MM-DD} - {Description}
- **Completion Date**: {YYYY-MM-DD} (if applicable)
## What Was Done
### Technical Implementations
- {Implementation 1}: {Description and details}
- {Implementation 2}: {Description and details}
- {Implementation 3}: {Description and details}
### Code Reviews & Deployments
- {CR-XXXXXXXX}: {Description and outcome}
- {Deployment 1}: {What was deployed and when}
### Documentation Created
- {Doc 1}: {Link and description}
- {Doc 2}: {Link and description}
### Problems Solved
- {Problem 1}: {Description and solution}
- {Problem 2}: {Description and solution}
## Impact
### Business Impact
- {Impact 1}: {Description and metrics if available}
- {Impact 2}: {Description and metrics if available}
### Technical Impact
- {Impact 1}: {Description}
- {Impact 2}: {Description}
### Performance Improvements
- {Metric 1}: {Before → After}
- {Metric 2}: {Before → After}
### User Benefits
- {Benefit 1}: {Description}
- {Benefit 2}: {Description}
## Challenges & Solutions
### Challenge 1: {Challenge Title}
- **Problem**: {Description of the challenge}
- **Solution**: {How it was resolved}
- **Outcome**: {Result}
### Challenge 2: {Challenge Title}
- **Problem**: {Description of the challenge}
- **Solution**: {How it was resolved}
- **Outcome**: {Result}
## Links & References
- **Code Reviews**: [CR-XXXXXXXX](link), [CR-YYYYYYY](link)
- **Tickets**: [TICKET-123](link), [TICKET-456](link)
- **MCMs**: [MCM-XXXXXXXX](link)
- **Plans**: `~/.gemini/knowledge/plans/{YY}/{MM}/{component}/{feature}/`
- **Documentation**: [Link 1](url), [Link 2](url)
## Source Notes
{Only include this section if generated from notes}
- `{YYYY-MM-DD}`: `~/workplace/LimonoctNvim/src/LimonoctNvim/notes/journal/{path}`
- `{YYYY-MM-DD}`: `~/workplace/LimonoctNvim/src/LimonoctNvim/notes/journal/{path}`
## Tags
`#{project-name}` `#{technology}` `#{team}` `#{year}`
Step 4: Save or Append Summary
CRITICAL: Handle existing content carefully:
If file doesn't exist:
- •Create new file with summary content
- •Use filename format:
- •From notes:
{YYYY-MM-DD}-{project}-notes.md - •From context:
{YYYY-MM-DD}-{project}.md
- •From notes:
If file exists with unrelated content:
- •Read entire existing file
- •Add clear separator:
\n\n---\n\n - •Append new summary below separator
- •Preserve all existing content above
If file exists with related content:
- •Ask user: "A summary for this project already exists. Should I:
- •Append as a new entry (separate summary)
- •Update the existing summary
- •Create a new file with different date"
Save location:
- •Directory:
~/.gemini/knowledge/summary/{YYYY}/ - •Ensure directory exists (create if needed)
Step 5: Update Year Index
Update or create the year index file.
Index file location: ~/.gemini/knowledge/summary/{YYYY}/index.md
Index format:
markdown
# Work Summaries - {YYYY}
## {Month Name}
### {YYYY-MM-DD} - {Project Name}
- **File**: [{project-name}](./{YYYY-MM-DD}-{project}.md)
- **Summary**: {One-line description}
- **Impact**: {Key impact metric or outcome}
### {YYYY-MM-DD} - {Another Project}
- **File**: [{project-name}](./{YYYY-MM-DD}-{project}.md)
- **Summary**: {One-line description}
- **Impact**: {Key impact metric or outcome}
## Statistics
- **Total Projects**: {count}
- **Total Summaries**: {count}
- **Last Updated**: {YYYY-MM-DD}
Index update rules:
- •If index doesn't exist, create it with template
- •If index exists, append new entry under appropriate month
- •Keep entries sorted by date (newest first within each month)
- •Update statistics section
- •Preserve all existing entries
Step 6: Confirm and Report
Provide clear feedback on what was done:
code
✅ Work Summary Generated
Project: {project-name}
Date: {YYYY-MM-DD}
Source: {notes|context}
Saved to:
📁 ~/workplace/.../knowledge/summary/{YYYY}/{YYYY-MM-DD}-{project}.md
Status:
- [Created|Appended|Updated] summary document
- Updated year index: {YYYY}/index.md
- {Preserved existing content|Created new file}
Summary includes:
- Timeline with {N} milestones
- {N} technical implementations
- {N} challenges and solutions
- {N} linked resources
This summary is now searchable via /search in Gemini.
Usage
How to Use This Skill
Add to Agent Resources
Add this skill to your agent configuration:
json
{
"resources": [
"skill://.gemini/skills/create-summary/SKILL.md"
]
}
Usage in Chat
Once added to your agent, describe what summary you need:
bash
# Generate summary from conversation context gemini "Generate summary for user-authentication project" # Generate summary from daily notes gemini "Generate summary for api-optimization from my notes" # Generate summary for specific date range gemini "Generate summary for database-migration from January 1-15"
The agent will automatically invoke this skill when it detects you want to generate a work summary.
- •Agent gathers context from notes or conversation
- •Checks for existing summary file
- •Generates structured summary document
- •Saves or appends to file (preserving existing content)
- •Updates year index
- •Reports what was created/updated
- •Summary becomes searchable
Important Notes
- •Preserve Content: ALWAYS read existing files before writing, never overwrite unrelated content
- •Append Mode: If file exists with unrelated content, append with clear separator
- •Ask First: If file exists with related content, ask user how to proceed
- •Year Index: Automatically maintains index of all summaries by year
- •Searchable: Summaries in knowledge base are searchable via
/search - •Metadata: Include frontmatter with project, date, and source information
- •Links: Include references to plans, code reviews, tickets, MCMs
- •Tags: Add relevant tags for easier searching and categorization
- •Source Tracking: When from_notes=true, list all note files used
- •Impact Focus: Emphasize business and technical impact with metrics when available
Use Cases
- •Performance Reviews: Document accomplishments for review cycles
- •Year-End Documentation: Compile annual achievements
- •Project Retrospectives: Capture lessons learned and outcomes
- •Knowledge Sharing: Share project outcomes with team
- •Portfolio Building: Track career progression and impact
Difference from Other Skills
- •generate-steering: Creates project documentation (product, tech, structure)
- •create-plan: Creates implementation plans with requirements and design
- •create-summary: Creates retrospective summaries of completed work
- •All follow knowledge base organization and searchability patterns