Meeting Management

Frontmatter Format

All meeting notes use YAML frontmatter:

yaml

---
title: Meeting Title
date: YYYY-MM-DD
time: HH:MM
attendees:
  - Name One
  - Name Two
location: online | office | venue name
tags:
  - topic1
  - topic2
project: project-folder-name          # Single project (simple meetings)
# OR for multi-project meetings:
projects:                             # Multiple projects
  - grid-management
  - map
  - analytics-dashboard
status: completed | ongoing | cancelled
---

Required: title, date, attendees, status Optional: time, location, tags, project/projects

CRITICAL — Quote Values with Special Characters: YAML interprets colons (:) as key-value separators. If a title or other value contains a colon, it must be quoted:

yaml

# WRONG - will break parsing:
title: Catch up re: PDR with James

# CORRECT - quoted:
title: "Catch up re: PDR with James"

Other characters requiring quotes: #, [, ], {, }, >, |, *, &, !, %, @, `

CRITICAL — Project References Must Match Existing Folders:

•Project slugs MUST match actual folder names in the project structure
•Use the folder name, NOT a display name or abbreviation
•Always discover valid slugs dynamically — never hardcode or assume
•Example: use ya-management not management, use inventory-system not sv-usa

Discovering Valid Project Slugs:

bash

# List all valid slugs
.claude/skills/projects/scripts/valid_slugs.sh

# Check if a specific slug is valid
.claude/skills/projects/scripts/valid_slugs.sh --check nuclear

# Filter by org
.claude/skills/projects/scripts/valid_slugs.sh --org example-org

See .claude/skills/projects/SKILL.md for full options.

Single vs Multi-Project Meetings:

•Use project: slug for meetings focused on one project
•Use projects: [slug1, slug2] when a meeting covers multiple topics/projects (e.g., 1-1s, check-ins)
•If both are present, projects takes precedence
•The first project in projects is the "primary" (default for actions without explicit project)

Note: See content/DOCUMENT-FORMATS.md for the authoritative format spec used by the web app.

File Naming & Location

•Format: YYYY-MM-DD-slug.md
•Location: {project}/meetings/YYYY/MM/ (grouped by month)
•Example: acme-corp/meetings/2026/01/2026-01-08-ya-start-of-year-strategy.md

Diary Integration

After creating or formatting a meeting, ensure it's linked from the diary entry for that date:

•Check diary file exists: diary/YYYY/MM/DD-DOW.md

•Add to ## Meetings section with context:

markdown

- [[project/meetings/YYYY/MM/YYYY-MM-DD-slug|Title]] — brief outcome

•If diary doesn't exist, create it or note for user

This ensures meetings are discoverable both by project (folder) and by date (diary).

Operations

1. Prep Meeting (Create Agenda)

When user asks to prep a meeting:

markdown

---
title: [Title]
date: [Date]
time: [Time if known]
attendees:
  - [Names]
location: [online/office/etc]
tags: []
project: [project]
status: scheduled
---

# [Title]

## Agenda

1. [Item 1]
2. [Item 2]
3. AOB

## Pre-meeting Notes

[Context, things to raise, questions to ask]

## Actions from Previous Meetings

[Check for pending actions with these attendees - use scan operation]

After creating the agenda file, sync it:

bash

.claude/skills/task-cli/scripts/task-cli.sh sync meeting path/to/meeting.md

2. Format Meeting Record

After a meeting, convert raw notes to structured format.

CRITICAL: Preserve all information. When formatting:

•Tidy and organise into sections
•Convert fragments to full sentences where helpful
•Extract actions into the actions table
•Add context (attendee roles, related projects)
•Fix typos and clarify abbreviations

But NEVER:

•Summarise away specific examples, quotes, or numbers
•Replace the user's captured examples with your own
•Lose details like exact figures, specific names, or verbatim advice
•Over-generalise specific guidance into vague principles

The user's raw notes are the source of truth. The formatted version should be more readable, not less detailed.

markdown

---
[frontmatter]
status: completed
---

# [Title]

## Summary

[2-3 sentence summary of key outcomes]

## Discussion

### [Topic 1]
- Point
- Point

### [Topic 2]
- Point

## Decisions

- [Decision 1]
- [Decision 2]

## Actions

| Owner | Action |
|-------|--------|
| Name | Task description |
| Other | Another task |

## Related

- [[path/to/related-file|Display Text]]

IMPORTANT: Actions Table Workflow

•When first formatting: Use simple 2-column format (Owner, Action)
•After syncing to task DB: Add Task column with IDs, rename "Action" to "Excerpt"
•For multi-project meetings: Add Project column before Task column

Before sync:

markdown

| Owner | Action |
|-------|--------|
| Alice | Schedule 6-month check-in |
| James | Finalise goals document |

After sync (Task IDs added, "Action" becomes "Excerpt"):

markdown

| Owner | Excerpt | Task |
|-------|---------|------|
| Alice | Schedule 6-month check-in | T-1234 |
| James | Finalise goals document | T-1235 |

Multi-project meetings (after sync):

markdown

| Owner | Excerpt | Project | Task |
|-------|---------|---------|------|
| Alice | Chat to Ed about map | map | T-1236 |
| Alice | Update grid tracker | grid-management | T-1237 |

Key rules:

•The Task column (task ID) is the source of truth for status and due date
•The Excerpt column is a frozen snapshot of the original action text — do NOT update it
•To change a task's title/status/due, edit it in the task DB, not the markdown
•The web app looks up task IDs to show live status
•"Excerpt" signals to readers that this text is historical context, not the current task title

After formatting, always sync the meeting:

bash

.claude/skills/task-cli/scripts/task-cli.sh sync meeting path/to/meeting.md

Then update the markdown with the returned task IDs.

3. Extract Actions

Parse meeting notes and:

•Identify all actions (look for "ACTION:", "OWED:", task assignments, commitments)
•Format into actions table
•Note actions owed BY others (for tracking)
•Set up blocking relationships in the task system (not in action text)

Shorthand notation in raw notes:

•ACTION: — Task for Alice or the team to do
•OWED: — Something someone else needs to send/provide to Alice/team (e.g., "OWED: Kane to send report")

When formatting, convert OWED: items into the Actions table with the other person as Owner.

Handling Blocking Relationships:

When raw notes mention "blocked by" or "blocks" relationships:

•DO NOT include "(blocked by X)" or "(blocks T-123)" in action text
•DO create clean action titles

•After sync, use --blocked-by to set up proper blocking:

bash

tcli update T-1221 --blocked-by T-1220   # T-1221 is blocked by T-1220

•
Optionally add a note below the Actions table documenting relationships:
markdown
```
**Blocking relationships:** T-1220 → T-1221, T-8 | T-1222 → T-1223
```

This keeps action titles clean while maintaining proper task dependencies in the system.

4. Scan for Lost Items

Search previous meetings for:

•Pending actions (Status: Pending)
•Actions without due dates
•Actions owed by specific person
•Unresolved items from meetings with specific attendees

bash

# Find all meetings with pending actions
grep -r "Pending" */meetings/*/*.md

# Find meetings with specific attendee
grep -rl "John Myers" */meetings/*/*.md

# Find meetings from a specific month
ls acme-corp/meetings/2026/01/

5. Validate Project References

For bulk validation of project references in meetings, see .claude/skills/projects/SKILL.md → "Validating Project References" section.

Quick check for a single slug:

bash

.claude/skills/projects/scripts/valid_slugs.sh --check analytics-dashboard

Task Database Integration

CRITICAL: After creating or formatting ANY meeting, you MUST sync it to the database.

Syncing does two things:

•Links attendees — meeting appears on each person's People page
•Creates tasks — actions become trackable tasks with IDs

Syncing Meetings (Required)

bash

# Always sync after creating/formatting a meeting
.claude/skills/task-cli/scripts/task-cli.sh sync meeting path/to/meeting.md

# Example
.claude/skills/task-cli/scripts/task-cli.sh sync meeting example-org/meetings/2026/01/2026-01-19-grid-maps-brainstorm.md

Why this matters: Without syncing, meetings won't appear on attendees' People pages, and actions won't be tracked in the task system.

After Syncing: Update the Markdown

If the meeting has actions, the sync command returns task IDs. Update the meeting file:

•Add task IDs to a new "Task" column
•Rename "Action" column to "Excerpt" (signals frozen historical text)

markdown

## Actions

| Owner | Excerpt | Task |
|-------|---------|------|
| Alice | Schedule 6-month check-in | T-1234 |
| James | Finalise goals document | T-1235 |

The Excerpt column preserves the original action text from the meeting. Task IDs are now the source of truth — edit status/title/due in the task database, not the markdown.

Query Tasks from a Meeting

bash

.claude/skills/task-cli/scripts/task-cli.sh search "meeting-slug"

Recognizing Multi-Project Meetings

When to use multi-project format:

•1-1 check-ins that cover multiple workstreams (e.g., Julia check-in covering grid-management, map, analytics-dashboard)
•Strategy meetings spanning multiple initiatives
•Any meeting where distinct topics relate to different project folders

Signs a meeting should use projects: array:

•Discussion naturally groups into separate topics with different project contexts
•Actions would logically belong to different project pages
•The meeting title is generic (e.g., "Weekly Check-in") rather than project-specific

How to format multi-project meetings:

•

Frontmatter: List all relevant projects

yaml

projects:
  - grid-management
  - map
  - analytics-dashboard

•

Discussion section: Group by project using headers

markdown

## Discussion

### Grid Management
- Points about grid tracker...

### Map Project
- Points about interactive map...

### Nuclear
- Points about Oklo, plutonium paper...

•

Actions table: Add Project column (after sync, use Excerpt pattern)

Before sync:

markdown

| Owner | Action | Project |
|-------|--------|---------|
| Alice | Chat to Ed about map | map |
| Alice | Tasks for Esther | grid-management |

After sync:

markdown

| Owner | Excerpt | Project | Task |
|-------|---------|---------|------|
| Alice | Chat to Ed about map | map | T-1236 |
| Alice | Tasks for Esther | grid-management | T-1237 |

Backwards compatibility: Existing meetings with single project: field continue to work unchanged. The web app handles both formats.

Tips

•Always sync meetings after creating/formatting — otherwise they won't appear on People pages
•Always check for pending actions with attendees before a meeting
•Status updates happen in the task database, not the meeting markdown
•The Excerpt column in meetings is frozen — never edit it after sync
•Link related meetings: See also: [[path/to/meeting]]
•Tag recurring meetings consistently (e.g., standup, 1-1, strategy)
•Use OWED: in raw notes when someone needs to send something to you — this gets converted to an action with them as Owner
•For multi-topic 1-1s and check-ins, use the projects: array with Project column in actions table