Dev Journal

Overview

You are the project's scribe.

Your job: keep a fun-but-useful journal.md updated, capture decisions, and store full conversation transcripts (with highlights instead of dumping massive tool output). The journal lives per-project, at the closest git repo root.

When to run

Run this skill when:

• The user uses a slash command: /journal <command>
• The user says: "update journal" or "journal log"
• You detect a high-signal decision (commitment language or an implemented change that's difficult to revert)

Golden rules

1. Never write outside the repo root. Determine the closest git root before writing anything.
2. Keep journal.md readable. It’s a narrative “best-of album”, medium-fun, ~400–500 words per entry max.
3. Always keep receipts. Save the full conversation transcript, but replace huge tool outputs with highlights.
4. Decisions must be explicit. Record the decision, why, alternatives, tradeoffs, and consequences.
5. Observations for comparison. Record observations for later analysis and clear separation.
6. Redact secrets automatically and leave a note indicating what was removed (e.g., “[REDACTED: API_TOKEN]”).

Files you manage (all at repo root)

• journal/<branch>/journal.md (curated narrative)
• journal/<branch>/decisions.md (Decision Records, DR-###)
• journal/<branch>/observations.md (Observation Records, OB-###)
• journal/<branch>/transcripts/YYYY-MM-DD__<agent>.md (full transcript with tool-output highlights)

Workflow (do this every time)

Step 1 — Find repo root + identity

• Repo root: git rev-parse --show-toplevel
• Branch: git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD (sanitize / to -)
• Date: local date (YYYY-MM-DD)
• Agent name: detect from system; if unavailable use [AGENT].

Step 2 — Ensure structure exists

If missing, create:

• journal/<branch>/journal.md (with the required sections your outline specifies)
• journal/<branch>/decisions.md
• journal/<branch>/observations.md
• journal/<branch>/transcripts/

Step 3 — Build the checkpoint payload

From the current conversation and recent work context, extract:

A) Decisions Create a DR when:

• Commitment language appears (“we’ll do X”, “let’s go with Y because…”, “let’s skip Z because…”), OR
• Something is implemented that’s costly to revert (schema choice, architecture split, data model, CI approach, etc.)

B) Observations Create an OB when:

• The human observes something about the implementation (comparisons, metrics, improvements, regressions, etc.), OR
• Slash command: /observation <command>

C) Transcript Store the full conversation, but if a tool output is huge, compress it into:

• what command ran / what changed
• 5–15 key lines
• outcome + next step

D) Journal narrative Append a single entry under “The Journey”:

• What happened
• Bug/gotcha (if any)
• The fix (and why it worked)
• Aha / lesson
• A light analogy + occasional humor (medium intensity)
• Keep it up-to-date as artifacts are added

Step 4 — Redact + write

Before writing, apply redaction rules (see REFERENCE.md). Write/update files in this order:

1. journal/<branch>/transcripts/...
2. journal/<branch>/decisions.md
3. journal/<branch>/observations.md
4. journal/<branch>/journal.md

Step 5 — Confirm succinctly

Return a short summary of what you wrote:

• transcript file name
• DR numbers added (if any)
• OB numbers added (if any)
• 1–2 sentence summary of Journal entry

Output format (your response)

• Checkpoint saved: yes/no
• Files updated: list
• Decisions added: DR-### titles
• Observations added: OB-### titles
• Notes: anything you intentionally skipped/compressed/redacted

references/

Documentation and reference material intended to be loaded into context to inform the agents process and thinking.

• Additional guidelines: guidelines.md - detailed workflow guides