Skills anthropics knowledge-work-plugins Productivity

start

Use it when:
You're setting up the productivity plugin, or want the agent to learn your workplace's nicknames, acronyms and codenames from your todos.
You get:
TASKS.md, dashboard.html, a short CLAUDE.md of you, your people, terms, projects and preferences, and a memory/ folder with a glossary and per-person and per-project files.
It does:
Asks where you keep your todos, then goes through each task asking what its names, acronyms and codenames mean, skipping ones already decoded.
Can also:
Scan your chat, email, documents and calendar through connected MCP servers for more people, projects and terms, if you choose to.
Unlike update:
That one keeps tasks and memory current afterwards; this one builds them once, and in a folder already set up it only points you to the dashboard.
Runs:
As /productivity:start, or when you set up the plugin for the first time.

Skill 1 of 4 in the Productivity bundle, before task-management.

Only works inside its bundle: Creates TASKS.md from task-management's template, writes the memory files memory-management reads, and copies the plugin's dashboard.html. Install Productivity instead.

Copies dashboard.html from the productivity plugin's folder, outside the skill's own, so a skill-only install sets up tasks and memory without the board.

TL;DR

The set-up step of the productivity plugin. It checks the working folder for TASKS.md, CLAUDE.md, a memory/ folder and dashboard.html, and creates what's missing: TASKS.md from task-management's template, and dashboard.html copied from the plugin. It doesn't open a browser: it tells you to open the dashboard from your file browser. On a first run, with no CLAUDE.md or memory/ yet, it builds memory from your real task list, which it calls the best source of workplace language. It asks where you keep your todos, in a file or an app such as Asana, Linear, Jira, Notion or Todoist, then asks about each term it doesn't know: who Todd is, what PSR stands for, whether Phoenix is a project codename. It then offers a longer scan of your chat, email, documents and calendar through connected MCP servers, and sorts what it finds into ready to add, needs clarification, and unclear for later. Last, it writes CLAUDE.md, about 50 to 80 lines of tables on you, your people, terms, projects and preferences, and memory/ with a full glossary, a file per person and per project, and your company's teams, tools and processes. Sources that aren't connected are skipped and noted.

Summarizes the skill at ab4cb1c.

npx skills add https://github.com/anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins --skill start
Total Downloads
5,000 on skills.sh, Nov 9, 2026
Repo stars
35,234 anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins
First seen
Mar 13, 2026 on skills.sh
Weekly Downloads
40
-38% over the 8 weeks to Nov 9
Weekly values
Week toInstalls
Sep 2165
Sep 2840
Oct 535
Oct 1244
Oct 1949
Oct 2644
Nov 242
Nov 940
Category

Build agents, orchestrate workers and give agents memory.

Office files, notes and suites like Lark and Google Workspace.

Everything for building software: planning, coding, debugging, design, frameworks, cloud, agents and skills.

Type

One-time configuration or scaffolding of a project, account or tool.

Effect

Its own steps create or change files, git state or local tools.

Needs

Instructions only. Works in any agent that supports skills.

Publisher

A verified publisher on skills.sh, or the company or maintainer behind the product the skill operates.

Topics

SKILL.md

From anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins at ab4cb1c. Checked daily, last changed Nov 6, 2026.

Frontmatter
name: start
description: Initialize the productivity system and open the dashboard. Use when setting up the plugin for the first time, bootstrapping working memory from your existing task list, or decoding the shorthand (nicknames, acronyms, project codenames) you use in your todos.

Start Command

If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see CONNECTORS.md.

Initialize the task and memory systems, then open the unified dashboard.

Instructions

1. Check What Exists

Check the working directory for:

  • TASKS.md — task list
  • CLAUDE.md — working memory
  • memory/ — deep memory directory
  • dashboard.html — the visual UI
2. Create What's Missing

If TASKS.md doesn't exist: Create it with the standard template (see task-management skill). Place it in the current working directory.

If dashboard.html doesn't exist: Copy it from ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/dashboard.html to the current working directory.

If CLAUDE.md and memory/ don't exist: This is a fresh setup — after opening the dashboard, begin the memory bootstrap workflow (see below). Place these in the current working directory.

3. Open the Dashboard

Do NOT use open or xdg-open — in Cowork, the agent runs in a VM and shell open commands won't reach the user's browser. Instead, tell the user: "Dashboard is ready at dashboard.html. Open it from your file browser to get started."

4. Orient the User

If everything was already initialized:

Dashboard open. Your tasks and memory are both loaded.
- /productivity:update to sync tasks and check memory
- /productivity:update --comprehensive for a deep scan of all activity

If memory hasn't been bootstrapped yet, continue to step 5.

5. Bootstrap Memory (First Run Only)

Only do this if CLAUDE.md and memory/ don't exist yet.

The best source of workplace language is the user's actual task list. Real tasks = real shorthand.

Ask the user:

Where do you keep your todos or task list? This could be:
- A local file (e.g., TASKS.md, todo.txt)
- An app (e.g. Asana, Linear, Jira, Notion, Todoist)
- A notes file

I'll use your tasks to learn your workplace shorthand.

Once you have access to the task list:

For each task item, analyze it for potential shorthand:

  • Names that might be nicknames
  • Acronyms or abbreviations
  • Project references or codenames
  • Internal terms or jargon

For each item, decode it interactively:

Task: "Send PSR to Todd re: Phoenix blockers"

I see some terms I want to make sure I understand:

1. **PSR** - What does this stand for?
2. **Todd** - Who is Todd? (full name, role)
3. **Phoenix** - Is this a project codename? What's it about?

Continue through each task, asking only about terms you haven't already decoded.

6. Optional Comprehensive Scan

After task list decoding, offer:

Do you want me to do a comprehensive scan of your messages, emails, and documents?
This takes longer but builds much richer context about the people, projects, and terms in your work.

Or we can stick with what we have and add context later.

If they choose comprehensive scan:

Gather data from available MCP sources:

  • Chat: Recent messages, channels, DMs
  • Email: Sent messages, recipients
  • Documents: Recent docs, collaborators
  • Calendar: Meetings, attendees

Build a braindump of people, projects, and terms found. Present findings grouped by confidence:

  • Ready to add (high confidence) — offer to add directly
  • Needs clarification — ask the user
  • Low frequency / unclear — note for later
7. Write Memory Files

From everything gathered, create:

CLAUDE.md (working memory, ~50-80 lines):

# Memory

## Me
[Name], [Role] on [Team].

## People
| Who | Role |
|-----|------|
| **[Nickname]** | [Full Name], [role] |

## Terms
| Term | Meaning |
|------|---------|
| [acronym] | [expansion] |

## Projects
| Name | What |
|------|------|
| **[Codename]** | [description] |

## Preferences
- [preferences discovered]

memory/ directory:

  • memory/glossary.md — full decoder ring (acronyms, terms, nicknames, codenames)
  • memory/people/{name}.md — individual profiles
  • memory/projects/{name}.md — project details
  • memory/context/company.md — teams, tools, processes
8. Report Results
Productivity system ready:
- Tasks: TASKS.md (X items)
- Memory: X people, X terms, X projects
- Dashboard: open in browser

Use /productivity:update to keep things current (add --comprehensive for a deep scan).

Notes

  • If memory is already initialized, this just opens the dashboard
  • Nicknames are critical — always capture how people are actually referred to
  • If a source isn't available, skip it and note the gap
  • Memory grows organically through natural conversation after bootstrap