Skill: People Update

When to activate

The user explicitly says: "people update", "[Name]'s note", "note on [Name]", "update [Name]".
The user shares significant info about a person (role change, new behavioral observation, important feedback).
As propagation from meeting-ingest (interaction logged automatically).
As propagation from braindump (if a significant interaction is detected).
The user asks to create a new person note.

Do NOT use people-update when:

A passing mention with no new info → skip.
The last interaction was < 24h ago AND the new info isn't substantial → skip (avoid over-writing).

People-CRM philosophy

This is the strategic core of the second brain for anyone who manages relationships. A person note is NOT a résumé:

It's an interaction journal (append-only timeline).
It's an evolving mental model (compiled truth + recency markers).
It's a relationship-strategy tool (motivations, levers, observed constraints).

The decisive test: if in a year the user must re-onboard with this person after 6 months of no contact, does the note let them pick up smoothly? If yes = useful note. If no = vault rot.

Preflight

Read _CLAUDE.md (rules, the person type schema) and 00-inbox/MY-PROFILE.md (working language, critical stakeholders, per-skill preferences).
Get the real timestamp.
Get context: the new interaction, source (meeting / email / chat / observation), nature.
Determine the invocation mode:
- Manual: explicit invocation → enrich fully (compiled truth, observations, follow-ups).
- Auto: invoked by daily-brief orchestration → minimal update only (see "Auto mode").
- Propagation from meeting-ingest: intermediate — log the interaction with a factual observation, without touching compiled truth.

Auto mode (invoked by daily-brief)

When invoked by daily-brief orchestration, specific behavior:

Allowed in auto mode

✅ Update frontmatter:

last-interaction: YYYY-MM-DD (today)
updated: YYYY-MM-DD (today)
Clear staleness-flag if present

✅ Append ONE aggregated timeline entry for the day:

### YYYY-MM-DD — Daily interactions (auto-logged)
- Calendar: [N events, short detail "1-1 30min 'topic'"]
- Email: [N threads, main topic if detectable]
- Chat: [N DMs or mentions]
- Source: daily-brief auto-propagation

FORBIDDEN in auto mode

❌ NEVER modify "Compiled truth" (manual mode only). ❌ NEVER modify "Open threads" (manual mode only). ❌ NEVER create a new person note (flag in the brief for the user to validate). ❌ NEVER add an interpretive observation to the timeline. ❌ NEVER modify the tags (role, region).

Recognizable format

The (auto-logged) suffix in the timeline entry header is mandatory and non-modifiable. It lets challenge-decision and other skills distinguish human signal from automatic signal.

Daily duplicate handling

If an (auto-logged) entry already exists for the day (daily-brief run twice or by debug):

Update the existing entry instead of creating a new one.
Preserve already-logged sources, add only new ones.
NEVER duplicate.

Weighting for challenge-decision

(auto-logged) entries carry less signal than manual observations. challenge-decision should use them mainly for:

✅ Frequency quantification (how many interactions over X months).
✅ Temporal pattern detection (an interaction that fades gradually).
❌ NOT as evidence of a behavioral pattern or strategic positioning.

Staleness-flag: automatic management

The staleness-flag field is fully managed automatically:

Set by the Stale People Check scheduled task if last-interaction > 30 days.
Cleared by daily-brief auto mode as soon as a new interaction is detected.
Cleared by a manual people-update invocation (any update clears the flag).

Flag format:

staleness-flag: "stale-30d-since-2026-05-22"
# or for critically stale:
staleness-flag: "stale-60d-since-2026-04-22"

The user NEVER touches this flag manually. The system self-heals.

Process

Step 1 — Identify the person

1.1 Fuzzy match

Search 02-people/*.md:

Exact full-name match.
First + last name with typo tolerance.
First name only (ambiguous, ask for confirmation).
Description ("the PM in Spain", "my manager") → cross-reference frontmatter.

1.2 Cases

Single match found → proceed with update.
Multiple matches → present the list, ask for confirmation.
No match → offer to create (Step 2).
Match with typo → confirm before acting: "Do you mean [[Alex Rivera]]?"

Step 2 — Creation (if new person)

⚠️ ALWAYS ask for confirmation before creating a new person note. An orphan note is less harmful than a duplicate.

Ask the user if not obvious:

Correct full name?
Role / function?
Team / company?
Region?
Relationship to you (direct-report, peer, manager, stakeholder, external)?

Create the note at 02-people/First Last.md with this template:

---
date: YYYY-MM-DD              # date of the first logged interaction
updated: YYYY-MM-DD
type: person
tags: [person, <role-tag>, <region-tag>]
role: "[exact role]"
company: ""                   # company / org name
team: "[team]"
region: WE|NA|LATAM|APAC|Global
relationship: direct-report|peer|manager|stakeholder|external
languages: ["en"]
last-interaction: YYYY-MM-DD
staleness-flag: ""
ai-first: true
---

## For future Claude

Person note for [Name], [role] at [company/team]. First interaction logged on [date].
[1-2 sentence summary of relationship and context.]

## Compiled truth

[What's stable and known about this person, updated episodically. NOT the timeline. Rather:]
- **Professional background**: [trajectory, context]
- **Working style**: [stable observations]
- **Apparent motivations**: [what seems to drive them]
- **Sensitive topics / red buttons**: [what to avoid]
- **Levers / good practices**: [what works to collaborate]
- **Internal network**: [who they work closely with]

## Timeline

[APPEND-ONLY. Each entry = 1 interaction or observation, dated, sourced.]

### YYYY-MM-DD — [Interaction type]
- Source: [[04-meetings/...]] / email / chat / observation
- What: [1-3 factual sentences about what happened]
- Observation: [interpretation, hypothesis, detected signal]
- [ ] Follow-up: [action if applicable — checkbox form so task-roundup picks it up;
  plain `- Follow-up:` (no checkbox) for FYI-only notes]

## Open threads

[Ongoing topics with this person, to track. Editable section, not append-only.]

## Links

- Shared projects: [[03-projects/...]]
- Manager: [[02-people/...]]
- Reports: [[02-people/...]]
- Recent meetings: [[04-meetings/...]]

Step 3 — Update (existing note)

3.1 Append timeline

Add ONE entry to the "Timeline" section:

### 2026-05-20 — Weekly 1-1
- Source: [[04-meetings/2026-05-20-1to1-alex]]
- What: Alex raised friction on the qualification script V2, especially edge cases.
  Looking for a sponsor to push a training redesign.
- Observation: 2nd time this month they've raised this proactively. Signal they want
  to make it a project.
- [ ] Follow-up: decide whether to put it in their Q3 development plan — owner: me

⚠️ Append-only: NEVER delete an existing timeline entry. If old info is contradicted, add a new entry that mentions the contradiction; don't edit in place.

3.2 Update compiled truth (if applicable)

"Compiled truth" is editable but sparingly. Modify only if:

You have a new stable observation (not a one-off signal).
It's confirmed across multiple interactions (visible recency markers).

When you modify "Compiled truth", include the update date:

- **Working style**: very field-oriented, little patience for abstract process *(updated 2026-05-20, confirmed across 3 interactions)*

3.3 Update frontmatter

updated: → today.
last-interaction: → today.
If role/team/region changed → update those fields (and log the change in the timeline).

3.4 Update "Open threads" and "Links"

Add the ongoing topic to "Open threads" if not already there.
Add the meeting/project to Links if new.

Step 4 — Propagation

4.1 People index (optional)

If 02-people/_index.md exists, update the relevant line (name, role, last interaction, status).

4.2 Daily note

Append to 01-daily/YYYY-MM-DD.md under ## People touched today:

- [[02-people/Alex Rivera]] — [interaction type] — topic: [topic]

4.3 Related projects

If the interaction concerns a project, verify the project is linked under "Links" and related-people.

Step 5 — Report

✓ Note updated: 02-people/Alex Rivera.md
✓ Timeline: 1 entry added (weekly 1-1)
✓ Compiled truth: "Working style" updated (3rd-iteration confirmation)
✓ Daily note 2026-05-20 updated
✓ Open threads: "Qualification script training redesign" added

→ Pattern detected: 2nd proactive raise on this topic this month
→ Suggestion: create project [[03-projects/Qualification Script Training Refresh]]?

Suggested tags for people

Role (1 required tag)

agent | team-lead | manager | head | vp | c-level
specialist | coach | trainer
pm | eng | design | data | ops
external-vendor | external-client

Region (1 required tag if internal)

region-we | region-na | region-latam | region-apac | region-global

Optional tags

direct-report | peer | manager-of-mine | sponsor | blocker | champion
high-trust | building-trust | caution

Anti-patterns to avoid

❌ Overwriting the timeline — append-only, never retroactive edits. ❌ Compiled truth without recency — if you update, date the change. ❌ Duplicate — fuzzy-match before create, always. ❌ Orphan note — make sure at least today's daily note links to it. ❌ Unsourced judgment — every observation must point to a source (dated meeting/email/observation). ❌ Inventing info — if you don't know, write "unknown" or ask the user. ❌ Descriptive note with no use — no flat résumé. Always ask: "useful in 6 months?"

Special cases

External person (client, vendor, partner)

company: = external name.
relationship: = external.
More tolerance for incompleteness (less info available).
Explicitly log the nature of the contact (commercial, customer success, partnership, etc.).

Person who left the org / leaver

Keep the note, never delete.
Update frontmatter: status: alumni, relationship: external-alumni.
Note in timeline: "YYYY-MM-DD — Left for [destination]".
Useful for your future network.

A key direct report

Special case: the person the user interacts with most. The note can get long. Manage it:

Timeline grouped by month (sub-headers ## YYYY-MM).
Editable "Development plan" section.
Editable "Quarterly objectives" section.
Special tags: direct-report + high-trust.

Cross-region stakeholder

For multi-region stakeholders:

Tag region-global.
Explicit note of sub-teams / zones of influence.
Timeline tagged by regional context if relevant.

First negative observation

If you log a first potentially negative observation (frustration, friction, disagreement), do it factually, never as a value judgment. The goal is to track signals, not to label people.

✅ Good: "Alex expressed frustration about a lack of product-PM support during the standup. Tense tone, visible disagreement."

❌ Bad: "Alex is negative and hard to manage."

Final note

This is probably the most valuable skill long-term. A well-kept people CRM = cumulative relationship capital. Poorly kept = a vault that pollutes searches.

Discipline > volume. 20 excellent notes beat 200 mediocre ones.