heartbeat

Heartbeat — Scheduled Task Builder

Interviews the operator, generates a customized scheduled task body, and walks them through creating the task in cowork. Same shape as /edge-fn from supabase-builder — spec it, ship it.

When to invoke

User says any variant of:

• "build me a heartbeat"
• "set up the email heartbeat"
• "make my agent responsive / always-on"
• "I want something that checks my inbox every hour and drafts replies"
• "add a scheduled task for incoming messages"
• "how do I do that responsive agent pattern"

The flow

Step 1 — Run the intake (5 questions max)

Ask these in a single structured block. Accept "default" or "skip" for any field.

Quick spec:
1. Which level are we building?
   - Level 1: Gmail only
   - Level 2: Gmail + Slack DMs
   - Level 3: Supabase to_do routing (needs supabase-builder plugin)
   Default: Level 1 for first-time builds.

2. How often should it run? (hourly / every 30 min / every 4 hours / other)
   Default: hourly.

3. What's your voice reference folder path?
   Default: personal-responses/ in coworker workspace.

4. Skip list preferences (comma-separated, or "standard"):
   standard = marketing, receipts, calendar invites, newsletters, unknown senders
   Add or remove anything you want.

5. Lead-flagging: should the agent flag potential leads / client opportunities
   separately in the summary line? (yes/no)
   Default: yes, with a 🎯 prefix.

Wait for the operator's answers. If they give short or vague answers, use the defaults.

Step 2 — Confirm the spec before generating

Mirror back their answers in a compact block so they can correct before you generate. Example:

Building:
- Level 1: Gmail only
- Frequency: hourly
- Voice ref: coworker/personal-responses/
- Skip: marketing, receipts, calendar invites, newsletters, unknown senders
- Lead-flagging: yes (🎯 prefix)

Look right? Say 'go' to generate the scheduled task body.

If they change anything, update and re-confirm. When they say go, proceed.

Step 3 — Generate the customized scheduled task body

Use the templates in references/scheduled-task-instruction.md as the base. Substitute their spec values into the template. For Level 2 / 3, stack the additional blocks per the template file.

Output three things in one message:

1. The generated task body — in a fenced code block so they can copy it cleanly.

2. The setup checklist — folders to create before first run (inbox-log/, personal-responses/, heartbeat-log.md).

3. The paste walkthrough — exact cowork clicks:

   1. Open cowork → Settings → Scheduled Tasks → New Task
   2. Task name: Email Heartbeat
   3. Frequency: <spec.frequency>
   4. Model: Sonnet
   5. Project: coworker (or whichever folder has your voice ref)
   6. Paste the task body (above) into the instruction field
   7. Save
   

Step 4 — Verify it works

After they confirm they've created the task, tell them:

Trigger a manual run now (cowork's scheduled task list usually has a "Run now" button).
Check for:
- inbox-log/<today>.md created with any recent emails
- heartbeat-log.md has a new line
- Gmail drafts folder has N new drafts (if you had inbound messages in the last hour)

If anything's missing, come back and tell me what you see vs. expected.

Step 5 — Offer the upgrade when ready

After the operator confirms Level 1 works (usually 2-3 weeks in):

Level 1 is solid. Ready to add Slack DMs (Level 2) or Supabase to_do routing (Level 3)?
- Level 2 needs the Slack MCP connector.
- Level 3 needs supabase-builder + Supabase MCP.

If yes, re-run the intake with the new level selected and regenerate the task body.

Prerequisites the skill should check

Before generating, verify (ask the operator to confirm):

• Level 1: Gmail MCP connector is installed and authed.
• Level 2: Slack MCP connector is installed and authed.
• Level 3: supabase-builder plugin installed + Supabase MCP connector authed + to_do table exists (or offer to create it).

If a prerequisite is missing, stop before generating and walk the operator through the setup first.

Guardrails baked into every generated task

Always include these rules in the generated task body, regardless of level:

• Draft, never send. All responses stage for human review.
• Cap the lookback. Match the frequency (hourly task → scan last 60 min, no further).
• Skip list is enforced. Don't respond to things on the skip list even if "smart enough to."
• Log every run. One line to heartbeat-log.md — timestamp, counts, anything flagged.
• Voice reference is read-only. Never write AI-generated drafts back into personal-responses/. That folder stays pure human output.

The raw templates

For operators who want the templates directly (skip the interview), point them to: references/scheduled-task-instruction.md — Part 1 (Level 1), Part 2 (Level 2 addendum), Part 3 (Level 3 Supabase schema + replacement instruction).

Known cowork limitations to mention at Level 3

• Scheduled tasks can't schedule other scheduled tasks from within. Route async follow-ups through the to_do table.
• Nothing runs when cowork is closed. For true always-on behavior, graduate to Mac Mini + Claude Code + cron or a Supabase-webhook-driven architecture.

Mention these at the right moment — when the operator hits the limitation, not upfront.