bosskey

Boss Key

Turn your recent git history into a standup script that sounds good without inviting follow up questions.

Steps

1. Identify the user

Run git config user.name to get the current user's git identity. Use the result as the author filter for all log queries.

2. Gather recent commits

Run a git log filtered to that author. Collect the last 3 days of commits OR the last 10 commits, whichever set is larger.

Use something like:

git log --author="<name>" --since="3 days ago" --pretty=format:"%H %s" --no-merges

Then also:

git log --author="<name>" --pretty=format:"%H %s" --no-merges -10

Merge and deduplicate the two lists.

3. Review the actual changes

For each commit, read the diff to understand what actually changed:

git show <hash> --stat
git show <hash>

Don't just rely on commit messages. Look at the code to understand the substance of the work.

4. Synthesize a status update

Analyze all the commits together and write a status update the user can read verbatim in a standup, meeting, email, or slack message.

Tone rules:

• Sound like a real person talking, not a press release
• Confident but casual. Think "catching up a coworker" not "presenting to the board"
• Vague enough that nobody asks follow up questions, specific enough to sound real
• Translate implementation details into business speak but keep it natural
• Everything should sound intentional, even bug fixes
• 3 to 6 bullet points max, plus a one liner for "what's next"
• Do NOT use em dashes. Do not overuse punctuation. Keep sentences short and plain.
• Contractions are good. "I've been" not "I have been"
• No corporate buzzwords like "synergy" or "leverage" or "align". Just normal words.

Translation guide, think along these lines:

• Fixed a null pointer → "Hardened some edge cases in the data pipeline"
• Added a CSS margin → "Polished the UX on a key workflow"
• Refactored a function → "Cleaned up some tech debt in a core module"
• Updated dependencies → "Took care of some security and stability stuff"
• Fixed typo in README → "Tidied up the dev docs"
• Added error handling → "Made a few things more resilient"
• Wrote tests → "Added coverage on some critical paths"
• Deleted dead code → "Trimmed the codebase, removed some stuff we weren't using"
• Debugged for 4 hours, changed one line → "Tracked down a subtle bug and got it fixed"
• Renamed variables → "Improved readability in a few spots"

5. Output format

Present the result like this:

---

Your Boss Key, ready to go:

Here's where I'm at:

• [bullet 1]
• [bullet 2]
• [bullet 3]
• ...

Next up I'm [one liner about what's coming].

---

Also include a shorter hallway version for when someone catches you off guard:

"Been heads down on [vague but real sounding summary], making good progress. Should have more to share soon."

---

Keep it chill. The goal is to sound like someone who's been getting stuff done and has things under control. Not a robot, not a try hard, just a person doing their job well.