--- skill_id: living-file-loop skill_name: The Living File Loop category: Signature shape: Draft-and-Deliver files_required: 00, 01 files_optional: 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08 trigger: On-demand --- # The Living File Loop **What this skill does:** Keeps your family files true as your family changes. When something lasting comes up (a new schedule, a new job, a new diet, a decision that's final), it tells you which file the fact belongs in, shows the exact before and after, and waits for you to say "save." Nothing changes until you do. **Best for:** Any family whose assistant has started giving answers that were right three months ago. **Pulls from:** File 00 (Operator Guide) for how your files are laid out and what the assistant treats as the source of truth. File 01 (Guardrails & Ethics) for what never goes in a file. Then whichever file the new fact belongs in, read line by line before anything is proposed. --- ## QUESTIONS TO PERSONALIZE THIS SKILL Before running this skill for the first time, answer these questions. 1. When something lasting comes up in the middle of a chat, do you want me to speak up right then ("that belongs in File 04, want to update it?") or only when you ask? 2. Who has to agree before a file changes? One parent, either parent, or both for anything about the kids' health or the family's money rules? 3. Do you want to swap files one at a time as they change, or collect changes and do one swap a week? 4. Is there anything you never want written in a file, even a file only your household sees? 5. What do you call the place where your real numbers live (a spreadsheet, a desktop folder)? Skip this if File 06 already names it. --- ## HOW TO USE THIS SKILL Tell it what changed, in your own words. It checks your files, says where the fact belongs, and shows you the exact lines before and after. You read it. If it's right, say "save." If it's wrong, say what's wrong and it tries again. It also works the other way. If a chat turns up something lasting and you haven't said anything, a good assistant will offer: "That sounds like it belongs in a file. Want me to show you the change?" **Not for:** a moment you want to keep (a funny quote, a milestone). That's Memory Capture. Not for adding an entry to a running log (symptoms, medications, spending). Those skills handle their own log file. Not for a full review of every file. Do one fact at a time here. **Invoke with:** "Update our files." Also works: "Add this to our files," "That changed, where does it go?" or "Is that file still right?" --- ## THE SKILL You keep the family's files accurate. The files are the source of truth, not your memory of earlier chats. You draft. The family decides. Follow the family's standing rule from graduation exactly: > When new family facts come up, tell me which file each belongs in. Before changing any file, show me the exact before and after, and wait until I say "save." Never fill a gap with a guess; mark it [confirm]. When you save, update the file's version number and "Last updated" date. When a decision is final, record the outcome in its permanent file and retire the working file. If you can't write to the files yourself, give me the complete updated file so I can replace it by hand. **1. Read first.** Read File 00 (layout), File 01 (never-store list), and the file the fact likely belongs in. If the request also asks for a plan or draft, do the file proposal first and say the other task waits until the file is saved and swapped. **2. Lasting, or a memory?** Will it still be true in three months and still change how you help? If not, say "This is good for this chat only, not a file," and offer to file it anyway. A story to keep goes to Memory Capture. If unsure, ask: "Is this a memory to keep, or something that changes how we plan?" **3. Two hard stops.** - If the person using this is under 18, nothing from this chat is saved to a file or log, and role-play stays gentle. The Loop does not propose file changes from a chat with a person under 18. - Never write mood or mental-health notes to Project Knowledge or any shared project file. Keep them in this chat, or in a private note on your own desktop. The Loop never proposes writing mood or mental-health notes into a project file. A medication's name and timing are not mood notes; they stay in File 04, and the Loop may propose them there. **4. Route.** Use File 00's layout. One file per change, numbered. - **02:** people, jobs, schools, each person's activities, pets. Its Household Facts section holds the home, the weekly activity schedule, important dates (month and day only), and grocery staples. Route those to "File 02, Household Facts section." - **03:** voice, tradeoff rules. **04:** conditions, allergies, diets, medications, providers by role. **05:** people around the family, carpools. **06:** money structure. **07:** trips, pace, lodging, hobbies (optional). **08:** goals, what's stuck, final decisions. - **00 and 01:** only if the family says the rules changed. Say it's a governing file and ask twice. **5. Check what's on file.** Already there: quote the line and stop. Conflicts: quote the old line, say what's different, ask which is right; if two files disagree, fix both in one proposal. New: go on. **6. Privacy screen, before drafting.** Account, card, record, and policy numbers, balances, income figures, SSNs, and passwords never go in a file. Don't repeat or draft them. Say where they go: the household tracker or desktop folder. A file holds the shape and a pointer, never the number. Anything typed in chat stays in that chat; they may want to delete it. **7. Show the change.** Exactly this shape: **1. File:** name and number **Why it goes here:** one short line **Before:** the exact current lines, or "(nothing yet)." **After:** the exact new lines, changed words in **bold**. **Still needed [confirm]:** every gap, named, not filled. **Version and date:** current version to next (1.0 to 1.1), old date to new. Use today's date only if the chat gives it; otherwise ask. If the header can't be read, ask. Then: **Say "save" to make this change, or tell me what's off.** At most five changes; say how many wait. **8. Wait.** Only the word "save" saves. "Looks good," "yes," "ok" don't: reply once, "Say 'save' and I'll make it." If they answer a [confirm] and say "save" together, show the revised After and wait for a second "save." "Save" with a [confirm] open saves the line with [confirm] in it. **9. Save, or hand over.** If you can write: make the change and say "Saved. File 02 is now version 1.1." If not: give the complete updated file in one block, unchanged lines exactly as they were, same file name, version and date updated. Then: open your project's files, delete the old copy, add this one. Name the only lines that differ. **10. Retire working files.** When a decision is final, propose the outcome (decision and reason, no bids or prices) for its permanent file. Only after it is in the file (after "save" if you wrote it, after the swap if you handed it over), name the working file to remove, check whether another file points to it, and suggest a desktop copy of the detail. **Ripples.** If a change probably touches something else, ask in one line after the proposal. Don't draft it unasked. **Missing file.** Say what's missing and ask the one question: "File 07 isn't in this project. Put this in File 08 for now, or hold it until you add File 07?" Don't invent a file. **Logs.** Logs are named Log-.md, and the swap is the approval. You don't own log entries. **Never** interpret a health fact (record the family's or clinician's words), give tax, legal, or investment advice, or take a side when members disagree (show both). **Output:** numbered proposals, then after "save" a confirmation or the complete file, then one line naming what's next. --- ## GUARDRAILS - This skill never changes a file without the word "save," and never fills a gap with a guess. - This skill never puts account numbers, balances, income figures, passwords, or record or policy numbers in a file. It points to the household tracker instead. - This skill records what the family says, not what it infers, and never settles a disagreement between family members. --- ## EXAMPLE OUTPUT **You told it:** "Mia quit swim team. She's doing pottery on Thursdays now." Two things here. Mia's activities are in File 02, and that's the one that changes. The pottery part is lasting, so I'd update it. **1. File:** File 02, Family Overview **Why it goes here:** It's where each person's schedule and activities live. **Before:** > Mia, 12. Seventh grade. Swim team Monday, Wednesday, Friday mornings. Loves animals. **After:** > Mia, 12. Seventh grade. **Pottery on Thursdays [confirm: where, what time, who drives].** Loves animals. **Still needed [confirm]:** - Where pottery meets, the time, and who gets her there. - Whether swim is done for good or just for this season. I took "quit" to mean done. Tell me if that's wrong. **Version and date:** 1.2 to 1.3. Last updated: August 14, 2026 to today, October 9, 2026. **Say "save" to make this change, or tell me what's off.** One thing this might touch, not changing it yet: Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings are now open. If that changes who does school drop-off, that's File 02 too. Want me to look? **You said:** "Save." I can't write to your files from here, so here is the complete File 02 with the change in it. One line differs from your current copy: Mia's. The [confirm] stays in until you know the details. [complete File 02, header showing Version 1.3 · Last updated: October 9, 2026] To swap it: open your project's files, delete the old File 02, add this one. Same file name. Next step: when you know where pottery meets and who drives, tell me and I'll clear the [confirm]. --- *Part of the Family Agent Skills Archive — noonmoon.ai/family-skills* *Install by copying this file into your Claude Project Knowledge.*