Process Inbox Skill

Guides users through the inbox processing workflow - clarifying and organizing captured items one at a time until inbox is empty.

Purpose

Traditional inbox processing is overwhelming. You stare at a list of random items and don't know where to start. The Processing Guide tells you to "start at the top and process one at a time," but that's easier said than done when items are vague, complex, or touch multiple areas of your life.

This skill embeds productivity coaching expertise into Claude Code. It guides you through a structured conversation for each inbox item:

Clarifying: What is this? Is it actionable? What's the next physical action?
Routing: Which horizon does it belong to? (00k actions → 50k purpose)
Organizing: Using MCP tools to put it in the right place in your system
Removing: Deleting it from inbox (never going back)

No more decision paralysis. No more items sitting in inbox for weeks. Just clear, decisive processing with an AI partner who knows the methodology.

How It Works

You: "Process inbox"

Claude:

Reads your inbox file
Presents first item from the top
Asks clarifying questions naturally
Helps you decide: action? project? higher horizon?
Uses MCP tools to organize it properly
Deletes it from inbox
Repeats for next item

Result: Inbox at zero, everything in the right place, habits reinforced.

Key Features

Follows Workflow Rules Strictly

Top item first - No cherry-picking
One at a time - Full focus on current item
Never back to inbox - One-way path out
Every project gets action - No orphaned projects
Two-minute rule - Do quick things now

Multi-Horizon Intelligence

Routes items across all 6 horizons:

00k - Next actions (@macbook, @phone, @waiting, etc.)
10k - Projects (creates new, appends to existing)
20k - Areas of focus
30k - Goals (1-2 years)
40k - Vision (3-5 years)
50k - Purpose & principles

Adaptive Coaching

Matches your processing style:

Fast processors: Moves quickly, minimal questions
Thinkers: Asks probing questions, helps clarify
Dumpers: Extracts structure from brain dumps

Context-Aware

Searches for existing projects before creating duplicates
Validates areas against your configuration
Suggests related items ("This might also need a goal...")
Uses proper formatting (todo.txt, kebab-case, etc.)

Usage

Basic

You: Process inbox
Claude: [guides you through each item]

Resume Session

You: Process inbox
Claude: Welcome back. You have 5 items remaining. Let's continue...

Get Help

You: I'm stuck on this inbox item
Claude: [helps clarify what it is and where it should go]

Requirements

MCP Server:

execution-system-mcp server must be running and configured
Requires tools: add_action, create_project, list_areas, search_projects, etc.

File Structure:

Inbox at: docs/execution_system/00-inbox.md
Follows standard horizons structure (see reference/implementation/file-structure.md)

Configuration:

Areas of focus defined in ~/.config/execution-system-mcp/config.json
Must match areas in docs/execution_system/20k-areas/active/areas-of-focus.md

Reference Materials

The skill includes comprehensive documentation:

Workflow Principles (reference/gtd-principles/):

Original workflow concepts
Processing guidelines, two-minute rule, etc.
17 files covering clarify and organize phases

Implementation Guide (reference/implementation/):

horizons-of-focus.md - The 6-level model explained
file-structure.md - Where everything lives
mcp-tools-guide.md - All available tools
action-format.md - Todo.txt formatting

Workflows (workflows/):

multi-horizon-routing.md - Decision tree for routing items

Example Session

User: Process inbox

Claude: You have 8 items in your inbox. Let's process them one by one, from top to bottom.

Let's look at the first item: "Call chiropractor"

User: Yeah, need to schedule an appointment

Claude: Got it. Is this a single action or part of a bigger project?

User: Just a single action

Claude: Great. Where would you do this - phone or computer?

User: Phone

Claude: Does it relate to any existing project?

User: Not really

Claude: Perfect. I'll add this to your @phone list.
[adds action]
Item processed. 7 items remaining.

Let's look at the next item: "Create skill to help process inbox"
...

Best Practices

Schedule inbox processing - Daily or every 2-3 days
Block time - 15-30 minutes for small batches
Trust the process - Don't skip items, follow workflow rules
Start with small batches - Process 5-10 items at a time
Use capture freely - Get stuff into inbox quickly, process later

Common Scenarios

Vague Item

Inbox: "Health stuff" Skill: Asks clarifying questions until concrete action emerges

Complex Item

Inbox: [paragraph about product vision] Skill: Identifies it touches multiple horizons, processes each level

Duplicate

Inbox: "Research ML frameworks" Skill: Searches, finds existing project, appends instead of duplicating

Multi-Step Item

Inbox: "Plan anniversary trip" Skill: Recognizes as project, creates it, ensures at least one action added

Troubleshooting

Skill not activating?

Ensure SKILL.md is in Claude Code's skills path
Reference skill explicitly: "Use process-inbox skill"

MCP tools failing?

Check execution-system-mcp server is running
Verify config at ~/.config/execution-system-mcp/config.json

Items going to wrong place?

Review workflows/multi-horizon-routing.md
Skill can make mistakes - you can always move items later

Philosophy

This skill embodies a key workflow insight:

"When I coach people through this process, it invariably becomes a dance back and forth between the simple decision-making stage of processing the open loops and the trickier task of figuring out the best way to enter these decisions in their particular organization systems."

The skill IS that coach. It dances between clarifying (What is it?) and organizing (Where does it go?) naturally, making inbox processing feel less like a chore and more like a productive conversation with a knowledgeable partner.

Related Skills

natural-planning-project - For creating well-formed projects during inbox processing
weekly-review (future) - For reviewing system health

Contributing

This skill is part of the gtd-skills repository. Issues and improvements welcome.

process-inbox