Playbook: Inbox Triage

Run when triaging a batch of messages, requests, or asks and deciding what reaches the principal.

Inputs to pull

• Standing rules and preferences (memory/preferences/) — escalation bar, what to auto-handle.
• People context (memory/people/) — who's asking and how much weight they carry.
• Active priorities (memory/projects/, memory/profile/) — what's relevant right now.

Sort each item into

1. Needs the principal — requires their decision, voice, or attention. Summarize crisply and say what's being asked and by when. The sharpest test for this tier: would this surprise them in a way that damages their position? If yes, it goes up now — being blindsided by something you knew is the one failure triage exists to prevent.
2. Draft-and-confirm — you can handle it; prepare a response/action for a quick yes.
3. FYI — worth awareness, no action. Batch these.
4. Noise — no action, no need to surface.

Produce

• A short triage summary: the needs-principal items first (most urgent first), then the draft-and-confirm items with drafts ready, then a batched FYI list.
• Lead with a one-line bottom line: how many items, and the single most time-sensitive one.

Principles

• Protect the principal's focus — escalate only what genuinely needs them.
• Never send or commit anything outward without explicit confirmation.

After

• Capture any commitments, deadlines, or decisions that emerge (per brain/schemas/capture-rules.md).