intellectronica/taking-agents-seriously/process-message

Process Message

Use this skill whenever you are asked to process inbox mail.

Goal

Handle exactly one message from inbox/ in a single turn.

Operating assumptions

• The skill contents are already loaded. Do not browse the skills/ directory to rediscover them.
• Do not read system-prompt.md.
• Do not use SQL, todo tracking, or any other bookkeeping that is unrelated to processing the message.
• Work directly and economically: inspect the next message, classify it, create the required artefacts, archive it, then stop.

Procedure

1. List the markdown files in inbox/.
2. Choose the next message to process by filename order.
3. Read that message carefully.
4. Apply the classify-message-urgency skill.
5. Apply the classify-message-importance skill.
6. Determine which of the four states applies:

• not urgent and not important
• important but not urgent
• urgent but not important
• urgent and important

1. If the message is urgent, use the respond-to-message skill to create a reply markdown file in outbox/.
2. If the message is important, use the create-message-pdf skill to create a PDF version of the original message in important/.
3. Move the processed original message from inbox/ to archive/.
4. End the turn with a compact report containing:

• filename
• urgency classification
• importance classification
• actions taken

Output discipline

• Process one message only.
• Do not leave the original in inbox/.
• Do not skip classification.
• Do not create a reply for a non-urgent message.
• Do not create a PDF for a non-important message.
• Prefer direct action over exploratory commentary.