Automations
Stale task nudge automation
Thursday: every task nobody touched in two weeks gets one kill-or-commit question.
Last reviewed July 17, 2026
A cron automation recipe that finds stale and zombie tasks weekly and produces a short kill-or-commit list, so the board stays a plan instead of a museum.
Schedule: Thursdays at 09:00
0 9 * * 4Automation instructions
Read my Tasks lists. Find: tasks untouched for 14+ days, tasks blocked for 7+ days with no note on what unblocks them, and tasks with due dates that passed silently more than 3 days ago. For each (cap 10, oldest first): one line stating the task, its age, and the specific kill-or-commit question ('still worth doing before the launch, or archive?'). Group by list. End with counts: total open, total stale, staleness ratio, and the trend vs last week's report (read it from /Ops/stale-reports). Write to /Ops/stale-reports/stale-YYYY-MM-DD.md. Do not archive or edit any task; the decisions are mine.Set it up
- 1
Copy the instructions
Adjust the staleness thresholds to your cycle length; two weeks fits most personal and small-team rhythms.
- 2
Create the automation
Thursday morning: decisions land before the week ends, and Friday planning starts from a truthful board.
- 3
Answer in the report's chat
Reply 'archive 1, 3, 7; keep 2 with new due date Friday' and ask the agent to apply exactly that.