telos

Life OS and project analysis. USE WHEN TELOS, life goals, projects, dependencies, books, movies. SkillSearch('telos') for docs.

11,146 stars

Best use case

telos is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.

Life OS and project analysis. USE WHEN TELOS, life goals, projects, dependencies, books, movies. SkillSearch('telos') for docs.

Teams using telos should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.

When to use this skill

  • You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.

When not to use this skill

  • You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
  • You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.

Installation

Claude Code / Cursor / Codex

$curl -o ~/.claude/skills/Telos/SKILL.md --create-dirs "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/danielmiessler/Personal_AI_Infrastructure/main/Releases/v2.3/.claude/skills/Telos/SKILL.md"

Manual Installation

  1. Download SKILL.md from GitHub
  2. Place it in .claude/skills/Telos/SKILL.md inside your project
  3. Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill

How telos Compares

Feature / AgenttelosStandard Approach
Platform SupportNot specifiedLimited / Varies
Context Awareness High Baseline
Installation ComplexityUnknownN/A

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this skill do?

Life OS and project analysis. USE WHEN TELOS, life goals, projects, dependencies, books, movies. SkillSearch('telos') for docs.

Where can I find the source code?

You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.

Related Guides

SKILL.md Source

# Telos

**TELOS** (Telic Evolution and Life Operating System) is a comprehensive context-gathering system with two applications:

1. **Personal TELOS** - {principal.name}'s life context system (beliefs, goals, lessons, wisdom) at `~/.claude/skills/CORE/USER/TELOS/`
2. **Project TELOS** - Analysis framework for organizations/projects (relationships, dependencies, goals, progress)


## Voice Notification

**When executing a workflow, do BOTH:**

1. **Send voice notification**:
   ```bash
   curl -s -X POST http://localhost:8888/notify \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"message": "Running the WORKFLOWNAME workflow from the Telos skill"}' \
     > /dev/null 2>&1 &
   ```

2. **Output text notification**:
   ```
   Running the **WorkflowName** workflow from the **Telos** skill...
   ```

**Full documentation:** `~/.claude/skills/CORE/SkillNotifications.md`

## Workflow Routing

**When executing a workflow, output this notification directly:**

```
Running the **WorkflowName** workflow from the **Telos** skill...
```

| Workflow | Trigger | File |
|----------|---------|------|
| **Update** | "add to TELOS", "update my goals", "add book to TELOS" | `Workflows/Update.md` |
| **InterviewExtraction** | "extract content", "extract interviews", "analyze interviews" | `Workflows/InterviewExtraction.md` |
| **CreateNarrativePoints** | "create narrative", "narrative points", "TELOS report", "n=24" | `Workflows/CreateNarrativePoints.md` |
| **WriteReport** | "write report", "McKinsey report", "create TELOS report", "professional report" | `Workflows/WriteReport.md` |

**Note:** For general project analysis, dashboards, dependency mapping, and executive summaries, the skill handles these directly without a separate workflow file.

## Examples

**Example 1: Update personal TELOS**
```
User: "add Project Hail Mary to my TELOS books"
--> Invokes Update workflow
--> Creates timestamped backup of BOOKS.md
--> Adds book entry with formatted metadata
--> Logs change in updates.md with timestamp
```

**Example 2: Analyze project with TELOS**
```
User: "analyze ~/Projects/MyApp with TELOS"
--> Scans all .md and .csv files in directory
--> Extracts entities, relationships, dependencies
--> Returns analysis with dependency chains and progress metrics
```

**Example 3: Build project dashboard**
```
User: "build a dashboard for TELOSAPP"
--> Launches up to 10 parallel engineers
--> Creates Next.js dashboard with shadcn/ui + Aceternity
--> Returns interactive dashboard with dependency graphs, metrics cards, progress tables
```

**Example 4: Generate narrative points**
```
User: "create TELOS narrative for Acme Corp, n=24"
--> Invokes CreateNarrativePoints workflow
--> Analyzes TELOS context (situation, problems, recommendations)
--> Returns 24 crisp bullet points (8-12 words each)
--> Output is slide-ready for presentations or customer briefings
```

**Example 5: Generate McKinsey-style report**
```
User: "write a TELOS report for Acme Corp"
--> Invokes WriteReport workflow
--> First runs CreateNarrativePoints to generate story content
--> Maps narrative to McKinsey report structure
--> Generates web-based report with professional styling
--> Output at {project_dir}/report - run `bun dev` to view
--> White background, subtle Tokyo Night Storm accents
--> Includes: cover page, executive summary, findings, recommendations, roadmap
```

---

## Context Detection

**How {daidentity.name} determines which TELOS context:**

| User Request | Context | Location |
|--------------|---------|----------|
| "my TELOS", "my goals", "my beliefs", "add to TELOS" | Personal TELOS | `~/.claude/skills/CORE/USER/TELOS/` |
| "Alma", "TELOSAPP", "analyze [project]", "dashboard for" | Project TELOS | User-specified directory |
| "analyze ~/path/to/project" | Project TELOS | Specified path |

---

# Part 1: Personal TELOS ({principal.name}'s Life)

## Location

**CRITICAL PATH:** All personal TELOS files are located at:
```
~/.claude/skills/CORE/USER/TELOS/
```

Personal TELOS lives in the CORE USER directory, NOT directly under the Telos skill directory.

## Personal TELOS Framework

All files located in `~/.claude/skills/CORE/USER/TELOS/`:

### Core Philosophy
- **TELOS.md** - Main framework document
- **MISSION.md** - Life mission statement
- **BELIEFS.md** - Core beliefs and world model
- **WISDOM.md** - Accumulated wisdom

### Life Data
- **BOOKS.md** - Favorite books
- **MOVIES.md** - Favorite movies
- **LEARNED.md** - Lessons learned over time
- **WRONG.md** - Things {principal.name} was wrong about (growth tracking)

### Mental Models
- **FRAMES.md** - Mental frames and perspectives
- **MODELS.md** - Mental models used for decision-making
- **NARRATIVES.md** - Personal narratives and self-stories
- **STRATEGIES.md** - Strategies being employed in life

### Goals & Challenges
- **GOALS.md** - Life goals (short-term and long-term)
- **PROJECTS.md** - Active projects
- **PROBLEMS.md** - Problems to solve
- **CHALLENGES.md** - Current challenges being faced
- **PREDICTIONS.md** - Predictions about the future
- **TRAUMAS.md** - Past traumas (for context and healing)

### Change Tracking
- **updates.md** - Comprehensive changelog of all TELOS updates

## Working with Personal TELOS

### Read Files

```bash
# View specific file
read ~/.claude/skills/CORE/USER/TELOS/GOALS.md
read ~/.claude/skills/CORE/USER/TELOS/BELIEFS.md

# View recent updates
read ~/.claude/skills/CORE/USER/TELOS/updates.md
```

### Update Personal TELOS

**CRITICAL:** Never manually edit. Use the Update workflow.

**Workflow:** `Workflows/Update.md`

The workflow provides:
- Automatic timestamped backups
- Change logging in updates.md
- Version history preservation
- Proper formatting and structure

**Valid files for updates:**
BELIEFS.md, BOOKS.md, CHALLENGES.md, FRAMES.md, GOALS.md, LEARNED.md, MISSION.md, MODELS.md, MOVIES.md, NARRATIVES.md, PREDICTIONS.md, PROBLEMS.md, PROJECTS.md, STRATEGIES.md, TELOS.md, TRAUMAS.md, WISDOM.md, WRONG.md

---

# Part 2: Project TELOS (Organizational Analysis)

## Capabilities

For any project directory, TELOS provides:

1. **Relationship Discovery** - Find how files/entities connect
2. **Dependency Mapping** - Identify what depends on what
3. **Goal Extraction** - Discover stated and implied objectives
4. **Progress Analysis** - Track advancement and metrics
5. **Narrative Generation** - Create executive summaries
6. **Visual Dashboards** - Build beautiful UIs with data

## Target Directory Detection

**Flexible file discovery - no required structure:**

```bash
# User specifies directory
"Analyze ~/Cloud/Projects/TELOSAPP"
--> {daidentity.name} scans for .md and .csv files anywhere in tree

# {daidentity.name} automatically finds all .md and .csv files regardless of structure
```

## Analysis Workflow

### Step 1: Identify Target

**Auto-detection:**
- User mentions project name (TELOSAPP, Alma, etc.)
- User provides path explicitly
- {daidentity.name} looks for common project locations

### Step 2: Scan Files

Discover all markdown and CSV files:
```bash
find $TARGET_DIR -type f \( -name "*.md" -o -name "*.csv" \)
```

Index:
- Markdown structure (headings, sections, links)
- CSV schema (columns, data types)
- Cross-references and mentions
- Entities (people, teams, projects, problems)

### Step 3: Relationship Analysis

Build relationship graph:
1. **Entity Extraction** - Identify unique entities
2. **Connection Discovery** - Find explicit/implicit links
3. **Dependency Mapping** - Trace dependencies
4. **Network Construction** - Build directed graph

### Step 4: Generate Insights

Produce analytics:
- **Dependency Chains**: PROBLEMS --> GOALS --> STRATEGIES --> PROJECTS
- **Bottlenecks**: What blocks progress?
- **Goal Alignment**: Projects aligned with objectives?
- **Progress Metrics**: Completion percentages
- **Risk Areas**: Overdue items, blocked work

### Step 5: Create Outputs

**Output Formats:**

1. **Markdown Report** - Static analysis with Mermaid diagrams
2. **Web Dashboard** - Interactive app with shadcn/ui + Aceternity
3. **JSON Export** - Structured data
4. **Executive Summary** - Narrative overview
5. **Custom Format** - As requested

## Building Dashboards

### Parallel Engineer Strategy

**CRITICAL: When building UIs, use up to 16 parallel engineers.**

**Launch Strategy:**
Use single message with 10 Task calls in parallel:

```
Engineer 1: Project structure + layout + navigation
Engineer 2: Overview page with metrics cards
Engineer 3: Projects page with progress tracking
Engineer 4: Teams page with performance tables
Engineer 5: Vulnerabilities/issues page
Engineer 6: Progress timeline visualization
Engineer 7: Data parsing library (MD/CSV)
Engineer 8: Shared components (cards, badges, tables)
Engineer 9: Design polish and theme
Engineer 10: Integration and testing
```

### Dashboard Requirements

**Tech Stack:**
- Next.js 14 + TypeScript
- shadcn/ui for UI components
- Aceternity UI for layouts
- Tailwind CSS
- Tokyo Night Day theme (professional light)

**Features:**
- Dependency graphs (Mermaid or D3.js)
- Progress tables (sortable, filterable)
- Metrics cards (KPIs, stats)
- Timeline visualizations
- Relationship networks

**Design:**
```css
--background: #ffffff
--foreground: #1a1b26
--primary: #2e7de9
--accent: #9854f1
--destructive: #f52a65
--success: #33b579
--warning: #f0a020
```

## Common TELOS Files

**Standard Project TELOS Structure** (auto-detected):

### Context Files
- **OVERVIEW.md** - Project overview
- **COMPANY.md** - Organization context
- **PROBLEMS.md** - Issues to solve
- **GOALS.md** - Objectives
- **MISSION.md** - Mission statement
- **STRATEGIES.md** - Strategic approaches
- **PROJECTS.md** - Active initiatives

### Operational Files
- **EMPLOYEES.md** - Team members
- **ENGINEERING_TEAMS.md** - Team structure
- **BUDGET.md** - Financial tracking
- **KPI_TRACKING.md** - Metrics
- **APPLICATIONS.md** - App inventory
- **TOOLS.md** - Tooling
- **VENDORS.md** - Third parties

### Security Files
- **VULNERABILITIES.md** - Security issues
- **SECURITY_POSTURE.md** - Security state
- **THREAT_MODEL.md** - Threats

### Data Files (CSV)
- **data/VULNERABILITIES.csv** - Vuln tracking
- **data/INCIDENTS.csv** - Incident log
- **data/VENDORS.csv** - Vendor data

**Note:** Files are optional. TELOS adapts to whatever exists.

## Visualization Types

**Available Visualizations:**

- **Dependency Graphs** - Mermaid or D3.js network
- **Progress Tables** - shadcn/ui tables with filters
- **Metrics Cards** - Aceternity card layouts
- **Timeline Charts** - Progress over time
- **Status Dashboards** - KPI overviews
- **Relationship Networks** - Force-directed graphs
- **Bar Charts** - Recharts for comparisons
- **Line Charts** - Trend analysis

---

## Security & Privacy

**Personal TELOS:**
- NEVER commit to public repos
- NEVER share publicly
- Always backup before changes
- Use Update workflow only

**Project TELOS:**
- May contain sensitive data
- Ask before sharing externally
- Redact sensitive info in examples
- Follow PAI security protocols

---

## Key Principles

1. **Dual Context** - Handles both personal and project TELOS seamlessly
   - Personal TELOS: `~/.claude/skills/CORE/USER/TELOS/` (in CORE USER directory)
   - Project TELOS: User-specified directories
2. **Auto-Detection** - Determines context from user question
3. **Flexible Discovery** - Finds files regardless of structure
4. **TELOS Methodology** - Applies relationships, dependencies, goals, narratives
5. **Parallel Execution** - Up to 10 engineers for dashboard builds
6. **Visual Excellence** - Beautiful outputs with shadcn/ui + Aceternity
7. **Privacy-Aware** - Respects sensitive data
8. **Integrated** - Works with development, research, and other skills

---

**TELOS is {principal.name}'s life operating system AND project analysis framework. One skill, two powerful contexts.**

**Remember:** Personal TELOS files live at `~/.claude/skills/CORE/USER/TELOS/` (in the CORE USER directory)

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