Open loops

Pattern from gbrain docs/guides/open-loops.md. Run it inside a morning briefing, or on demand. Read-only: it never drafts, sends or labels anything.

Fetch (in-session, through your mail MCP's search and get tools)

1. Search with newer_than:14d (in:inbox OR in:sent) -category:promotions -category:social -category:updates -category:forums, max 100 results. Results come newest first.
2. Keep the FIRST message id per threadId (that is the thread's latest message). Cap at 30 threads.
3. Get each kept id as metadata (headers + snippet), in one parallel batch.
4. For any thread whose latest message is yours, also fetch the previous message id from step 1, so a nudge does not reset the clock.
5. Write {"me": ["you@example.com"], "messages": [...metadata objects...]} to a scratch file. Or set OPERATOR_EMAILS and leave me out.

Judge

python3 -I scripts/memory/open_loops.py <input.json> (add --json for machine output).

• Exit 2 with OPEN_LOOPS_EMPTY_INPUT means the fetch returned nothing. That is a FAIL, never "no open loops". Re-fetch.
• Self-check: python3 -I scripts/memory/open_loops.py --selftest (14 cases).

Rules (all in the script)

• Waiting on you: last real message is theirs, you are in To:, it asks or requests something, 24h+ old.
• You waiting: last real message is yours, it has a "?" outside any URL, 72h+ old.
• Acks ("thanks", "got it", "noted") never close a loop. Same-side nudges keep the original clock.
• Ignored: automated senders, calendar invites, promo/social/update/forum categories, threads older than 14 days, and senders in memory/state/open-loops-ignore.json ({"senders": ["domain.example"]}).
• Writing in another language? Add its ack and request phrases to ACK and REQUEST in the script.

What a result does NOT prove

It is judged on the ~200-char snippet, so a request deep in a long mail can be missed. Only the 30 most recent threads are checked. Follow-ups that moved to a chat app are invisible: a thread that moved there can show as open.

Report

List "waiting on you" first, oldest first, max 5 lines, then "you're waiting on them". When you dismiss a sender as never-a-loop, add the domain to the ignore file (safe to do without asking: it only narrows output).