vault-up — Session Start Ritual

You are opening a work session on the vault. Run through each step below in order. Be concise in your output — use tables and bullets, not paragraphs.

Configuration. Folder names and the search tool come from .scriptorium.json at the vault root: <daily_folder>, <inbox_folder>, <templates_folder>, <synthesis_folder>, <landing_note_parents>, <private_domains>, <index_filename>, <day_boundary_hour>, <search_command>. Read the real values there rather than assuming the example defaults; where a key is blank, ask instead of guessing a layout.

Step 1: Today's Daily Note

Determine the session date: if the current time is before <day_boundary_hour> (05:00 by default), use yesterday's date — late-night work belongs to the day it started. Otherwise use today's date.

• Check whether <daily_folder>/YYYY-MM-DD.md exists for the session date.
• If not, create it from <templates_folder>/daily.md. Replace {{date}} with YYYY-MM-DD, {{day_name}} with the weekday name, {{date_long}} with the full date (e.g. "Saturday, 21 March 2026").
• If it exists, read it so you have context on the day's activity so far.

Step 1b: Missed Close-Out Check

Check whether yesterday's daily note has a ## Daily summary section with content in it. An empty or missing section means the previous day was never closed out:

• Flag it prominently: "Yesterday was not closed out — no daily summary. Write one now?"
• If confirmed, synthesize yesterday's activity log into a summary before continuing.
• If declined, move on. This is a prompt, not a gate.

Step 2: Process the Inbox to Zero

• List <inbox_folder>. If empty, report "Inbox clear" and move on.
• If items exist, process each one using the auto-sort rules in LAWS.md:
  1. Classify by project, area, or person.
  2. Create or append to the appropriate note in the correct folder (shape per the vault-conventions skill).
  3. Add [[wikilinks]] to related notes, verifying each target exists.
  4. Log the activity in the session date's daily note.
  5. Remove the processed item from <inbox_folder>.

A dump that spans several topics splits into separate notes per destination rather than one note filed under whichever topic came first.

Step 3: Vault Health Dashboard

Read the global <index_filename> at the vault root, and the owner profile hub (the single note with type: profile) if one exists, to orient on the vault's shape and current context. Then display a compact dashboard:

Inbox:       X items (should be 0 after Step 2)
Daily notes: last entry YYYY-MM-DD (X days ago)
People:      X contacts
Projects:    list active project names
Areas:       list area names
Knowledge:   X notes
Drafts:      X notes with status: draft
Orphans:     X notes with zero backlinks (list them if <5)

Use the global index for counts and structure — don't re-scan every folder, which is slow and produces a number that disagrees with the index instead of fixing it. To find orphans: glob all .md files, then grep for [[filename]] patterns; a note is orphaned when nothing else links to it (excluding templates, <index_filename> files, and the vault's instruction files).

Step 4: Active Projects

For each topic node under <landing_note_parents>, read its landing note (<Folder>/<Folder>.md) and show:

• Project name
• Status (from frontmatter)
• Last modified date
• One-line summary, or the next action if one is recorded

Flag any project not modified in 14+ days as stale. Staleness is a prompt to archive or revive, not a criticism — a project that has been stale for a month is usually a decision nobody has made yet.

Step 5: On This Day

Look for daily notes from one week ago, one month ago, and three months ago. If any exist, show a 1-2 line summary of what happened that day. If none exist, skip silently rather than reporting absence.

Step 6: Serendipity

Pick 3 random notes from the vault and show each title plus its first meaningful line. The goal is to trigger connections you would not have searched for.

Exclude templates, daily notes, <index_filename> files, the vault's instruction files, and anything under <private_domains> — a resurfacing feature that surprises you mid-screenshare is a bug, not serendipity.

Randomize with something like ls | shuf | head -3 (or gshuf on macOS).

Step 7: Review Cadence Check

• Check when the last weekly review happened: search daily notes for a "weekly review" mention, or look for a <synthesis_folder> note dated within the last 7 days.
• Check when the last monthly synthesis happened: search for a "monthly synthesis" mention, or a <synthesis_folder> note dated within the last 30 days.
• If either is overdue, flag it: "Weekly review overdue (last: X days ago)" or "Monthly synthesis overdue."

Use <search_command> for these searches, substituting the query for its {query} token. Any search CLI works — semantic or plain grep — so long as it takes a query and returns note paths; nothing here depends on a particular product.

Step 8: Session Intention

Ask: "What's the ONE thing for this session?"

Wait for the answer before starting any other work. This step is the reason the ritual exists — everything above is orientation, and orientation without a chosen target just becomes a nicer way to start the day unfocused.

Output Format

Present everything as a single scannable briefing. Use a header per section, keep each section to 3-5 lines, and end with the intention prompt.