Weekly lineup check

Uses the espn-fantasy MCP tools. They're read-only, so you recommend moves and the user makes them in the ESPN app. Run the first check Thursday afternoon, after the Wednesday and Thursday practice reports and before any Thursday-night starter locks. Run it again Saturday or Sunday morning, and whenever the user asks.

1. Gather, per league

Use the league the user named, or every league from list_leagues. For each one:

1. get_league_settings. Note the starting slots (roster.slots), whether the league is superflex (an OP slot), the scoring format and lineupLock. If missingRules or conflicts is non-empty, ask the user before advising, and save the answer with set_league_rule. ESPN never reports roster.irEligibleStatuses, so ask once per league which designations its IR slots allow (usually OUT, IR and SUSPENDED; some leagues add DOUBTFUL), and save it. Never carry one league's rules over to another.
2. get_my_roster for the current week.
3. get_matchup for the projected score on both sides and the margin.

4. get_optimal_lineup for the best lineup by projection. It already handles slot eligibility, byes, OUT/IR/SUSPENDED players, locked players and the user's pending claims, and lists risks:

   • questionable starters with no pivot: no bench backup whose game starts after the starter's inactives come out, about 90 minutes before his kickoff (staleTag means the tag may be out of date, so check the news first);
   • slots nobody can fill, including a best option projecting 0, with free agents and their deadline (a WAIVERS player by waiverClears, a free agent before kickoff), or the pendingClaim that already covers it;
   • IR_INELIGIBLE: a player on IR who isn't IR-eligible anymore. This blocks every add and claim, so fix it first.

   With a full roster, it names a drop for each pickup. Every risk about a player carries news: his latest ESPN news blurb, which usually says why he's flagged. Treat all of this as the starting point, not the answer.

5. get_bye_coverage with fromWeek and toWeek both the week after this one, for a one-line heads-up: a slot nobody can fill next week (openSlots) or a position short of the full-strength lineup (short). Don't plan pickups for it here; that's the waivers run.

2. Flag problems

Check every starter, then the bench:

• Must fix:
  • A starter on a bye: game is null, or byeWeek equals the week.
  • A starter who is OUT, IR or SUSPENDED.
  • An empty starting slot: fewer starters in a slot than roster.slots calls for.
• Likely fix:
  • A starter who is DOUBTFUL.
  • A starter who is QUESTIONABLE with a 0.0 projection. ESPN zeroes players it expects to sit, so treat him as likely out, not as a normal Q.
  • A starter with no projection who isn't on a bye.
• Research: a starter who is QUESTIONABLE with a normal projection.
• Upgrade: a healthy bench player who projects at least about 2 points more than a starter in a slot he's eligible for (eligibleSlots).
• IR housekeeping:
  • An IR_INELIGIBLE risk: he has to be activated or dropped (with the risk's drop if the roster is full) before any add or claim.
  • A player in an IR slot whose tag softened (say IR to DOUBTFUL) but raises no risk: the check uses the league's saved rule, not ESPN's. Tell the user to confirm in the app that ESPN still allows him there.
  • A bench player who is OUT long-term can move to an open IR slot (roster.irSlots) to free a bench spot, if ESPN shows him as IR-eligible.
• Locked players: a player with locked: true has kicked off and can't be moved. Mention him only if it matters.

3. Check the news

Start from ESPN's news blurbs (Rotowire's, via ESPN):

• A risk's news is the flagged player's latest blurb. For a questionable or 0-projection starter without a risk, or a bench player you'd start, call get_player_news with all their names in one call.
• Quote the blurb's gist and its published date. It usually says what you'd otherwise guess at: the injury, practice participation (DNP, limited, full), a benching or a role change.

Web-search only when the blurb isn't enough:

• it's older than the latest practice report (Wednesday to Friday) or than inactives on game day;
• his game is close and nothing confirms his status;
• or you need what blurbs don't cover: the team's injury report or a beat reporter's word on a close call.

Cite the source and its date for every status claim.

Weigh the news by when it came out:

• Tuesday: injury tags are often left over from last week. Don't act on them yet.
• Wednesday to Friday: practice reports. Friday's game designation (out, doubtful, questionable) is the strongest signal before game day.
• Game day: official inactives come out about 90 minutes before kickoff. That's the final word.

If you have no web search, say so, and use the ESPN blurbs, tags and projections only, labeled as such.

4. Set the lineup

• Start from get_optimal_lineup's moves, then adjust for the news: a player the news rules out comes out, and a questionable player cleared by the news can go back in. FLEX takes RB, WR or TE. OP (superflex) takes QB, RB, WR or TE.
• Pickups:
  • An EMPTY_SLOT risk already carries the options: its pendingClaim, or else its freeAgents and, with a full roster, a drop.
  • A GAME_TIME risk with no pivot, or a starter the news rules out with nobody healthy behind him, carries none. Call get_free_agents for that slot and pick a fill-in whose game starts after the starter's inactives come out (about 90 minutes before his kickoff), so the user can still pivot.
  • A FREE_AGENT can be added until his kickoff. A WAIVERS player only helps if waiverClears comes before his game.
  • With a full roster, name a drop for every pickup. The risk's drop is just the lowest season projection, so check his role and upside first, and never drop the only pivot for a questionable starter.
  • A fill-in the news names (a backup taking over) who isn't in those lists: check him with get_player, which says whether he's available in this league or who has him.
  • A hole no free agent fills (a starter out for weeks, the best free agent far below him): suggest the trades skill for that league.
• Superflex: start the two best-projected QBs regardless of name, and check both for byes.
• Default to the safe lineup. A questionable star sits until news clears him, then gets swapped in. A forgotten swap should never mean a zero. Give the user the deadline for that swap: his kickoff, or inactives about 90 minutes before.
• Lineups lock per player at kickoff (game.kickoff), not at the week's first game. A Sunday or Monday player can still be swapped after Thursday's game.
• Late-game questionable players need a backup whose game starts after the starter's inactives come out (about 90 minutes before his kickoff), ideally a teammate who absorbs his work. A 4:05 PM backup still works for a 4:25 PM starter; a 1:00 PM one doesn't. Otherwise the user can't pivot once inactives come out. This matters most for Sunday night and Monday night games.
• Don't churn. Leave near-equal choices (under about 1 point apart) alone unless the news breaks the tie.

5. Report

Give one short block per league, and give times in the user's time zone (Eastern if unknown):

**<league alias>** (format, week N): projected 128.4 vs 119.0 (+9.4)
Moves:
1. Start A at FLEX, bench B. B is OUT (team injury report, Fri Oct 16).
2. Move C to IR (OUT, multi-week), freeing a bench spot.
Watch:
- D (Q, Sun 4:25 PM ET). Confirm at inactives, about 2:55 PM. If he's out, start E.
Next week: no K (F on bye); one QB for QB and OP (G on bye).

Write "No changes needed" for a league that's set. Put the must-fix moves first, keep it to the moves and watches, and skip players with nothing to report.