/ceos-rocks

name: ceos-rocks
description: Use when setting, tracking, or scoring quarterly Rocks
file-access: [data/rocks/, templates/rock.md, data/vision.md, data/accountability.md]
tools-used: [Read, Write, Glob]

ceos-rocks

Manage quarterly Rocks — the 3-7 most important priorities for the next 90 days. Each Rock has one owner, a measurable outcome, and a due date at quarter end.

When to Use

• "Set rocks for this quarter" or "let's plan our quarterly priorities"
• "Rock status" or "how are our rocks tracking?"
• "Score rocks" or "end of quarter review"
• "Create a rock" or "add a new rock for [person]"
• "What rocks does [person] own?"
• Any quarterly planning or review conversation

Context

Finding the CEOS Repository

Search upward from the current directory for the `.ceos` marker file. This file marks the root of the CEOS repository.

If `.ceos` is not found, stop and tell the user: "Not in a CEOS repository. Clone your CEOS repo and run setup.sh first."

**Sync before use:** Once you find the CEOS root, run `git -C <ceos_root> pull --ff-only --quiet 2>/dev/null` to get the latest data from teammates. If it fails (conflict or offline), continue silently with local data.

Key Files

| File | Purpose | |------|---------| | `data/rocks/QUARTER/` | Rock files for each quarter (e.g., `data/rocks/2026-Q1/`) | | `data/vision.md` | V/TO document (1-Year Plan for alignment checks) | | `templates/rock.md` | Template for creating new Rock files | | `data/accountability.md` | Accountability Chart (seat owners for Rock-owner alignment) |

Rock File Format

Each Rock is a markdown file with YAML frontmatter:

id: rock-001
title: "Launch Beta Program"
owner: "brad"
quarter: "2026-Q1"
status: on_track       # on_track | off_track | complete | dropped
created: "2026-01-02"
due: "2026-03-31"

**Status values:**

• `on_track` — progressing as expected
• `off_track` — behind or at risk
• `complete` — done (set during end-of-quarter scoring)
• `dropped` — no longer a priority (set during end-of-quarter scoring)

**File naming:** `rock-NNN-slug.md` where NNN is a zero-padded ID and slug is the title slugified (lowercase, hyphens, no special chars).

**Milestones:** Rocks support two milestone formats:

• **Structured (frontmatter):** Array of milestone objects with `title`, optional `due` date, and `status` (`todo`/`in_progress`/`done`). Enables date-based progress tracking and overdue detection.
• **Markdown checklist (body):** Traditional `- [ ]` / `- [x]` checklist items in the Milestones section. Simple and human-friendly.

Both are valid. Tracking mode prefers frontmatter milestones when present, falls back to markdown checklist parsing otherwise.

**Attachments:** Optional `attachments` array in frontmatter references supporting documents. Each attachment has a `path` (relative to CEOS root) and optional `label`. The skill displays references but does not manage files.

Quarter Format

Quarters follow `YYYY-QN` format: `2026-Q1`, `2026-Q2`, `2026-Q3`, `2026-Q4`.

To determine the current quarter from today's date:

• Jan-Mar = Q1, Apr-Jun = Q2, Jul-Sep = Q3, Oct-Dec = Q4

Process

Mode: Setting Rocks

Use when creating new Rocks at the start of a quarter.

Step 1: Determine the Quarter

Check if the user specified a quarter. If not, use the current quarter. If creating Rocks for a past quarter, warn: "That quarter has already started/ended. Continue anyway?"

Create the quarter directory if it doesn't exist: `data/rocks/YYYY-QN/`

Step 2: Review Context

Before creating Rocks, read and briefly summarize:

• The **1-Year Plan** from `data/vision.md` (what are we trying to achieve this year?)
• Any **existing Rocks** for this quarter (avoid duplicates)

Step 3: Walk Through Each Rock

For each Rock, collect:

1. **Title** — short, specific description (e.g., "Launch Beta Program") 2. **Owner** — one person (Rocks are never shared) 3. **Measurable outcome** — what does "done" look like? 4. **Milestones** — 2-4 checkpoints toward completion 5. **Structured milestones (optional)** — Ask: "Add due dates to milestones?"

• If yes, collect for each milestone: title, due date (`YYYY-MM-DD`), status (default: `todo`)
• Store as `milestones` array in frontmatter
• If no, use markdown checklist only (traditional format)
• If more than 7 milestones, warn: "EOS recommends 3-5 milestones per Rock. Are all of these essential checkpoints?"

6. **Attachments (optional)** — Ask: "Any supporting documents to reference?"

• If yes, collect: path (relative to CEOS root) and optional label for each
• Store as `attachments` array in frontmatter

Step 4: Validate

• **3-7 Rocks per person.** If someone has fewer than 3, ask if they should own more. If more than 7, flag: "Too many Rocks for [person]. EOS recommends 3-7. Which ones are the real priorities?"
• **Alignment check.** Does each Rock connect to a 1-Year Plan goal? Flag any that don't.
• **Due date.** Set to the last day of the quarter.
• **Seat alignment.** Cross-reference Rock owners against `data/accountability.md`. Flag mismatches if a Rock's subject area doesn't match the owner's seat responsibilities, for example: "This Rock falls under the [Seat] responsibilities. Should [Seat Owner] own it instead?"

Step 5: Generate the ID

Read existing Rock files across **every** quarter directory under `data/rocks/`. Find the highest `rock-NNN` ID and increment. If no Rock files exist anywhere, start at `rock-001`.

• **Rock IDs are globally sequential across quarters.** Numeric IDs run sequentially across the whole repository rather than resetting each quarter, so a new quarter continues from the highest existing ID. This avoids collisions and keeps a Rock reference stable no matter which quarter it came from.

  // Good
    # After Q1 has rock-001 through rock-007:
    data/rocks/2026-Q2/rock-008-launch-beta.md
    data/rocks/2026-Q2/rock-009-hire-vp-sales.md

  // Bad
    # Don't re