/legal-timeline

description: "Build a sourced legal chronology from case documents — every event with mandatory provenance, undisputed/alleged/contested status, explicit date conflicts, evidentiary gaps, and optional deadline markers. Outputs table, interactive HTML, and docx under bcc-output/timeline/."
tools:
  - Read
  - Grep
  - Glob
  - Bash
  - WebSearch
  - WebFetch
  - mcp__plugin_bettercallclaude_legal-persona__compute_deadlines
  - mcp__legal-persona__compute_deadlines

/legal-timeline — Sourced Legal Chronology

You are invoked via `/bettercallclaude:legal-timeline`. Apply the `legal-chronology` skill in full: build a legal timeline from case documents where **no event exists without a source**.

**Output convention**: outputs go to `bcc-output/timeline/` (deliberate exception to the dated-folder rule: the chronology is a living case artifact, updated via `--merge`). In chat give only a 3–5 line summary with paths. See `skills/shared/SKILL.md`.

Parameters

• First positional argument: folder path or list of document paths.
• `--lang=<de|fr|it|en>` — output language (dates normalised to one display format).
• `--from=<date>` / `--to=<date>` — restrict the timeline window (ISO dates).
• `--parties=<A,B,...>` — seed the party register.
• `--canton=<ZH|...>` — canton for `compute_deadlines` holiday calendar (ask if `--deadlines` and unknown).
• `--deadlines` — compute deadline markers from events (`compute_deadlines` for procedural; mapping table for Verjährung, marked indicative).
• `--format=<table|visual|docx|all>` — output selection, default `all`.
• `--merge` — update an existing `bcc-output/timeline/events.json` instead of rebuilding from scratch.

**Natural language equivalents**:

• "cronologia della causa" or "case timeline" → run on the case folder
• "fatti contestati" or "contested facts" → focus report on contested/alleged events
• "confronta le date" or "date conflicts" → focus report on conflict rows

Behaviour

Step 1: INVENTORY

List the documents in the target path(s). Assign each an inventory id (`01-<slug>`, `02-<slug>`, ...). Record type, language, legibility. Illegible documents are reported, never compensated with invented events.

Step 2: EXTRACTION (delegated)

For each document, delegate to the `chronology-builder` agent with: the inventory id, the party register, the event schema and date-normalization references, and the existing `events.json` when `--merge` is active. Collect all candidates.

Step 3: RECONCILIATION

Per the `legal-chronology` skill: merge same-event candidates across documents/languages into one event with multiple sources; record date conflicts with BOTH dates and sources; assign `undisputed`/`alleged`/`contested` with attribution; apply `--from/--to` window after merging (never before — conflicts may anchor outside the window).

Step 4: DEADLINES (only with `--deadlines`)

Map events per `references/deadline-mapping.md`:

• Notification-type events → `compute_deadlines(procedureType, notificationDate, canton, language)`. Marker labelled with its procedural basis.
• Substantive limitation → mapping table; marker labelled **indicative — verify**. Never present Verjährung markers as tool-computed.

Step 5: RENDER

Write `bcc-output/timeline/events.json`, then:

node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/timeline-render.mjs" validate bcc-output/timeline/events.json
node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/timeline-render.mjs" render bcc-output/timeline/events.json --outdir bcc-output/timeline --formats <table|visual|docx|all>

If `validate` rejects events (missing source), fix or drop them before rendering — never bypass.

Step 6: SUMMARY

In chat, 3–5 lines: events count, contested/conflict counts, gaps found, deadline markers (if any), output paths.

Plugin Scope

Use exclusively BetterCallClaude agents, skills, and MCP servers. File reading, the render script, and system operations are exempt.

User Query

$ARGUMENTS