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Rituals are skills that run on a schedule, driving the 2bd productivity loop. See How Ada Works for the ritual cycle.

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Ritual types

TypePrefixPurpose
Planningritual-planning-*Prepare Captive notes from templates
Reflectionritual-reflection-*Archive Captive notes to Periodic

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Actions vs Rituals

Actions are one-shot skills triggered on demand. Rituals are scheduled and recurring.
AspectActionsRituals
TriggerOn demandScheduled
FrequencyAs neededDaily/weekly/etc
PurposeDiscrete taskSystem maintenance
PrefixNoneritual-

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Creating an action

  1. Create skill folder: .claude/skills/{action-name}/
  2. Add SKILL.md with frontmatter: 
    ---
name: create-project
description: Initialize a new project file
disable-model-invocation: false
allowed-tools: Read, Write
argument-hint: "Project Name"
---
  3. Write clear description so Claude knows when to use it
  4. Test: claude skill run create-project --args "Project Name"

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Creating a ritual

  1. Create skill folder: .claude/skills/ritual-{type}-{period}/
  2. Add SKILL.md with frontmatter: 
    ---
name: ritual-planning-weekly
description: Prepare Week.md with weekly focus
disable-model-invocation: true
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Bash(*)
---
  3. Document the ritual flow and outcomes
  4. Test: claude skill run ritual-planning-weekly

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Ritual structure

Rituals follow a three-phase pattern: 
.claude/skills/ritual-{type}-{period}/
├── SKILL.md                    # Table of contents
└── references/
    ├── 00-setup.md             # Load context, validate
    ├── 10-core.md              # Main ritual logic
    └── 20-learning.md          # Self-learning
PhasePurpose
SetupLoad directives, calendar, vault files, validate prerequisites
CoreInteractive session, compose artifacts, persist
LearningRecord observations for self-improvement

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Template contracts

Each ritual has a template-contract.md defining:
  • Which template it uses
  • Required sections
  • Optional sections
  • Section update rules
This ensures rituals interact with templates predictably.

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Agent instructions

When building or modifying rituals, follow these patterns extracted from existing rituals.

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Phase execution

Each phase follows a consistent pattern:
  1. Load - Read required files at phase start
  2. Process - Transform data, interact with user if needed
  3. Update - Write changes to target file
  4. Transition - Explicit “Proceed to [Next Phase]” statement
Never skip the transition statement. It signals phase completion and guides the agent.

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File operations

  • Always read before write. Never assume file state.
  • Write the entire file back, not partial updates.
  • Use “Replace ## Section” language to clarify intent.
  • Read templates from 00_Brain/Systemic/Templates/

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Interactive vs non-interactive phases

Interactive phases (like Check-In):
  • Gather information through conversation
  • Adapt phrasing from insights
  • Ask one natural question, not checklists
  • Follow up once if something is missing
Non-interactive phases (like Daily Brief):
  • Present, do not negotiate
  • Synthesize context into narrative
  • No interaction - let user absorb

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Skill invocation

Rituals invoke other skills by name for reusable operations: 
1. Invoke skill `_resolve-dates` with argument (default: today)
2. Invoke `@_assistant-calendar` for target date
Skills prefixed with _ are internal - not user-invocable via /skillname.

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Context loading order

Load context in this order:
  1. Skills - Invoke _resolve-dates, @_assistant-calendar
  2. Configuration - Read 00_Brain/Systemic/Directives/user-profile.md, 00_Brain/Systemic/Directives/ai-personality.md
  3. Semantic knowledge - Read 00_Brain/Semantic/planning-daily/insights.md
  4. Planning context - Read 00_Brain/Captive/Week.md, 00_Brain/Captive/Quarter.md
  5. Derived context - Glob and read files referenced by calendar (e.g., 02_Areas/People/*.md for 1:1s)

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Validation gates

Setup phases should validate prerequisites: 
Check if `00_Brain/Captive/Today.md` exists for target date:
1. If exists → warn, offer Abort or Start fresh
2. If abort → end session
3. If start fresh → continue
Offer clear options. Do not proceed silently.

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Template contract awareness

Rituals update specific H2 sections. Document which phases update which sections:
PhaseUpdates
Daily Brief## Daily Brief
Meetings## Meetings
Journal## Journal
H3 structure within sections is dynamic and can evolve through the Learning phase.

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Learning phase patterns

Self-learning rituals include a Learning phase that:
  1. Diff analysis - Compare 00_Brain/Captive/Today.md against 00_Brain/Systemic/Templates/Captive/today.md
  2. Session review - Analyze user interaction patterns
  3. Auto-cluster - Group observations by semantic similarity
  4. Auto-graduate - Monitor clusters for maturity criteria
  5. Crystallize - User synthesizes insight when cluster graduates
  6. Template evolution - Apply insights to templates
Record observations to 00_Brain/Synthetic/planning-daily/observations.md with this format: 
- YYYY-MM-DD | type | section | observation | interpretation
Types: user-modification, skill-generated, session-interaction

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Persona guidance

Give the agent a clear persona at phase start:
You’re an eager executive assistant about to help plan the day. You’ve already seen the calendar. You know what sessions follow.
This shapes tone, initiative level, and interaction style.