Templates

Templates define the structure of your working notes. Rituals use templates to create Captive notes and declare which sections they update through template contracts.

Template locations

Templates are split between Ada (base structure) and assistants (domain sections):

Source templates (in repo)

Type	Path	Purpose
Ada templates	`.claude/skills/ada/templates/`	Base templates with frontmatter, navigation, changelog
Assistant templates	`.claude/skills/_assistant-{name}/templates/`	Domain-specific section templates

Vault config (user data)

Type	Path	Purpose
Section order	`$VAULT/00_Brain/Systemic/Ada/section-order.md`	Defines section order per timescale
Assistant config	`$VAULT/00_Brain/Systemic/Config/assistants.yaml`	Active assistants list

Vault templates (user copy)

Type	Path	Purpose
Ada templates	`$VAULT/00_Brain/Systemic/Templates/Ada/`	Customizable base templates
Assistant templates	`$VAULT/00_Brain/Systemic/Templates/Assistants/{name}/`	Customizable section templates
Periodic	`$VAULT/00_Brain/Systemic/Templates/Periodic/`	Archive templates
Projects	`$VAULT/00_Brain/Systemic/Templates/Projects/`	Project templates
People	`$VAULT/00_Brain/Systemic/Templates/Areas/People/`	Person templates

Scaffold vs vault

The scaffold (.claude/skills/ada/assets/scaffold/) provides directory structure for new vaults. Assistant templates are separate - init copies them from their source locations. Templates copy during init:

Ada templates from .claude/skills/ada/templates/ to vault
Assistant templates from .claude/skills/_assistant-{name}/templates/ to vault

Use _sync-templates to propagate changes between vault and scaffold during development.

Section order

Ada composes Captive notes by inserting assistant sections in a defined order. The order is stored in Ada’s systemic memory at $VAULT/00_Brain/Systemic/Ada/section-order.md:

Timescale	Section order
Daily	goals, calendar, projects, relationships, journal
Weekly	goals, calendar, relationships, achievements, journal
Quarterly	goals, journal, achievements
Yearly	goals, journal, achievements

Note: Brief section is synthesized during plan actions, not listed in section order.

Standard sections

All Captive templates share consistent structure:

Section	Purpose
Context From Above	Goals from parent timescale
Key Outcomes	3 priorities (Personal, Organisational, Strategic)
Progress	Nested period summaries
Carry Forward	Items for next period
Wins	What went well by category
Reflections	Insights and learnings
Changelog	Audit trail

The three categories

Order matters - Personal first:

Category	Focus
Personal	Individual growth, energy, leadership
Organisational	Team, structure, culture
Strategic	Initiatives, projects, outcomes

Changelog section

Every template includes ## Changelog at the bottom:

- `2026-02-15 09:32` **planning-daily** - Rewrote Focus, Context From Above

Format: backtick timestamp, bold skill name, dash, action and sections.

Template contracts

Rituals declare which sections they update:

H2 sections are stable - Never change these names
H3 structure is dynamic - Can evolve through self-learning
Single ownership - Each H2 has exactly one owning phase

Template reference

Captive templates are the working documents you fill out during planning rituals. They live in 00_Brain/Captive/ and capture your intentions, priorities, and progress at each timescale.

Template	Location	Planning ritual	Reflection ritual
Year.md	`Captive/Year.md`	`ritual-planning-yearly`	`ritual-reflection-yearly`
Quarter.md	`Captive/Quarter.md`	`ritual-planning-quarterly`	`ritual-reflection-quarterly`
Week.md	`Captive/Week.md`	`ritual-planning-weekly`	`ritual-reflection-weekly`
Today.md	`Captive/Today.md`	`ritual-planning-daily`	`ritual-reflection-daily`

Templates source from Systemic/Templates/Captive/. When you run a planning ritual, it creates or updates the corresponding Captive note.

Year.md

Yearly planning template. Captures your vision, goals, and leadership development for the year.

Key sections

Section	Purpose	GPS component
Vision and Theme	One theme or vision for the year	Life Compass
Key Annual Goals	Three goals: personal, organisational, strategic	3-Year Sketch
Leadership Development	Current focus, identity, growth edge	Why
Key Dates	Annual milestones and deadlines	-
Quarterly Progress	Q1-Q4 capture areas	-
Annual Wins	Personal, organisational, strategic achievements	-
Reflections	Year narrative and key insights	Anti-Goals

Structure

---
year: 2026
quarters: [2026-Q1, 2026-Q2, 2026-Q3, 2026-Q4]
---

## Year Overview

### Vision & Theme
[One theme or vision for the year]

### Key Annual Goals
1. What personal leadership growth will you make?
2. What organisational capability will you build?
3. What strategic achievement would make this year remarkable?

## Leadership Development

### Current Focus
- **Primary:** [Leadership competency actively developing]
- **Secondary:** [Secondary growth area]

### Leadership Identity
[The leader you are becoming - 1-2 sentences]

### Growth Edge
[Where discomfort lives - the stretch you are working on]

## Quarterly Progress

### Q1 (January - March)
- [Key themes and progress]

## Annual Wins

### Personal
- [Leadership growth]

### Organisational
- [Team evolution]

### Strategic
- [[project-name]]: [Annual outcomes]

## Reflections

### What Defined This Year
[Core narrative]

### Key Insights
[Synthesized learnings]

Quarter.md

Quarterly planning template. Focuses your energy on one quest with major moves.

Key sections

Section	Purpose	GPS component
Context From Above	Year theme, goals, growth edge	-
Key Outcomes	Three outcomes: personal, organisational, strategic	Quarterly Quest
Quarterly Theme	One focus area for the quarter	Major Moves
Coaching Themes	Patterns to watch, questions that serve you	80% Reality Check
Weekly Progress	Synthesized from weekly archives	-
Wins This Quarter	Personal, organisational, strategic achievements	Crystal Ball
Reflections	What went well, what could improve	-

Structure

---
quarter: 2026-Q1
year: 2026
---

## Context From Above
> **Year Theme:** [From Year.md]
> **Annual Goals:** [From Year.md]
> **Growth Edge:** [From Year.md]

## Quarter Overview

### Key Outcomes This Quarter
1. What personal leadership skill will you level up?
2. What organisational capability will you establish?
3. What strategic outcome demonstrates quarter success?

### Quarterly Theme
[One theme or focus area]

## Coaching Themes

### Patterns to Watch
- [Pattern 1 - recurring behavior to notice]
- [Pattern 2]

### Questions That Serve Me
- [Question 1 - coaching question for the quarter]
- [Question 2]

## Wins This Quarter

### Personal
- [Personal growth and achievements]

### Organisational
- [Team evolution]

### Strategic
- [[project-name]]: [Quarterly outcomes]

## Reflections

### What Went Well
- [What strategies drove success?]

### What Could Be Better
- [What needs to change?]

Week.md

Weekly planning template. Structures your week with intentions and commitments.

Key sections

Section	Purpose	GPS component
Context From Above	Quarter theme, outcomes, year theme	-
Synthesis from Prior Week	Carryover, patterns, relationships	-
Key Outcomes	Three outcomes: personal, organisational, strategic	Balanced Week Blueprint
Focus Theme	One theme for the week	-
Leadership Intention	One-word stance (Decisive, Collaborative, etc.)	-
Weekly Commitments	Decisions, people, boundaries, growth challenge	Accountability
Coaching Check-in	Self-awareness prompts	-
Next Week Setup	Carry forward items	-

Structure

---
week: 2026-W03
dates: 2026-01-13 to 2026-01-19
quarter: 2026-Q1
year: 2026
week_type: balanced
energy_trend: stable
leadership_intention: Decisive
---

## Context From Above
> **Quarter Theme:** [From Quarter.md]
> **Quarter Outcomes:** [From Quarter.md]
> **Year Theme:** [From Year.md]

## Synthesis from Prior Week

### Carryover Priorities
- [ ] [Incomplete items from last week]

### Patterns Noted
- [Synthesized from prior week]

## Week Overview

### Key Outcomes This Week
1. What personal habit or system will you strengthen?
2. What organisational conversation or decision is needed?
3. What strategic deliverable moves the quarter forward?

### Focus Theme
[One theme for the week]

### Leadership Intention
[One word - your stance for this week]

## Weekly Commitments

### Key Decisions to Make
- [ ] [Decision needing resolution]

### People I Need to Connect With
- [ ] [[PersonName]] - [reason]

### Boundaries I Will Maintain
- [Energy/time boundary to protect]

### One Growth Challenge I Will Embrace
- [Connected to your growth edge]

## Next Week Setup
**Theme:** [Working title for next week]
**Carry Forward:**
- [ ] [Items moving to next week]

Today.md

Daily planning template. The 1-3-5 method prevents overcommitment.

Key sections

Section	Purpose	GPS component
Daily Brief	Week focus, growth edge, calendar context	-
Priorities	1-3-5 tasks (1 big, 3 medium, 5 small)	1-3-5 Daily Method
Intention	One-word stance for the day	-
Meetings	Structured capture with decisions and next steps	Tracking
Journal	Wins and insights	-

Structure

---
date: 2026-01-15
day: Wednesday
week: 2026-W03
quarter: 2026-Q1
energy: Medium
location: Office
focus_hours: 2
meetings: 8
---

## Daily Brief

**This Week's Focus:** [From Week.md]

**Growth Edge:** [From Week.md or Quarter.md]

[Calendar context - meeting load, focus time available]

### Priorities
1. **[Big task]** - [Why it matters]
2. **[Medium task]** - [Context]
3. **[Medium task]** - [Context]

### Intention
**[One word]** - [Brief explanation]

## Meetings

### 09:00-09:30 | Team Standup
**Decisions:**
- [Decision made]

**Next Steps:**
- [ ] Person: [Action]

### 14:00-14:30 | 1:1 with [[PersonName]]
**Check-in**
- [How they are doing]

**Commitments**
- [ ] Me: [Action]
- [ ] Them: [Action]

## Journal

### Wins
**Personal**
- [Personal win]

**Team**
- [Team win]

**Strategic**
- [Strategic progress]

### Insights
**What Went Well**
- [Success pattern]

**What Could Be Better**
- [Improvement area]

**Key Insight**
[One synthesized learning from the day]

The 1-3-5 method

A constraint that forces prioritization:

Category	Count	Definition
Big	1	The one thing that moves the needle
Medium	3	Important tasks that support the big one
Small	5	Quick wins, admin, maintenance

Total: 9 items maximum per day. If a task does not fit, something else must go.

Goals - The GPS methodology behind these templates
How Ada Works - The ritual cycle explained
Vault structure - Where templates live

​Template locations

​Source templates (in repo)

​Vault config (user data)

​Vault templates (user copy)

​Scaffold vs vault

​Section order

​Standard sections

​The three categories

​Changelog section

​Template contracts

​Template reference

​Year.md

​Key sections

​Structure

​Quarter.md

​Key sections

​Structure

​Week.md

​Key sections

​Structure

​Today.md

​Key sections

​Structure

​The 1-3-5 method

​Related

Template locations

Source templates (in repo)

Vault config (user data)

Vault templates (user copy)

Scaffold vs vault

Section order

Standard sections

The three categories

Changelog section

Template contracts

Template reference

Year.md

Key sections

Structure

Quarter.md

Key sections

Structure

Week.md

Key sections

Structure

Today.md

Key sections

Structure

The 1-3-5 method

Related