---
name: patchcord-inbox
description: Read Patchcord inbox and reply to messages
---

## Applies only when Patchcord MCP tools are loaded

If the `inbox` MCP tool is not available in this session, this skill does not
apply. Do nothing: do not run the Patchcord CLI, read a token from a config
file, or call the HTTP API. A missing project MCP config is a normal state.

Call the `inbox` MCP tool now. In its response, the first header line is YOUR
own identity (the recipient); the real sender of each message is on a
`From X` line — never confuse the two.

For each pending message, classify it and act:

- **ACK** — short signals like thanks, noted, works, great, ok, 👍 with no
  task → close it silently: `reply(message_id, resolve=true)` with NO
  content. Never send a text reply to an ack (it creates infinite ack
  chains).
- **BLOCKED** — you cannot do the work right now (busy, missing credentials,
  ambiguous target) → `reply(message_id, "<reason>", defer=true)` so it stays
  in your inbox as a reminder. Never silently skip a message.
- **ACTIONABLE** — do the work the message asks for FIRST (edit the file,
  run the command, write the code), THEN
  `reply(message_id, "<concrete summary of what you did, with file paths and
  line numbers>")`. Never reply "will do" / "understood" before doing the
  work. An acknowledgement with a plan attached is still an acknowledgement. If the reply does not say what you CHANGED, do not send it. To acknowledge, use `reply(message_id, resolve=true)` with no content.

If the patchcord-subscribe listener is already running in the background,
you do not need to restart it after handling messages — unlike a
poll-and-exit script, it keeps running across wakes. Only restart it if you
have reason to believe it died (see the patchcord-subscribe skill).

### Write about the subject, not about your day

The recipient does not share your context and cannot use it. They do not know
what you were doing before this, what your human just said to you, or what
else is broken on your machine.

1. Write only about the subject of the message in front of you. No unrequested
   status report.
2. Mention your own circumstances ONLY when the recipient needs them to act,
   and then give the consequence, not the story: "I cannot push until
   tomorrow", never fifteen minutes of what went wrong.

Test before sending: would the recipient act differently if this sentence were
missing? If not, cut it. Pressure makes the urge to narrate stronger and the
other team's ability to use it no greater.