/jot triage - Intelligent Journal Cleanup

Cross-reference open journal entries with external signals (git history, codebase, PRs) to identify entries that are likely finished, abandoned, or need attention. Present a triage list with actionable recommendations.

Step 1: Gather Candidates

Determine scope:

• If an argument is provided, use it as the tag filter: jot list --tags=<arg> --json
• If no argument, detect project context from basename "$PWD" via jot tags --fuzzy <basename> --json, then filter by that tag
• If no project context, use all open entries: jot list --status=open --json and jot list --status=in_progress --json

Also gather stale entries: jot stale --days 30 --json (scoped to tag if available).

Step 2: Cross-Reference with Git History

For each candidate entry, search git history for related work:

# Search commit messages for keywords from the entry title
git log --oneline --since="$(entry.created)" --grep="<keyword>" 2>/dev/null

# Check recent commits touching files related to the entry's tags/content
git log --oneline --since="$(entry.created)" -- "*<keyword>*" 2>/dev/null

Extract 2-3 keywords from each entry title (drop stopwords like "the", "a", "fix", "add", "implement"). Search for each keyword independently and look for overlapping commits.

Signals that work is DONE:

• Multiple commits mentioning the task keywords after the entry was created
• Recent commits in directories/files matching the entry's tags
• Entry title closely matches a commit message (e.g., "Fix auth bug" ↔ "fix: auth bug in login handler")

Signals that work is ABANDONED:

• Entry is 60+ days old with zero matching commits
• No recent git activity in related files/directories
• Entry tags correspond to a project with no recent commits

Signals to KEEP OPEN:

• Recent matching commits but task appears partially complete
• Entry is a plan or idea (type=plan/idea) that hasn't been started — these may be intentionally deferred
• Entry has high priority or upcoming due date

Step 3: Check Additional Signals (if available)

If in a git repo with a remote:

# Check for merged PRs mentioning the task
gh pr list --state merged --search "<keywords>" --limit 5 2>/dev/null || true

Check if files referenced in the entry content exist or were recently modified:

# Look for files matching entry keywords
git diff --stat HEAD~50..HEAD -- "*<keyword>*" 2>/dev/null

Step 4: Present Triage Report

Organize findings into three categories:

Likely Done

Entries where git history strongly suggests the work was completed. For each:

• Entry title and slug
• Evidence: matching commits (show 1-2 most relevant)
• Recommendation: jot status <slug> done

Likely Abandoned

Entries that are old with no related activity. For each:

• Entry title, slug, and age
• Evidence: no matching commits, last modified date
• Recommendation: jot status <slug> archived or suggest revisiting

Needs Attention

Entries that are stale, blocked, or partially complete. For each:

• Entry title and slug
• What was found: partial work, blocked status, approaching deadline
• Recommendation: specific next action

Still Active

Briefly list entries that appear to still be relevant (recent activity, not stale). No action needed — just acknowledge them.

Step 5: Offer Bulk Actions

After presenting the report, offer to execute recommendations:

• "Mark N entries as done?" → Run jot status <slug> done for each
• "Archive N abandoned entries?" → Run jot status <slug> archived for each
• "Apply all recommendations?" → Execute all suggested changes

Always confirm before modifying entries. Show the full list of changes before executing.

Important Notes

• Always use --json when querying jot for programmatic parsing.
• Be conservative: when unsure, classify as "Needs Attention" rather than "Likely Done".
• For ideas and plans (type=idea/plan), use a higher threshold before suggesting archive — ideas may be intentionally deferred.
• Show your evidence. Never recommend closing an entry without explaining what git/codebase signal supports it.
• If gh CLI is not available, skip PR checks gracefully.
• If not in a git repo, skip git checks and fall back to date-based triage only (essentially jot stale with better presentation).