fpl-copilot

FPL Copilot

Fantasy Premier League data sync, analysis, and squad management.

• FPL data: SQLite database at ~/.fplcopilot/fplcopilot.db
• User squads: Markdown files in ~/.fplcopilot/squads/

When to Use

Activate this skill when the user mentions:

• FPL, Fantasy Premier League, fantasy football (UK context)
• Player stats, form, price, points, xG, xA, ICT, ownership
• Transfer advice, who to buy/sell, budget options
• Captain pick, vice-captain, chip timing
• Fixture difficulty, FDR, schedule, easy/hard fixtures
• Gameweek deadline, scores, standings, averages
• Squad management, team composition, formation
• Team analysis: momentum, xG differential, leaky defences, hot attacks
• Rotation pairs, differential picks, value picks

Quick Start

1. Check Data Freshness

sqlite3 ~/.fplcopilot/fplcopilot.db "SELECT * FROM sync_metadata;"

If the database doesn't exist or data is stale, sync first.

2. Sync Data

SYNC="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/fpl-copilot/references/sync.sh"

# First time or daily refresh
$SYNC bootstrap              # Teams, gameweeks, ~600 players (~5s)
$SYNC fixtures               # All 380 fixtures (~2s)

# On demand — single player's match history
$SYNC player 328             # e.g., Salah's detailed GW-by-GW stats

# Batch — all players' histories (slow, ~60s, rate-limited)
$SYNC player-stats

# Everything at once
$SYNC all

# Bypass freshness checks
$SYNC bootstrap --force

3. Query and Analyze

# All queries go through sqlite3
sqlite3 ~/.fplcopilot/fplcopilot.db "SELECT web_name, position, form, total_points, now_cost FROM players ORDER BY form DESC LIMIT 10;"

Read references/analysis.md for formulas and example SQL queries. Read references/squad.md for squad management, persistence format, and multi-squad support.

Output Format: HTML vs Markdown

Many FPL outputs are inherently spatial or color-coded — formation, FDR matrix, transfer comparison. For those, generate a self-contained HTML report instead of a markdown table. For quick lookups and one-shot answers, stay in markdown.

When to output HTML

Output type	Format	Template
Squad view (formation, bench, totals)	HTML	templates/squad-view.html
Fixture difficulty matrix (teams × next N GWs)	HTML	templates/fixture-matrix.html
Transfer comparison (out → in, deltas)	HTML	templates/transfer-comparison.html
Captain ranking with reasoning	HTML	templates/captain-ranking.html
Gameweek strategy report (squad + fixtures + recs)	HTML	templates/gameweek-report.html
Single-stat lookup ("Salah's form?")	markdown	—
Short reasoning ("Bench Haaland this week?")	markdown	—
Deadline, price changes, one-line answers	markdown	—
3-row SQL result	markdown	—

Heuristic: if the user will refer back to it, share it, or scan it visually → HTML. If they glance and move on → markdown.

Universal rules for HTML output

1. Single self-contained .html file. No build step. CSS in <style>, JS in <script>, SVG inlined.
2. Vanilla HTML/CSS/JS only. No Tailwind, no shadcn, no external CDN, no web fonts.
3. Mobile responsive. Include <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">. Layout survives a phone viewport.
4. Save to ~/.fplcopilot/reports/{YYYY-MM-DD}-{slug}.html. Create the directory with mkdir -p if missing.
5. Tell the user the path after saving. On macOS, offer open <path> to view in their default browser.
6. Adapt the template, don't write from scratch. Read the matching file in templates/, replace the placeholder data with real values from SQL, save the result.

Before generating any HTML report, read references/html-output.md for color tokens, typography, the team-color table, the sortable-table snippet, and the list of anti-patterns to avoid.

Reference Docs

Read these BEFORE answering questions in their domain:

Doc	When to Read
references/api.md	Understanding FPL API endpoints and data structure
references/analysis.md	Computing metrics (VAPM, projected points, FDR, momentum, etc.)
references/squad.md	Squad persistence, management, multi-squad, scoring rules
references/schema.sql	Understanding database tables and columns
references/html-output.md	Styling rules, color tokens, team colors, anti-patterns for HTML reports

Squad Persistence

Squads are stored as markdown files in ~/.fplcopilot/squads/ — one file per squad. This enables multi-squad support (user's own team, friends' teams, draft plans).

Proactive persistence rules — the agent MUST follow these:

1. On squad identification: When the user shares their squad (screenshot, text, or any format), immediately save it to ~/.fplcopilot/squads/. Ask for a name if unclear.
2. On squad changes: When the user makes a transfer, changes captain, uses a chip, or modifies their squad in any way, update the squad file immediately after confirming the change.
3. On conversation start: If the user asks about "my squad" or "my team", check ~/.fplcopilot/squads/ for existing squad files first. List available squads if multiple exist.
4. On analysis: After generating a strategy report or analysis, update the squad file's Notes section with key takeaways.
5. Multi-squad: Users may discuss multiple squads (their own, friends', draft plans). Each gets its own file. The user can specify which squad by name.
6. File naming: Use kebab-case slugs derived from the squad name (e.g., my-fpl-team.md, daves-team.md, wildcard-draft.md).

Read references/squad.md for the full markdown format specification.

Agent Rules

1. Always check freshness before answering data questions. If sync_metadata shows stale data (bootstrap > 6h, fixtures on match day > 2h), run the sync script first.
2. Always check for saved squads when the user asks about "my squad/team". Read ~/.fplcopilot/squads/ before asking the user to re-share.
3. Never guess player IDs. Look up by name:

   -- Try exact web_name first, then partial, then full name
   SELECT * FROM players WHERE web_name = 'Salah' COLLATE NOCASE;
   SELECT * FROM players WHERE web_name LIKE '%salah%' COLLATE NOCASE;
   SELECT * FROM players WHERE (first_name || ' ' || last_name) LIKE '%salah%' COLLATE NOCASE;
   

4. Price units: now_cost is in 0.1m units. 130 = £13.0m. Always display as £X.Xm.
5. Position codes: GKP, DEF, MID, FWD (mapped from API's 1, 2, 3, 4).
6. Status codes: a=available, d=doubtful, i=injured, s=suspended, u=unavailable.
7. FDR scale: 1 (very easy) to 5 (very hard).
8. Normalize by price when comparing players: value = points / (cost in millions).
9. Fetch player detail on demand: Only run sync.sh player <id> when the user asks about a specific player's match-by-match performance. Don't batch-fetch unless explicitly needed.
10. Proactively persist squads: Always save/update squad files after any squad-related interaction. Never rely on conversation context alone.
11. Generate HTML for spatial outputs: Any request that maps to a template in templates/ — "plan gameweek" / "next gameweek team" → gameweek-report.html; "show/view my squad", formation, bench → squad-view.html; "compare transfer", out → in → transfer-comparison.html; "captain pick" with reasoning → captain-ranking.html; fixture run / FDR matrix → fixture-matrix.html — MUST produce the HTML file (saved to ~/.fplcopilot/reports/{YYYY-MM-DD}-{slug}.html) and report the path with an open <path> hint on macOS. Markdown is only for one-line / single-stat lookups, short reasoning, deadlines, price changes, or ≤3-row SQL results.