Trail Checkin
glebis/claude-skills
Interactive trail review and update process for Obsidian vault at ~/Brains/brain.
Runs a monthly review in an Obsidian vault: rolls up weekly reviews, checks quarterly milestones against yearly goals and sets next month's focus.
Install Monthly Review and Planning
$ npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill monthly -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm monthly --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/vault-template/.claude/skills/monthly .claude/skills/monthly && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.
Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/
Install the "monthly" agent skill from https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm/tree/main/vault-template/.claude/skills/monthly into .claude/skills/monthly/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "monthly", then confirm the skill loads.Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$skill-installer install https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm/tree/main/vault-template/.claude/skills/monthlyType this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.
$ npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill monthly -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm monthly --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/vault-template/.claude/skills/monthly .agents/skills/monthly && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "monthly" agent skill from https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm/tree/main/vault-template/.claude/skills/monthly into .agents/skills/monthly/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "monthly", then confirm the skill loads.Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill monthly -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm monthly --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/vault-template/.claude/skills/monthly .cursor/skills/monthly && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "monthly" agent skill from https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm/tree/main/vault-template/.claude/skills/monthly into .cursor/skills/monthly/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "monthly", then confirm the skill loads.Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gemini skills install https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.git --path vault-template/.claude/skills/monthly--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill monthly -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm monthly --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/vault-template/.claude/skills/monthly .gemini/skills/monthly && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.
Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "monthly" agent skill from https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm/tree/main/vault-template/.claude/skills/monthly into .gemini/skills/monthly/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "monthly", then confirm the skill loads.Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gh skill install ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm monthlyInstalls for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill monthly -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/vault-template/.claude/skills/monthly .github/skills/monthly && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.
GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "monthly" agent skill from https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm/tree/main/vault-template/.claude/skills/monthly into .github/skills/monthly/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "monthly", then confirm the skill loads.GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill monthly -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm monthly --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/vault-template/.claude/skills/monthly .opencode/skills/monthly && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "monthly" agent skill from https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm/tree/main/vault-template/.claude/skills/monthly into .opencode/skills/monthly/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "monthly", then confirm the skill loads.OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Facts
- Skill name
monthly- GitHub stars
- 1.9k
- Token cost
- ~1.4k tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 366 words
- Files
- 1
- Skills in repo
- 13
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- MIT
At a glance
Runs a monthly review in an Obsidian vault: rolls up weekly reviews, checks quarterly milestones against yearly goals and sets next month's focus.
- Works in 3 steps: Collect Monthly Data (10 minutes) → Reflect on Month (10 minutes) → Plan Next Month (10 minutes)
- At the end of the month, to roll up the weekly reviews
- SKILL.md covers Usage, What This Skill Does, Review Process and Output Format, plus 3 more sections
- Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
What it does
Invoked as `/monthly` or by asking to review or plan the month, the skill creates or opens `Goals/2. Monthly Goals.md` and works in three timed phases of about 10 minutes each. Phase one reads the weekly reviews, the last 30 days of daily notes, the current monthly goals and `Projects/*/CLAUDE.md` status notes, pulling out wins, blockers, goal progress, finished milestones and habit completion.
Phase two reflects: it checks the yearly goals for quarterly milestones, finds patterns across weeks and compares planned with actual results. Phase three plans ahead with one primary focus, three priority tiers (must, should, nice-to-have), habits to build and weekly milestones, then updates the monthly goals file. It also reads the three-year goals for context and returns a formatted monthly review.
When your agent uses it
- At the end of the month, to roll up the weekly reviews
- Planning next month's focus and priorities
- Checking quarterly milestones against yearly goals
Example prompts
- “Help me with my monthly review.”
- “Plan next month based on how this one went.”
- “Run /monthly and tell me which quarterly milestones are behind.”
Requirements
- An Obsidian vault using the Goals, Daily Notes and Projects folder layout
- Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, TaskCreate, TaskUpdate, TaskList, TaskGet
Workflow steps
3 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit ef1e4da. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.
Tool permissions
Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:
ReadWriteEditGlobGrepTaskCreateTaskUpdateTaskListTaskGet
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are markdown).
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.
Context cost
Monthly Review and Planning loads about 1.4k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 39 tokens; SKILL.md has 366 words of instructions outside code blocks.
Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.
Safety
Auto-check passed
The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.
Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.
SKILL.md
The full file from ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm at commit ef1e4da, republished under its MIT licence (© ballred). 366 words, ~1,421 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/monthly/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).- name
- monthly
- description
- Monthly review and planning. Roll up weekly reviews, check quarterly milestones, set next month's focus. Use at end of month or start of new month.
- allowed-tools
- Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, TaskCreate, TaskUpdate, TaskList, TaskGet
- model
- sonnet
- user-invocable
- true
Monthly Review Skill
Facilitates monthly review and planning by rolling up weekly reviews, checking quarterly milestones, and setting next month's focus.
Usage
/monthly # Run monthly review for current monthOr ask:
- "Help me with my monthly review"
- "Plan next month"
- "How did this month go?"
What This Skill Does
- Creates or opens monthly goals file (
Goals/2. Monthly Goals.md) - Rolls up weekly reviews from the past month
- Checks quarterly milestones against yearly goals
- Plans next month's focus areas and priorities
Review Process
Phase 1: Collect Monthly Data (10 minutes)
- Read all weekly reviews from the past month (
Goals/3. Weekly Review.mdor weekly review notes) - Read daily notes from past 30 days (scan for patterns)
- Read current
Goals/2. Monthly Goals.mdfor this month's targets - Scan
Projects/*/CLAUDE.mdfor project status updates
Extract:
- Wins from each week
- Challenges and recurring blockers
- Goal progress percentages
- Project milestones completed
- Habits tracked (completion rates)
Phase 2: Reflect on Month (10 minutes)
- Read
Goals/1. Yearly Goals.mdfor quarterly milestones - Calculate which quarter we're in and check milestone progress
- Identify patterns across weeks (energy, productivity, focus areas)
- Compare planned vs actual outcomes
Generate:
- Monthly accomplishment summary
- Quarterly milestone progress check
- Pattern analysis (what worked, what didn't)
- Goal alignment assessment
Show full SKILL.md (161 more words)Show less
Phase 3: Plan Next Month (10 minutes)
- Identify next month's quarterly milestones
- Surface projects that need attention
- Set next month's primary focus (ONE thing)
- Define 3-tier priorities (must/should/nice-to-have)
- Plan habits to build or maintain
Write:
- Update
Goals/2. Monthly Goals.mdwith next month's plan - Set specific weekly milestones for the month ahead
Output Format
## Monthly Review: [Month Year]
### Month Summary
- Weeks reviewed: 4
- Daily notes analyzed: [N]
- Projects active: [N]
### Wins
1. [Major accomplishment]
2. [Progress milestone]
3. [Habit success]
### Challenges
1. [Recurring blocker]
2. [Missed target]
### Patterns
- **Energy:** [When were you most productive?]
- **Focus:** [What got the most attention?]
- **Gaps:** [What was consistently avoided?]
### Goal Progress
| Goal | Start of Month | End of Month | Delta |
|------|---------------|-------------|-------|
| [Goal 1] | 30% | 45% | +15% |
| [Goal 2] | 50% | 55% | +5% |
### Quarterly Milestone Check
**Quarter: Q[N] ([Month Range])**
| Milestone | Status | Notes |
|-----------|--------|-------|
| [Milestone 1] | On Track | [Detail] |
| [Milestone 2] | At Risk | [What's needed] |
### Project Status
| Project | Progress | Status | Next Month Focus |
|---------|----------|--------|-----------------|
| [Project 1] | 60% | Active | [Key deliverable] |
### Next Month Plan
**ONE Focus:** [Primary objective]
**Must Complete:**
1. [Non-negotiable deliverable]
2. [Critical milestone]
3. [Key commitment]
**Should Complete:**
1. [Important but flexible]
2. [Supporting goal]
**Nice to Have:**
1. [Stretch goal]
**Weekly Milestones:**
- Week 1: [Focus]
- Week 2: [Focus]
- Week 3: [Focus]
- Week 4: [Focus + monthly review]
### Wellbeing Check
- Physical Health: /10
- Mental Health: /10
- Relationships: /10
- Work Satisfaction: /10
- Overall: /10
### Questions to Consider
- "What would make next month feel truly successful?"
- "What commitment should you drop or delegate?"
- "Which goal needs a different approach?"Data Sources
Always read these files:
Goals/0. Three Year Goals.md- Long-term vision contextGoals/1. Yearly Goals.md- Quarterly milestones and annual objectivesGoals/2. Monthly Goals.md- Current month's plan (to review) and next month's (to write)Goals/3. Weekly Review.md- Weekly reviews from past monthDaily Notes/*.md- Past 30 days of notesProjects/*/CLAUDE.md- All active project statuses
Task-Based Progress Tracking
Monthly Review Tasks
TaskCreate:
subject: "Phase 1: Collect monthly data"
description: "Read weekly reviews, daily notes, and project files from past month"
activeForm: "Collecting monthly data..."
TaskCreate:
subject: "Phase 2: Reflect on month"
description: "Analyze patterns, check quarterly milestones, assess goal alignment"
activeForm: "Reflecting on monthly patterns..."
TaskCreate:
subject: "Phase 3: Plan next month"
description: "Set focus, define priorities, establish weekly milestones"
activeForm: "Planning next month..."
TaskCreate:
subject: "Write monthly review note"
description: "Generate and save the monthly review document"
activeForm: "Writing monthly review..."Dependencies
TaskUpdate: "Phase 2: Reflect", addBlockedBy: [phase-1-id]
TaskUpdate: "Phase 3: Plan", addBlockedBy: [phase-2-id]
TaskUpdate: "Write monthly review", addBlockedBy: [phase-3-id]Mark each task in_progress when starting, completed when done.
Integration
Works with:
/weekly- Monthly review rolls up weekly reviews/goal-tracking- Quarterly milestone progress/project status- Project progress feeds monthly assessment/daily- Next month's plan informs daily priorities/push- Commit after completing review
© ballred, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file
Files
Just SKILL.md in vault-template/.claude/skills/monthly of ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit ef1e4da
Compare with similar skills
Monthly Review and Planning next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Review and Planning this skillballred/obsidian-claude-pkm | 1.9k | — | ~1.4k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Trail Checkinglebis/claude-skills | 389 | — | ~838 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Canvas CreateAgriciDaniel/claude-canvas | 299 | — | ~849 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Bounded AutoresearchAgriciDaniel/claude-obsidian | 15k | 1 repos | ~1.6k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Obsidian Wiki Log FoldAgriciDaniel/claude-obsidian | 15k | 1 repos | ~1.2k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Second BrainNicholasSpisak/second-brain | 736 | 1 repos | ~1.5k | Automated safety check: Notes | None |
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Related
Works with
Questions about Monthly Review and Planning
What does Monthly Review and Planning do?
Runs a monthly review in an Obsidian vault: rolls up weekly reviews, checks quarterly milestones against yearly goals and sets next month's focus. Invoked as `/monthly` or by asking to review or plan the month, the skill creates or opens `Goals/2.md` and works in three timed phases of about 10 minutes each.
When should I use Monthly Review and Planning?
Monthly Review and Planning fits situations like: at the end of the month, to roll up the weekly reviews; planning next month's focus and priorities; checking quarterly milestones against yearly goals.
How do I install Monthly Review and Planning in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill monthly -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (vault-template/.claude/skills/monthly in ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm) into .claude/skills/monthly in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Monthly Review and Planning in Codex?
Run `npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill monthly -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (vault-template/.claude/skills/monthly in ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm) into .agents/skills/monthly in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Monthly Review and Planning in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?
Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill monthly -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/monthly, .gemini/skills/monthly, .github/skills/monthly and .opencode/skills/monthly in your project.
What does Monthly Review and Planning need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Monthly Review and Planning is instructions for the agent only. Our summary lists: An Obsidian vault using the Goals, Daily Notes and Projects folder layout. Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, TaskCreate, TaskUpdate, TaskList, TaskGet.
Does Monthly Review and Planning access the network?
SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.
Is Monthly Review and Planning safe to install?
Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.
What licence does Monthly Review and Planning use?
Monthly Review and Planning is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.
How many tokens does Monthly Review and Planning use?
About 1.4k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.7k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.
What are the alternatives to Monthly Review and Planning?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Monthly Review and Planning: Trail Checkin (glebis/claude-skills, 389 stars), Canvas Create (AgriciDaniel/claude-canvas, 299 stars), Bounded Autoresearch (AgriciDaniel/claude-obsidian, 15k stars) and Obsidian Wiki Log Fold (AgriciDaniel/claude-obsidian, 15k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Monthly Review and Planning?
ballred (a GitHub user) maintains it in ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm, which has 1,876 GitHub stars. The repository holds 13 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on February 18, 2026.
Source: ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.