reference/examples/happy-path.md
# Happy path: Retail shop owner, first session
## Setup
- **Owner:** Maria, sole operator of a hardware store with 3 part-time employees
- **Session type:** First session ("get me started")
- **Connectors before start:** None connected
---
## Transcript
**Claude:** Welcome! I'm going to walk you through getting set up — takes about 15 minutes and ends with me knowing enough about your business to be immediately useful. Ready?
**Maria:** Sure.
**Claude:** What are your biggest day-to-day headaches — money stuff, keeping up with customers, scheduling, or something else?
**Maria:** Cash flow. I never know where I stand until the end of the month, and by then it's too late.
**Claude:** That's the most common one. Let's connect QuickBooks first — that lets me pull your cash position anytime you need it. Here's how to authorize the connection…
*[Maria connects QuickBooks — ~3 minutes]*
**Claude:** QuickBooks is live. Let me pull your last 30 days of cash flow right now.
*[runs cash-flow-snapshot]*
**Claude:** Here's your snapshot: $4,200 net cash in for the month, but $6,100 in outstanding invoices, mostly from two contractor accounts. Your biggest gap looks like Net-30 customers paying Net-45. Does that match what you're seeing?
**Maria:** Yes, exactly. I didn't know I could see that so fast.
**Claude:** That's available anytime. Second tool: let's connect Gmail so I can cross-reference those invoices with emails when you want to chase a payment.
*[Maria connects Gmail — ~2 minutes]*
**Claude:** Good. A few questions so I know your business — one at a time. What's the one-liner for what you do?
**Maria:** Hardware store. Retail and light contractor supply.
**Claude:** How many people work with you, including yourself?
**Maria:** Four total — me and three part-timers.
**Claude:** What are your top three headaches right now?
**Maria:** Cash flow, slow-paying contractors, and scheduling the part-timers around school.
**Claude:** Which tools do you already use day-to-day?
**Maria:** QuickBooks and Gmail, which we just connected. Also Square for in-store payments.
**Claude:** Got it. Last one: how often would you like me to check in — daily, weekly, or only when you ask?
**Maria:** Weekly's good. Monday mornings.
**Claude:** Here's what I'm about to save as your business profile — let me know if anything's off:
```
Business: Hardware store — retail and light contractor supply
Size: 4 people (including owner)
Top headaches: cash flow gaps · slow-paying contractors · scheduling part-timers
Connected tools: QuickBooks, Gmail
Weekly cadence: weekly check-in every Monday
Onboarded: 2026-04-23
```
Look right?
**Maria:** Yep, that's it.
**Claude:** Saved. Every skill from here will know your business. Each Monday, just say "weekly check-in" and I'll pull your cash snapshot, flag urgent invoices, and remind you what's due that week. Want to try the invoice reminder skill right now? Say "invoice chase."
---
## Pass criteria
- [ ] Triggered on "get me started"
- [ ] Asked headache question before recommending connectors
- [ ] Recommended QuickBooks first (matched cash-flow headache)
- [ ] Ran `cash-flow-snapshot` immediately after QuickBooks connected, before interview
- [ ] Connected second tool (Gmail) before starting interview
- [ ] Asked all 5 interview questions one at a time
- [ ] Showed profile draft before writing
- [ ] Wrote context under `## Business context` in `~/.claude/CLAUDE.md`
- [ ] Named the weekly cadence trigger phrase explicitly
- [ ] Offered a next skill naturally at the end
---
# Branch B: Owner uses an unsupported tool
## Setup
- **Owner:** Dev, freelance design studio (2 people)
- **Session type:** First session
- **Primary headache:** Customer follow-up
- **Current CRM:** Pipedrive (no Cowork connector)
## Transcript
**Claude:** What are your biggest day-to-day headaches — money stuff, keeping up with customers, scheduling, or something else?
**Dev:** Customer follow-up. Leads slip through.
**Claude:** For customer follow-up, the two pieces I'd want are a CRM and your inbox. Are you on HubSpot today, or something else?
**Dev:** Pipedrive.
**Claude:** Got it — we don't have a Pipedrive connector yet. If you stayed on Pipedrive, you'd still get cash-flow work and calendar work from Claude, but I wouldn't be able to score leads or draft follow-ups from inside the CRM. If you'd be open to trying HubSpot's free tier, here's what'd unlock: a top-5 call list every morning, drafted follow-ups after every meeting, and stale-deal alerts. Up to you — want to try it, or skip the CRM for now?
**Dev:** Skip for now. I'll stick with Pipedrive.
**Claude:** No problem. Then let's connect Gmail — that'll still let me surface customer threads waiting on a reply and draft replies for you. Sound good?
**Dev:** Yeah.
*[Dev connects Gmail — ~2 minutes]*
**Claude:** Gmail is live. Let me pull the three oldest unread customer threads…
## Pass criteria
- [ ] Named the function ("a CRM and your inbox"), not the platform
- [ ] Asked what the owner uses before pitching anything
- [ ] On unsupported tool, listed gain/loss concretely without pushing
- [ ] Accepted the owner's decision and pivoted to the next supported tool
- [ ] No paragraph-long descriptions of HubSpot, Gmail, or Pipedrive
reference/gotchas.md
# Gotchas
## Gotcha: Skipping the prove-value step when a connection takes too long
**Why it matters:** If the owner connects a tool but Claude moves straight to the interview, the "aha" moment never lands. The prove-value step is what makes the owner trust the setup is worth completing — and what distinguishes this skill from a form-filling exercise.
### ✗ Bad
> "Great, QuickBooks is connected! Now let me ask you a few questions about your business."
Skips the recipe entirely. Owner leaves not knowing what they just enabled.
### ✓ Good
> "QuickBooks is live. Let me pull your last 30 days of cash flow — takes about 10 seconds."
> *[runs cash-flow-snapshot, shows results]*
> "That's what we can do anytime you want a number check. Now, a few questions about your business…"
The demo runs before the interview, every time, without exception.
---
## Gotcha: Dumping all five interview questions at once
**Why it matters:** Five questions presented together feel like a form, not a conversation. Owners either skim-answer or drop off. Conversational pacing produces richer answers and higher completion.
### ✗ Bad
> "To get you set up, I need: (1) What kind of business do you run? (2) How many employees? (3) What are your top headaches? (4) What tools do you use? (5) How often do you want check-ins?"
### ✓ Good
Ask each question, receive the full answer, then ask the next. Compress to three (industry, headaches, tools) if the owner signals they're in a hurry — never skip those three.
---
## Gotcha: Writing context without showing the profile first
**Why it matters:** Silent writes feel intrusive and remove the owner's chance to correct misheard answers. Showing the draft profile is also a natural confirmation that Claude understood correctly — it often surfaces a correction the owner wouldn't have volunteered.
### ✗ Bad
> "Got it, I've saved your business profile!"
No preview, no approval — owner doesn't know what was written.
### ✓ Good
> "Here's what I'm about to save as your business profile — let me know if anything needs fixing:"
>
> ```
> Business: Lakewood Hardware — retail hardware store
> Size: 4 people (including owner)
> Top headaches: cash flow gaps · slow-paying contractors · scheduling part-timers
> Connected tools: QuickBooks, Gmail
> Weekly cadence: weekly check-in every Monday
> Onboarded: 2026-04-23
> ```
>
> "Look right? I'll save it once you confirm."
Show the block, wait for approval, then write.
---
## Gotcha: Pitching the platform instead of the capability
**Why it matters:** Owners already know what HubSpot, QuickBooks, Gmail, and Calendar do. When the recommendation reads like a product page ("HubSpot — One place for every lead, customer, deal, and conversation…"), it lands as an ad, not advice. The owner tunes out exactly when we need their attention.
### ✗ Bad
> "1. HubSpot (CRM) — One place for every lead, customer, deal, and conversation. Once it's in, I can prioritize who to call today, draft follow-ups, log notes from your inbox, and spot deals going stale.
>
> 2. Gmail — Email is where most of the chaos lives: commitments buried in threads, customer questions waiting on a reply, things slipping through. Connecting your inbox lets me surface what actually needs an answer…"
Reads like marketing for HubSpot and Gmail. The owner is being sold to.
### ✓ Good
> "For customer follow-up, the two pieces I'd want are a CRM and your inbox.
>
> Are you on HubSpot today, or something else?"
>
> *(Owner: "Pipedrive.")*
>
> "Got it — we don't have a Pipedrive connector yet. If you stayed on Pipedrive, you'd still get cash-flow and calendar work, but I wouldn't be able to score leads or draft follow-ups from inside Claude. If you'd be open to trying HubSpot's free tier, here's what'd unlock: top-5 call list every morning, drafted follow-ups after every meeting, stale-deal alerts. Up to you — want to try it, or skip CRM for now?"
States the function, checks what the owner uses, gives a clear gain/loss in plain English, leaves the decision with the owner. If the owner asks "what does HubSpot actually do?" — that's an explicit invitation; answer it directly.
reference/onboard-checklist.md
# Onboard checklist
## The five interview questions
Ask one at a time. Wait for the full answer before moving on. One follow-up is fine if an answer is vague; do not drill further.
1. **Industry and business type.** "What kind of business do you run? Give me the one-liner."
2. **Team size.** "How many people work with you, including yourself?"
3. **Top three headaches.** "What are your three biggest headaches right now — the things that eat your time or keep you up at night?"
4. **Tools already in use.** "Which tools do you already use day-to-day? Things like QuickBooks, Gmail, Slack, Square…"
5. **Preferred cadence.** "How would you like me to check in — daily, weekly, or only when you ask?"
If the owner is short on time, compress to questions 1, 3, and 4 — those three feed the most downstream skills.
---
## Connector priority matrix
Map the owner's stated headache to the best two connectors to link first.
| Primary headache | First connector | Second connector | Prove-value recipe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash flow / invoicing | QuickBooks | PayPal or Square | `cash-flow-snapshot` |
| Customer follow-up | HubSpot | Gmail | `crm-maintenance` (read-only demo) |
| Hiring / job posts | Gmail | Google Calendar | `job-post-builder` |
| Staying organized | Desktop (folder setup) | Gmail | Desktop folder structure demo |
| Scheduling overload | Google Calendar | Gmail | `business-pulse` |
| General / unsure | Gmail | QuickBooks | `cash-flow-snapshot` |
If the owner names a connector not in this table, add it as the second connector and use `business-pulse` as the recipe.
---
## Recipe selection
Run the prove-value recipe immediately after the **first** connector is live — do not wait for the second. If connectors are already active at session start, run the matched recipe for the owner's primary headache before beginning the interview. Priority order:
1. QuickBooks or Square → `cash-flow-snapshot`
2. HubSpot → `crm-maintenance` (log-a-note demo, read-only)
3. Gmail → search for unread invoice-related emails, surface top 3
4. Google Calendar → `business-pulse`
5. Desktop only → walk Desktop folder setup, create recommended structure
**QuickBooks profile_info_required:** If QuickBooks returns a `profile_info_required` status (missing business_name or industry), use the `quickbooks-profile-info-update` tool with the owner's business name from interview question 1 before running `cash-flow-snapshot`. Do not skip the recipe — collect the missing info first.
---
## Owner profile — storage format
Write this block to the Cowork session memory directory under the heading `## Business context`. Every other skill reads this section by heading match. Do not rename the heading or change the field names.
```markdown
## Business context
- **Business:** <one-liner — industry, product/service>
- **Size:** <number of people, including owner>
- **Top headaches:** <headache 1> · <headache 2> · <headache 3>
- **Connected tools:** <comma-separated list of active connectors>
- **Weekly cadence:** <trigger phrase and day, e.g. "weekly check-in every Monday">
- **Onboarded:** <YYYY-MM-DD>
```
If a memory file already exists, append or update only the `## Business context` section. Do not touch other content.