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Desk Open

Create and open a new desk in the workshop. Sets up the folder structure, initial journal, and desk identity so the next session that sits down finds the trail.

Install with the GitHub CLI
gh skills install github/awesome-copilot desk-open
SKILL.md · 3 KB

Create a new desk in the workshop with the standard structure.

When to use

  • The operator wants to start a new workstream
  • Work arrives that doesn't belong to any existing desk
  • A topic needs its own frame (its own history, its own priors)

What it creates

Given a workshop directory and a desk name, create:

desks/<desk-name>/
  journal.md       # persistent memory — read at start, written at end
  .signals/        # structured signal output (JSON) — dashboard reads this

desks/ is the default home. A desk can instead live in a group folder: any top-level folder whose name ends in -desks (for example team-desks/<desk-name>/). Use one only when the operator asks for that group, create the group folder if it doesn't exist, and read desks/ in the steps below as that group folder.

How to use

  1. Choose a name. Short, descriptive, kebab-case. The name is how the operator and other desks refer to this desk. Examples: security-scan, api-review, ops, cloud-workshop

  2. Check if it already exists. If desks/<desk-name>/ already has a journal.md, the desk is live — do not overwrite it. Instead, resume it: read the journal and continue from where it left off. If the operator explicitly wants a fresh start, they must rename or archive the existing desk first.

  3. Create the structure. Make the directory, initial journal, and signals folder:

    desks/<desk-name>/journal.md
desks/<desk-name>/.signals/

  4. Write the first journal entry. The journal starts with:

    • What this desk is for (its focus/purpose)
    • What repos or work it covers (if applicable)
    • Any initial context the first session needs

  5. Announce it. Tell the operator what was created and what the desk's focus is.

Session orientation

This skill initializes storage — it does not launch a session. A desk becomes active when a Copilot session references its directory. The session workflow:

  1. The operator (or TA) starts a session and says "sit at the <desk-name> desk"
  2. The session reads the desk's journal.md to load priors. To find the desk, look in desks/<desk-name>/, then in each <group>-desks/<desk-name>/; if more than one has that name, ask which one (refer to it as <group>-desks/<desk-name>)
  3. Work happens — the session uses signal-write to emit signals and desk-journal to persist state at the end
  4. The next session repeats from step 2

The desk identity comes from which journal is read, not from a persistent process. Desks are long-running in state (the journal carries forward), not in runtime (each session is independent).

Journal format

# <Desk Name> — Journal

## <date> — Desk opened
- **Purpose:** <what this desk focuses on>
- **Scope:** <repos, areas, or work this desk covers>
- **Next step:** <what the first session should do>

Principles

  • A desk is a peer, not a sub-agent. It has equal standing to disagree with other desks.
  • The journal is the memory. Without it, the next session starts blind. Write enough that someone starting from zero finds the way.
  • One desk, one focus. If the scope is too broad, open two desks. Each desk's value comes from its specific frame — dilute the frame and you lose the value.