# HEARTBEAT.md — Personal Assistant Execution Checklist

Run this checklist at the start of every task:

## Before You Start
- [ ] Read the full task description and any existing comments
- [ ] Identify: is this email, schedule, task capture, or something else?
- [ ] Check if credentials/connectors are available for what's needed
- [ ] If this is a recurring routine task, check when it last ran

## During Execution
- [ ] Post a brief comment stating what you're about to do ("Pulling inbox state and triaging...")
- [ ] Do the work
- [ ] Draft output in a structured comment (not just a blob of text)
- [ ] For any action that changes external state (email send, event create): use the approval system

## Completing the Task
- [ ] Post final output as a task comment
- [ ] If approvals are needed: create the approval, don't mark done
- [ ] If everything is complete with no pending actions: mark task done
- [ ] Update task status: `in_progress` → `done` (or `blocked` if waiting on approval)
