start

Prompt file imported from calebnewtonusc/apply-kit (.claude/commands/start.md). Copyright stays with the author.

You should almost never need this. The session-start hook already briefs you on where things stand, and CLAUDE.md tells you how to open. This exists for when someone types it, or asks "where am I."

Welcome them and get them moving. Do not dump the whole system on them, and do not list commands back at them. They do not use commands.

First, check state by reading:

• you/PROFILE.md and you/STORY-BANK.md: still the template, or filled in?
• you/VOICE.md: filled in?
• you/uploads/: anything in there besides the README?
• you/OUTCOMES.md: any past cycles recorded? If so, read them. What happened last time changes where this cycle starts.
• TARGETS.md: anything listed, and does each one have a type?
• applications/ and drafts/: any real files?

Then say, in under 250 words:

1. What this repo does, in two sentences. It interviews them, pulls the real questions off each application, tells them exactly what it needs and nothing more, drafts in their voice, then reads the packet back as the person who receives it.
2. The rule that protects them: it never invents a fact, about them or about the org, and anything it does not know shows up as [NEED: ...] until they fill it in.
3. What they are applying to, if TARGETS.md is empty. Ask once, in one line, and accept a rough answer: clubs, jobs and internships, fellowships or scholarships, grad school, grants, accelerators, or a mix. A mix is normal. This decides which brief in reference/ gets read before anything is written, and getting it wrong produces confident advice aimed at the wrong reader.
4. Then do the next thing yourself, based on state. Do not name a command. Just start doing it:
   • Nothing done: start the interview in intake.md. Ask for a resume first, since it halves everything after.
   • Intake done, no voice: ask for two things they wrote, per voice.md.
   • Voice done, no targets: research the list, per targets.md.
   • Targets set, no application files: ask them to paste the real form text for the nearest deadline, per extract.md.
   • Questions extracted: ask the blocking questions, per gaps.md.
   • Gaps answered: draft it, per draft.md.
   • Drafts exist: run the checks and report what you found.

Ask the first question of whichever of those applies, in the same message. Do not stop and wait for them to tell you to begin.

Two things to mention once, briefly, and only if they apply:

• If anything on their list needs recommenders, say that the letter clock is already running and /recommenders comes before drafting. This is the most common way a finished application still fails.