progress

# /arc:progress

The progress journal maintains a lightweight record of what Arc has done, decisions made, and context that should persist across sessions.

## The Journal

**Location:** `docs/progress.md`

**Format:**
```markdown
# Progress Journal

## YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM — /arc:[command]
**Task:** [Brief description]
**Outcome:** [Complete / In Progress / Blocked]
**Files:** [Key files created/modified]
**Decisions:**
- [Key decision 1]
- [Key decision 2]
**Next:** [What comes next, if any]

---

[Older entries below...]
```

## Process

### Viewing Progress

**If no arguments:**

**Use Read tool:** `docs/progress.md` (first 100 lines)

Show the 10 most recent entries with summary:
```
## Recent Progress

1. [date] /arc:ideate — Add user authentication
   Outcome: Complete → Created design doc

2. [date] /arc:build — Add logout button
   Outcome: Complete

3. [date] /arc:implement — Magic link auth (3/7 tasks)
   Outcome: In Progress → Paused at email sending

[Show more with /arc:progress --all]
```

### Adding Manual Notes

**If arguments provided:**
```
/arc:progress Working on the API refactor, decided to use tRPC instead of REST
```

Append to journal:
```markdown
## YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM — Manual Note
**Note:** Working on the API refactor, decided to use tRPC instead of REST

---
```

### Trimming Old Entries

**If journal exceeds 50 entries or ~20KB:**

1. Count entries:

   **Use Grep tool:** Pattern `^## [0-9]` in `docs/progress.md` with output_mode: "count"

2. If >50 entries, offer to archive:
   ```
   "The progress journal has [N] entries. Want me to archive older entries to docs/progress-archive.md?"
   ```

3. If yes:
   - Move entries older than 30 days to `docs/progress-archive.md`
   - Keep recent 30 entries in `docs/progress.md`

## Appending Entries (For Other Skills)

**All Arc skills should append to the progress journal on completion.**

Use this pattern at the end of any skill:

```markdown
<progress_append>
After completing the skill's main work,