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Tim Davies
All skills

Free Claude skill · you create it yourself

The Current State.

One file with all the details of a project or client, kept up to date by Claude. Ask where things are at and it answers in seconds, and nothing gets lost between chats.

This is a skill you create yourself. It has to know your business, so there's nothing to download. You paste the set-up prompt and Claude builds the skill for you.

Before you start

Get these ready first

  1. A paid Claude plan (Pro or above). In Settings, then Capabilities, make sure Code execution and file creation is switched on. Claude needs it to create skills and files.
  2. A Claude Project for the job. A project is a folder in Claude that keeps your files and instructions together, and Claude reads everything in it at the start of every chat. In Claude, click Projects, then New project, and name it after the client or job.

Create the skill

You do this once

Start a chat in the project and paste this. Then answer its questions. The more you tell it, the better the file.

I want you to keep a current state file for this project, with all the details of where it's at, so that whenever I ask, you can tell me exactly where things stand. First, ask me anything you need to know: who the client is and who I deal with, what we've agreed to do, what's been done so far, and what's still to come. Ask a few questions at a time. Then create a markdown file called [client name]-current-state.md with these sections: - Last updated: today's date - Summary: one or two sentences on where the project is overall - Who's who: the client, the main contact and how to reach them - What we agreed: the scope, budget and deadlines - What's been done, with dates - Waiting on the client: what we're waiting for, and since when - Waiting on me: what I still need to do - Next step: what happens next, and who does it Write it in plain English, and give me the file so I can save it into the project. Then turn these instructions into a skill called Current State and save it, so it works in every project from now on. Whenever I ask for the current state, read the project's current state file and tell me where things are at. When I tell you something has happened, update the right sections, change the date at the top and give me the updated file. If a project doesn't have a current state file yet, offer to create one.

Use it

Any time

What's the current state of the project?

Every project has the same problem. Things happen in emails, in phone calls, in a chat with Claude last Tuesday, and a week later nobody can remember where it got to. You go digging back through your inbox to work out what you’re waiting on.

I fix this with one file per project, called the current state, and one question.

What’s in it

Everything about where the project is at: who’s who, what we agreed, what’s been done and when, what we’re waiting on, and what happens next. It’s a markdown file, which is a plain text file ending in .md that Claude reads and writes easily.

It’s the full story. My whiteboard only shows where each client got to and what’s next, so I can scan all of them in a minute. When I need the detail on one, it’s in the current state.

After the first chat

Save the file Claude gives you into the project’s files. From then on, Claude reads it at the start of every chat in that project.

The skill is yours from then on, so you don’t run the set-up prompt again. In your next project, ask for the current state and Claude offers to create the file.

Using it

Whenever you open the project, ask:

What’s the current state of the project?

Claude reads the file and tells you, in plain words, what’s been done, what’s outstanding, who it’s waiting on and what happens next. It takes seconds, and a new chat picks up exactly where the last one finished.

When something happens, tell it:

Update the current state: I sent the quote today and they’re getting back to me next week.

Claude updates the file, changes the date at the top and gives you the new version. Save it into the project in place of the old one. I do this every time, so the file in the project is always the latest. If you use Cowork in the Claude desktop app, it can update the file for itself.

If your email is connected to Claude, you can also ask it to check for anything newer than the date on the file before it answers. Mine does that, so the answer includes the email that came in this morning.

This is one piece of a bigger idea: treating AI as a system that remembers your work, not a chat window you start over in every day. There’s more on that in Stop Treating AI Like a Chatbot.