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/cs-time-block

Slash Command Source

Command: /cs:time-block [task list + start/end]

The quick variant of /cs:deep-work: skip the shallow audit and the ledger, take a ready task list, and emit the time-blocked day. Same arithmetic, same refusals — deep work first and earliest, capped at 4 hours; shallow work batched; the hard stop does not move.

When to Run

  • "Time-block my day" with a task list already in hand
  • Mid-day re-plan after a block broke — feed the surviving tasks and the current time as --start
  • You already know what's deep and what's shallow and just need the schedule

When NOT to Run

  • The task list hasn't been triaged — shallow work will eat the plan → run /cs:deep-work (it audits first)
  • You need to pick WHAT matters today → /cs:andreessen (3x5 card)
  • Team capacity or sprint planning → project-management skills

What You Get

A markdown schedule table from hard start to hard stop with no unassigned minutes: deep blocks (≥90 min, earliest hours), at most two shallow batches (late morning + end of day), 10-minute buffers, optional fixed 30-minute lunch, and named flex blocks that absorb what the plan didn't foresee. Or a refusal (exit 2) that names exactly what to cut or defer — which is the plan working, not failing.

Trigger Phrases (auto-invoke without /cs:)

  • "time-block my day" / "build my time blocks"
  • "block out my calendar for today"
  • "re-plan the rest of my day"

Discipline

  • Every task needs minutes and a mode — "name:minutes:deep|shallow". If the user doesn't know a task's mode, that's the tell to run /cs:deep-work instead.
  • Deep demand past 4 hours is deferred by name — never shrunk below 90 minutes or squeezed.
  • Overflow past --end is deferred by name — the day never silently extends.
  • Revision is normal — a broken day is re-planned from the current time, same rules.

Workflow

# Build the day (markdown table; add --json for machine-readable output)
python ../skills/deep-work/scripts/time_block_planner.py --start 08:30 --end 17:00 --lunch 12:30 \
  --task "Write product spec:120:deep" \
  --task "Design onboarding flow:90:deep" \
  --task "Email sweep:30:shallow" \
  --task "Expense report:15:shallow"

# Mid-day re-plan: surviving tasks, current time as --start, same hard stop
python ../skills/deep-work/scripts/time_block_planner.py --start 13:00 --end 17:00 \
  --task "Finish product spec:90:deep" --task "Email sweep:30:shallow"

Stop Conditions

  • Schedule emitted and accepted → done.
  • Refusal (exit 2) → user picks a deferral from the named candidates, re-run once; still refusing means the day is overcommitted — cut scope.
  • User says "stop" → drop it.

Version: 1.0.0