# Coauthor Brief

Generate a co-author / collaborator handoff brief for a multi-author, multi-machine...

- Repository: https://github.com/pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow (1676 stars)
- Category: Documents
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-09-27
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow --skill coauthor-brief -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow --skill coauthor-brief -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow --skill coauthor-brief -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow --skill coauthor-brief -g -a gemini-cli -y`

## Description

Generate a co-author / collaborator handoff brief for a multi-author, multi-machine project, summarizing what changed since the last brief (git delta), the current state of each artifact (manuscript, analysis, slides), open questions, how to reproduce locally, and any restricted-data access steps. Use when user says "coauthor brief", "handoff brief", "bring my coauthor up to speed", "what changed since last week", "onboard a collaborator", "write a handoff for [name]", or before sending a co-author the repo. NOT a commit or a checkpoint, it is the cross-machine, cross-person summary `meta-governance.md` only partially covers.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# /coauthor-brief, Collaborator Handoff Brief

Produce a single Markdown brief a co-author (or your future self on another machine) can read in a few minutes to know **what changed, where each artifact stands, what's blocked, and how to run the pipeline locally**, including restricted-data access steps a new collaborator needs. [`meta-governance.md`](../../rules/meta-governance.md) covers the *memory* side of cross-machine work (what syncs via git, what stays in gitignored native auto memory); this skill covers the *human* side: the per-person, per-session handoff.

**Core principle:** `/checkpoint` is for *you* resuming; `/coauthor-brief` is for *someone else* starting. The first answers "where am I?"; the second answers "what do I need to know to take over a piece of this?"

## When to use

- **Before sending a co-author the repo** (or a PR / branch) and you want them oriented, not archaeologizing the git log.
- **Onboarding a new RA / collaborator** who needs the reproduce-locally and restricted-data steps in one place.
- **Periodic sync** on a long multi-author project, "here's the delta since the last brief."
- **Cross-machine handoff**, finishing on the office desktop, picking up on the laptop, or handing the analysis half to a co-author who runs Stata while you run R.

## When NOT to use

- For *your own* resume-point, use [`/checkpoint`](../checkpoint/SKILL.md).
- For distilling a noisy session before auto-compact, use [`/compress-session`](../compress-session/SKILL.md).
- For the commit message itself, that goes through [`/commit`](../commit/SKILL.md).

## Phases

### Phase 0, Determine the "since" point

Resolve the delta window, in this priority order:

The rest: https://github.com/pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow/blob/HEAD/.claude/skills/coauthor-brief/SKILL.md