ceos-rocks

Manage quarterly Rocks — the 3-7 most important priorities for the next 90 days. Each Rock has one owner, a measurable outcome, and a due date at quarter end.

When to Use

"Set rocks for this quarter" or "let's plan our quarterly priorities"
"Rock status" or "how are our rocks tracking?"
"Score rocks" or "end of quarter review"
"Create a rock" or "add a new rock for [person]"
"What rocks does [person] own?"
Any quarterly planning or review conversation

Context

Finding the CEOS Repository

Search upward from the current directory for the

.ceos

marker file. This file marks the root of the CEOS repository.

.ceos

is not found, stop and tell the user: "Not in a CEOS repository. Clone your CEOS repo and run setup.sh first."

Sync before use: Once you find the CEOS root, run

git -C <ceos_root> pull --ff-only --quiet 2>/dev/null

to get the latest data from teammates. If it fails (conflict or offline), continue silently with local data.

Key Files

File	Purpose
`data/rocks/QUARTER/`	Rock files for each quarter (e.g., `data/rocks/2026-Q1/` )
`data/vision.md`	V/TO document (1-Year Plan for alignment checks)
`templates/rock.md`	Template for creating new Rock files
`data/accountability.md`	Accountability Chart (seat owners for Rock-owner alignment)

Rock File Format

Each Rock is a markdown file with YAML frontmatter:

yaml

id: rock-001
title: "Launch Beta Program"
owner: "brad"
quarter: "2026-Q1"
status: on_track       # on_track | off_track | complete | dropped
created: "2026-01-02"
due: "2026-03-31"

Status values:

```
on_track
```
— progressing as expected
```
off_track
```
— behind or at risk
```
complete
```
— done (set during end-of-quarter scoring)
```
dropped
```
— no longer a priority (set during end-of-quarter scoring)

File naming:

rock-NNN-slug.md

where NNN is a zero-padded ID and slug is the title slugified (lowercase, hyphens, no special chars).

Milestones: Rocks support two milestone formats:

Structured (frontmatter): Array of milestone objects with
```
title
```
, optional
```
due
```
date, and
```
status
```
(
```
todo
```
/
```
in_progress
```
/
```
done
```
). Enables date-based progress tracking and overdue detection.
Markdown checklist (body): Traditional
```
- [ ]
```
/
```
- [x]
```
checklist items in the Milestones section. Simple and human-friendly.

Both are valid. Tracking mode prefers frontmatter milestones when present, falls back to markdown checklist parsing otherwise.

Attachments: Optional

attachments

array in frontmatter references supporting documents. Each attachment has a

path

(relative to CEOS root) and optional

label

. The skill displays references but does not manage files.

Quarter Format

Quarters follow

YYYY-QN

format:

2026-Q1

2026-Q2

2026-Q3

2026-Q4

To determine the current quarter from today's date:

Jan-Mar = Q1, Apr-Jun = Q2, Jul-Sep = Q3, Oct-Dec = Q4

Process

Mode: Setting Rocks

Use when creating new Rocks at the start of a quarter.

Step 1: Determine the Quarter

Check if the user specified a quarter. If not, use the current quarter. If creating Rocks for a past quarter, warn: "That quarter has already started/ended. Continue anyway?"

Create the quarter directory if it doesn't exist:

data/rocks/YYYY-QN/

Step 2: Review Context

Before creating Rocks, read and briefly summarize:

The 1-Year Plan from
```
data/vision.md
```
(what are we trying to achieve this year?)
Any existing Rocks for this quarter (avoid duplicates)

Step 3: Walk Through Each Rock

For each Rock, collect:

Title — short, specific description (e.g., "Launch Beta Program")
Owner — one person (Rocks are never shared)
Measurable outcome — what does "done" look like?
Milestones — 2-4 checkpoints toward completion
Structured milestones (optional) — Ask: "Add due dates to milestones?"
- If yes, collect for each milestone: title, due date (
```
YYYY-MM-DD
```
  ), status (default:
```
todo
```
  )
- Store as
```
milestones
```
  array in frontmatter
- If no, use markdown checklist only (traditional format)
- If more than 7 milestones, warn: "EOS recommends 3-5 milestones per Rock. Are all of these essential checkpoints?"
Attachments (optional) — Ask: "Any supporting documents to reference?"
- If yes, collect: path (relative to CEOS root) and optional label for each
- Store as
```
attachments
```
  array in frontmatter

Step 4: Validate

3-7 Rocks per person. If someone has fewer than 3, ask if they should own more. If more than 7, flag: "Too many Rocks for [person]. EOS recommends 3-7. Which ones are the real priorities?"
Alignment check. Does each Rock connect to a 1-Year Plan goal? Flag any that don't.
Due date. Set to the last day of the quarter.
Seat alignment. Cross-reference Rock owners against
```
data/accountability.md
```
. Flag mismatches if a Rock's subject area doesn't match the owner's seat responsibilities, for example: "This Rock falls under the [Seat] responsibilities. Should [Seat Owner] own it instead?"

Step 5: Generate the ID

Read existing Rock files in the quarter directory. Find the highest

rock-NNN

ID and increment. If no files exist, start at

rock-001

Step 6: Write the File

Use

templates/rock.md

as the template. Substitute:

Frontmatter fields (id, title, owner, quarter, status=on_track, created=today, due=quarter-end)
Body sections (measurable outcome, milestones)

Write to

data/rocks/YYYY-QN/rock-NNN-slug.md

Show the user the complete file before writing. Ask: "Create this Rock?"

Step 7: Repeat or Finish

Ask: "Create another Rock, or are we done for now?"

When finished, display a summary table of all Rocks for the quarter:

Rock	Owner	Due
Launch Beta Program	brad	2026-03-31
Hire VP Sales	daniel	2026-03-31

Mode: Tracking Rocks

Use for weekly or ad-hoc status checks.

Step 1: Read All Rocks

Read all Rock files in

data/rocks/[current-quarter]/

. Parse the frontmatter for status.

Step 2: Display Status

Show a status table:

Rock	Owner	Status	Milestones	Notes
Launch Beta Program	brad	on_track	2/3 complete	On schedule
Hire VP Sales	daniel	off_track	0/4 complete (1 overdue)	No candidates yet

Milestone progress computation:

If frontmatter has
milestones
array: Count entries with
```
status: done
```
vs total. Display: "N/M complete". If any milestone has
```
due
```
in the past and
```
status
```
is not
```
done
```
, append "(X overdue)".
Else: Parse markdown checklist in body (count
```
[x]
```
vs total
```
[ ]
```
and
```
[x]
```
). Display: "N/M done".

Attachment display: If frontmatter has

attachments

array, show after the status table:

Attachments:
  • Beta spec (data/rocks/2026-Q1/rock-001-beta-spec.pdf)
  • Requirements doc (data/rocks/2026-Q1/requirements.pdf)

Step 3: Update Status

If a Rock's status needs to change:

Show the current status
Ask what the new status should be (on_track or off_track)
Show the diff in the frontmatter
Ask for approval before writing
Add a dated note to the Notes section

Mode: Scoring Rocks (End of Quarter)

Use at the end of a quarter for the completion review.

Step 1: Load All Rocks

Read all Rock files in

data/rocks/[quarter]/

Step 2: Score Each Rock

For each Rock, ask: "Complete or incomplete?"

EOS scoring is binary. No partial credit. The measurable outcome was either achieved or it wasn't.
Update status to
```
complete
```
or
```
dropped
```
(if the Rock was abandoned or deprioritized)
A Rock that was worked on but not finished gets
```
dropped
```
— it can become a new Rock next quarter

Step 3: Show the diff for each status change, ask for approval.

Step 4: Summary

Display the quarter scorecard:

Q1 2026 Rock Scorecard
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Complete: 4/6 (67%)
Target: 80%+

✓ Launch Beta Program (brad)
✓ Hire VP Sales (daniel)
✓ Implement CRM (daniel)
✗ Redesign Onboarding (brad) — dropped
✓ ISO Certification (sarah)
✗ Partner Program (brad) — dropped

If completion rate is below 80%, flag it: "Below the 80% target. Consider: Were Rocks too ambitious, or were there execution issues? This is a good topic for the next L10."

Output Format

Setting: Show each Rock file before writing. End with a summary table. Tracking: Status table with milestone progress (from frontmatter milestones if present, else markdown checklist). Overdue milestones flagged. Attachments listed if present. Scoring: Quarter scorecard with completion rate.

Guardrails

Always show diff before writing. Never modify a Rock file without showing the change and getting approval.
One owner per Rock. If the user tries to assign a Rock to multiple people, explain that EOS Rocks have one owner. Suggest splitting into separate Rocks.
3-7 per person. Warn (don't block) if someone is outside this range.
Binary scoring only. Don't allow "partial" or percentage-based scoring. Complete or dropped.
Milestone status values. Only accept
```
todo
```
,
```
in_progress
```
,
```
done
```
for structured milestones. If the user provides another value during creation, show the allowed values.
Respect quarter boundaries. Rocks in
```
data/rocks/2026-Q1/
```
belong to Q1. Don't move them between quarters — create new Rocks in the next quarter instead.
Cross-reference V/TO. When setting Rocks, check alignment with the 1-Year Plan from
```
data/vision.md
```
. Use
```
ceos-vto
```
if deeper vision review is needed.
ID uniqueness. Always check existing files before assigning an ID to avoid collisions.
Don't auto-invoke other skills. Mention
```
ceos-vto
```
,
```
ceos-l10
```
, and
```
ceos-annual
```
when relevant, but let the user decide when to switch workflows.
Sensitive data warning. On first use, remind the user: "Rocks may contain sensitive business priorities. Use a private repo."

Integration Notes

V/TO (ceos-vto)

Read:
```
ceos-rocks
```
reads
```
data/vision.md
```
to check the 1-Year Plan when setting Rocks. Each Rock should connect to a 1-Year Plan goal.
Suggested flow: If Rocks don't align with the 1-Year Plan, suggest: "Review the V/TO with
```
ceos-vto
```
to ensure strategic alignment."

L10 Meetings (ceos-l10)

Read:
```
ceos-l10
```
reads Rock files during Section 4 (Rock Review) of the L10 meeting. Each Rock owner reports on_track or off_track status.
Suggested flow: Off-track Rocks should be discussed further in the IDS section of the L10.

Quarterly Conversations (ceos-quarterly)

Read:
```
ceos-quarterly
```
references Rock progress during quarterly conversations. Rock ownership and status provide context for individual performance discussions.

Annual Planning (ceos-annual)

Read/Write: During annual planning, the team scores the outgoing quarter's Rocks and sets Q1 Rocks for the new year.
```
ceos-annual
```
orchestrates this;
```
ceos-rocks
```
handles the actual Rock creation and scoring.

To-Dos (ceos-todos)

Related: Rock milestones may generate To-Dos during L10 meetings. These To-Dos are tracked in
```
data/todos/
```
via
```
ceos-todos
```
with
```
source: l10
```
.

Accountability Chart (ceos-accountability)

Read:
```
ceos-rocks
```
reads
```
data/accountability.md
```
when setting Rocks to validate that Rock owners match seat responsibilities. A Rock about sales pipeline should belong to whoever owns the Sales & Marketing seat.
Suggested flow: If a Rock doesn't align with the owner's seat, suggest: "This Rock falls under the [Seat] responsibilities. Should [Seat Owner] own it instead?"

ceos-rocks

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

ceos-rocks

When to Use

Context

Finding the CEOS Repository

Key Files

Rock File Format

Quarter Format

Process

Mode: Setting Rocks

Step 1: Determine the Quarter

Step 2: Review Context

Step 3: Walk Through Each Rock

Step 4: Validate

Step 5: Generate the ID

Step 6: Write the File

Step 7: Repeat or Finish

Mode: Tracking Rocks

Step 1: Read All Rocks

Step 2: Display Status

Step 3: Update Status

Mode: Scoring Rocks (End of Quarter)

Step 1: Load All Rocks

Step 2: Score Each Rock

Step 3: Show the diff for each status change, ask for approval.

Step 4: Summary

Output Format

Guardrails

Integration Notes

V/TO (ceos-vto)

L10 Meetings (ceos-l10)

Quarterly Conversations (ceos-quarterly)

Annual Planning (ceos-annual)

To-Dos (ceos-todos)

Accountability Chart (ceos-accountability)

Read-Only Principle