Progress Tracker

Part of the mindwork suite. Tracks changes over time, compares sessions, and measures progress toward therapy goals.

What It Does

1. Reads analysis files from the analysis/ folder
2. Aggregates patterns, themes, and metrics across sessions
3. Tracks changes and trends over time
4. Compares sessions to highlight growth
5. Measures progress toward user-defined goals
6. Generates comprehensive progress reports

Key Difference from Analyze

Skill	Focus	Input	Output
Analyze	Single session snapshot	1 file	Detailed analysis
Progress	Changes over time	Multiple files	Trend reports

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Modes of Operation

1. Trend Tracking

Track how specific patterns change over time.

Example prompts:

"Track my anxiety levels over the past month" "How has my use of catastrophizing changed?" "Show me the trend of my emotional themes" "What patterns have decreased since I started therapy?"

Workflow:

1. Read all analysis files from analysis/ folder
2. Extract mentions of the specified pattern/theme
3. Count occurrences per session/week/month
4. Generate timeline showing trend

2. Session Comparison

Compare two or more specific sessions side-by-side.

Example prompts:

"Compare my first session with my most recent one" "Compare sessions from January vs March" "What's different between session 5 and session 10?"

Workflow:

1. Identify the sessions to compare
2. Read both analysis files
3. Extract key metrics from each
4. Generate comparison highlighting differences

3. Period Summaries

Generate progress reports for time periods.

Example prompts:

"Generate a weekly progress report" "Monthly summary of my therapy progress" "Quarterly review of my journal reflections" "Summarize my progress this year"

Workflow:

1. Determine date range from request
2. Read all analysis files in that range
3. Aggregate metrics and extract highlights
4. Generate comprehensive report

4. Goal Tracking

Track progress toward user-defined goals.

Example prompts:

"How am I progressing on my goals?" "Update my goal progress" "Show progress on my anxiety goal"

Workflow:

1. Read goals.md from vault root
2. Read recent analysis files
3. Find evidence related to each goal
4. Generate goal progress report

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Prerequisites

• Analysis files in the analysis/ folder (created by the analyze skill)
• Optional: goals.md file in vault root for goal tracking
• Optional: mindwork.yaml configuration

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Data Sources

Analysis Files

The progress skill reads from analysis files created by the analyze skill. It extracts:

From "Cognitive Patterns Observed" section:

• Pattern names (e.g., "Catastrophizing", "All-or-nothing")
• Frequency of each pattern

From "Emotional Themes" section:

• Primary emotions mentioned
• Triggers identified

From "Key Insights" section:

• Breakthroughs and realizations
• Growth markers

From "Progress Notes" section:

• Changes noted from previous sessions
• Recurring themes

Goals File

If present, read goals.md from the vault root. Parse the structure:

# My Therapy Goals

## Active Goals

### 1. Goal Title
- **Started**: YYYY-MM-DD
- **Target**: What success looks like
- **Success criteria**: Measurable indicators

## Completed Goals

### Goal Title
- **Started**: YYYY-MM-DD
- **Completed**: YYYY-MM-DD
- **Outcome**: What was achieved

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Output Formats

Structured Timeline

For trend tracking and period summaries:

# Progress Timeline: {Period}

## Week 1 ({Date Range})
- **Sessions**: X therapy, Y journals
- **Primary themes**: Theme1, Theme2
- **Cognitive patterns**: Pattern1 (Nx), Pattern2 (Nx)
- **Mood trend**: {start} → {end}
- **Notable**: Key event or breakthrough

## Week 2 ({Date Range})
...

## Overall Trend
{Narrative summary of changes across the period}

Metrics Dashboard

For quantitative analysis:

# Progress Metrics: {Period}

## Cognitive Pattern Frequency
| Pattern | This Period | Previous | Trend |
|---------|-------------|----------|-------|
| Pattern1 | N | N | ↓/↑ X% |
| Pattern2 | N | N | ↓/↑ X% |

## Emotional Themes
| Theme | Frequency | Intensity (1-5) |
|-------|-----------|-----------------|
| Theme1 | N mentions | X.X avg |

## Session Stats
- Total sessions analyzed: N
- Therapy sessions: N
- Journal entries: N
- Date range: {start} to {end}

Milestone Report

For highlighting progress and breakthroughs:

# Milestones & Breakthroughs

## Recent Breakthroughs
1. **{Date}**: {Description}
2. **{Date}**: {Description}

## Growth Markers
- {Evidence of growth}
- {New skill or insight}

## Areas of Continued Focus
- {Area needing attention}
- {Ongoing challenge}

Session Comparison

For comparing specific sessions:

# Session Comparison

## Sessions Compared
- **Session A**: {name} ({date})
- **Session B**: {name} ({date})

## Key Differences

### Cognitive Patterns
| Pattern | Session A | Session B | Change |
|---------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| Pattern1 | Present/Absent | Present/Absent | Improved/Unchanged |

### Emotional Themes
**Session A**: Theme1, Theme2
**Session B**: Theme3, Theme4

### Notable Changes
- {Significant difference}
- {Growth observed}

## Summary
{Narrative comparing the two sessions}

Goal Progress Report

For tracking therapy goals:

# Goal Progress Report

## Goal: {Title}
**Status**: {In Progress / On Track / Needs Attention / Completed}
**Started**: {Date}
**Progress**: {X}% toward target

### Evidence of Progress
- {Specific evidence from sessions}
- {Metric or observation}

### Recent Examples
- {Date} session: {Example}
- {Date} journal: {Example}

### Next Steps
- {Recommended action}
- {Focus area}

---

## Goal: {Next Goal}
...

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Metric Extraction Guide

When reading analysis files, extract metrics as follows:

Counting Cognitive Patterns

Look for the "Cognitive Patterns Observed" section. Count each pattern mentioned:

• If pattern has "Frequency: recurring" or multiple evidence items → count as 2+
• Otherwise → count as 1

Tracking Emotional Themes

Look for the "Emotional Themes" section:

• Extract primary emotions listed
• Note any intensity indicators (words like "intense", "mild", "overwhelming")

Identifying Breakthroughs

Look for indicators of progress:

• "First time..." statements
• "Successfully..." statements
• "Recognized..." statements
• Items in "Key Insights" that show new understanding
• Positive changes noted in "Progress Notes"

Detecting Trends

Compare metrics across chronological sessions:

• Improving: Pattern count decreasing OR positive emotions increasing
• Stable: Minimal change (±10%)
• Needs attention: Pattern count increasing OR negative emotions intensifying

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Usage Examples

Weekly Check-in

"Generate my weekly progress report"

Claude will:

1. Find all analysis files from the past 7 days
2. Aggregate cognitive patterns and themes
3. Identify any breakthroughs
4. Generate a weekly summary report
5. Save to progress/YYYY-MM-DD-weekly-report.md

Monthly Review

"Monthly summary of my therapy progress"

Claude will:

1. Find all analysis files from the past 30 days
2. Generate metrics dashboard with trends
3. Compare to previous month if data exists
4. Highlight milestones and growth
5. Save to progress/YYYY-MM-monthly-report.md

Specific Pattern Tracking

"How has my catastrophizing changed over time?"

Claude will:

1. Search all analysis files for "catastrophizing"
2. Count occurrences per session
3. Generate timeline showing frequency trend
4. Note any related breakthroughs

Session Comparison

"Compare my first and most recent therapy sessions"

Claude will:

1. Identify oldest and newest analysis files
2. Read both completely
3. Extract comparable metrics
4. Generate side-by-side comparison
5. Highlight growth and changes

Goal Progress

"How am I progressing on my goals?"

Claude will:

1. Read goals.md from vault
2. For each active goal, search analysis files for evidence
3. Assess progress toward success criteria
4. Generate goal progress report with recommendations

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Output Location

Save progress reports to the progress/ folder (create if needed):

Naming conventions:

• Weekly: YYYY-MM-DD-weekly-report.md
• Monthly: YYYY-MM-monthly-report.md
• Quarterly: YYYY-QN-quarterly-report.md
• Comparisons: comparison-{session1}-vs-{session2}.md
• Goal reports: YYYY-MM-DD-goal-progress.md

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Notes

Handling Missing Data

If no analysis files exist:

• Suggest running the analyze skill first
• Offer to analyze raw transcripts/journals directly

If goals.md doesn't exist:

• Skip goal tracking section
• Suggest creating a goals file

Privacy

Progress reports contain aggregated personal insights. Store securely alongside analysis files.

Interpretation Guidance

When presenting progress:

• Focus on observable changes, not judgments
• Use encouraging but realistic language
• Note that progress isn't always linear
• Celebrate small wins while acknowledging ongoing challenges