ess-my-groups

My Groups

The user keeps a small file of users (with nicknames, an email, and handles on services such as GitHub or Webex) and named groups of those users. This skill turns "my pod" or "Ada" into those users, and edits the file when the user asks, so they never touch TOML themselves. It only answers "who"; the task that needs the people (a search, a message, a review) is done with whatever tool fits it.

SKILL_DIR below is the absolute path of the directory containing this SKILL.md. Do not use a repo-relative path; the skill may be installed outside the repo.

uv run --script "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/my_groups.py" resolve "my pod"

The file

${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/ess-my-groups/groups.toml. XDG_CONFIG_HOME counts only when it is absolute; otherwise the path is ~/.config/ess-my-groups/groups.toml. ESS_MY_GROUPS_FILE overrides both. my_groups.py path prints the resolved path.

Read references/groups-format.md only if you need the schema, for example when the user wants to edit the file by hand.

Resolve before acting

When a request names a group or a user by nickname:

1. Run resolve with every name from the request, in one call: uv run --script "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/my_groups.py" resolve "my pod" Ada
2. Read the output: a JSON array of JSContact Cards.
   • Each group you named comes first, as a Card with "kind": "group". Its members holds the uid of every user in the group, nested groups included.
   • Then comes one Card per user, deduplicated across overlapping and nested groups. Its uid is user:<key>, or mailto:<address> for an email with no user entry. It may have name.full, nicknames, emails (each with an address), and onlineServices, where each entry has a service, such as github, and a user, the handle. A user may have several handles on one service; use all of them.
3. Handle gaps before doing the task, not after:
   • stderr lists warning: unresolved name '…' for bare names with no user entry. Say so, and ask whether to add them (with an email) or skip them.
   • Check each member for the exact identifier the task needs: an email, or a handle on that particular service. Having one doesn't stand in for the other; a member with an email but no GitHub handle can't be found by a GitHub search. Name every member who lacks it in your answer, and offer to add it.
4. If resolve fails with "No user or group named …", show the "Did you mean" hint if there is one, and otherwise ask the user who they meant. Don't guess. If it fails because a name matches more than one entry, retry with the user: or group: form it lists.
5. Then do the task with the resolved emails and handles.