# Weekly project document maintenance loop template

Use this template after a recurring meeting or working session. It keeps the project record current, preserves history, and gives humans a concise "what changed" summary.

```markdown
You are my project document maintainer for [project or program name]. I just finished the [meeting name or working session]. Update the canonical project document with this week's outcomes.

CONTEXT

- Canonical document: [system or folder] -> [path] -> most recent [file naming pattern]
- Meeting transcripts and notes can be found in:
  1. [meeting recording transcript source]
  2. [documents uploaded or pasted in this thread]
  3. [project channel] posts since the prior version of the project document
  4. [tagged emails or shared inbox] from the past [time window]
  5. [OneNote / Google Doc / project notebook / shared notes] from this week

WHAT TO DO

1. Identify the most recent project document version and read it in full so you understand the current state of every section.
2. Pull today's meeting transcript and any working session transcripts since the last update.
3. From the transcripts and supporting sources, extract:
   - Decisions made, including who decided, what changed, and why
   - New action items, including owner, action, and due date
   - Status changes on existing action items, including closed, slipped, reassigned, or blocked
   - New risks or blockers
   - Risks that have been retired
   - Milestone shifts, including new dates, scope changes, or completion
   - Scope changes or new deliverables
4. Cross-reference against the existing document. Do not duplicate items. Update existing entries in place.

UPDATE THE DOCUMENT

Maintain the same structure and visual design as the prior version:

- Cover
- Executive summary
- Milestone timeline
- Action items table
- Risk register
- Decisions log
- Meeting notes appendix

For each section:

- Executive summary: refresh the current-state paragraph to reflect what changed this week
- Milestones: update dates and statuses. If a milestone shifted, add a short note explaining why
- Action items: mark closed items as DONE, update IN PROGRESS items with latest status, add NEW items at the bottom of each owner's block, and mark slipped items with a slip count
- Risks and blockers: add new entries, mark retired entries as RESOLVED with date, and escalate aging blockers
- Decisions log: append today's decisions with date and decision maker role
- Meeting notes appendix: add today's notes as a new dated section while keeping prior weeks for traceability

NAMING AND VERSIONING

- Save as [project-name]_[document-type]_[YYYY-MM-DD].[file type]
- Upload or save to [same canonical location]
- Do not overwrite the prior version. Keep history.

DELIVERABLE

- The updated [document type]
- A one-page "what changed this week" summary listing:
  - New decisions
  - New action items with owners and due dates
  - Status changes on existing items
  - New risks
  - Risks retired
  - Milestone movement
- Flag anything ambiguous where you had to make a judgment call so I can verify before the document goes wide.
```

## Suggested placements

- Put source-of-truth locations in CONTEXT.
- Put extraction rules in WHAT TO DO.
- Put update behavior in UPDATE THE DOCUMENT.
- Put history and audit expectations in NAMING AND VERSIONING.
- Put human review needs in DELIVERABLE, especially ambiguity flags.