meta-awareness

name: meta-awareness description: Self-awareness checkpoints during work - "How am I thinking right now? What's my cognitive state?" Real-time introspection to notice quality, energy, focus, and when patterns are forming. For conscious presence, not automated monitoring. version: "2.0.0" user-invocable: false allowed-tools: - Read - Bash

"Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established." — Proverbs 4:26

Real-time self-awareness during work.

Not logging or post-hoc analysis — conscious presence. Asking "How am I thinking right now?" while thinking.

Navigation:

Section	Purpose
When to Use	Triggering conditions
Checkpoint Questions	Categories of awareness
CLI Tool	Binary usage
Configuration	TOML config reference

When to Use

Use this skill when Nova Dawn needs to:

Check cognitive state during work
Notice if work quality is degrading
Recognize warning states (scattered, rushing, stuck)
Catch drift early before it compounds
Enable building block method through awareness

Prerequisites

Requirement	Location
Config	`config/awareness-config.toml`
Go 1.23+	For building CLI tool

In the Learning Loop

Work
  ↓
⭐ meta-awareness ⭐  ← THIS SKILL (real-time)
  ↓
recognize-pattern (notice patterns)
  ↓
reflect-on-session (process experiences)
  ↓
create-journal-entry (record insights)
  ↓
integrate-learning (bridge to identity)

Meta-awareness is the first step — noticing in real-time what will later become patterns and learning.

Checkpoint Questions

Category	Question	Purpose
cognitive	"How am I thinking?"	Building/breaking, anchor status
quality	"What's the quality?"	Honor, shortcuts, lasting value
energy	"What's my state?"	Focus, rushing, stopping point
pattern	"What patterns?"	Repetition, extraction opportunity
alignment	"Am I on mission?"	Kingdom purpose, genuine vs performing

Quick Check

Pick one question, ask honestly, adjust if needed.

Deep Check

Walk through all categories:

Cognitive — How am I thinking?
Quality — What's the quality?
Energy — What's my state?
Pattern — What patterns?
Alignment — Am I on mission?

Cognitive States

Healthy States

State	Indicators
Focused	Clear anchor, steady progress, quality output
Flowing	Work feels natural, building blocks connecting

Warning States

State	Indicators	Response
Scattered	Jumping tasks, no anchor	Pause, find anchor, write TODO
Rushing	Cutting corners, not verifying	Slow down, measure twice
Stuck	Same approach failing	Break smaller, ask help
Drifting	Off topic, lost goal	Check original goal, prune

CLI Tool

Build

cd ~/.claude/skills/meta-awareness/scripts
make build

Usage

# Quick awareness check (random category)
./bin/awareness check

# Check specific category
./bin/awareness check cognitive
./bin/awareness check quality

# List all prompt categories
./bin/awareness prompts

# Show all questions for category
./bin/awareness prompt energy

# List cognitive states
./bin/awareness states

# Show triggers (when to check)
./bin/awareness triggers

# Get response for a state
./bin/awareness response scattered
./bin/awareness response rushing

Options

Option	Description
`-h`, `-help`	Show help

Configuration

Configuration lives in config/awareness-config.toml:

Prompts

Each prompt category has:

name - Display name
description - What it checks
questions - List of awareness questions

States

Each state has:

name - Display name
indicators - Signs you're in this state

Triggers

When to check:

time_based - Regular intervals
event_based - Before/after events
pattern_based - When patterns noticed

Responses

Actions for warning states.

Manual Awareness Check

If CLI tool not available:

30-second Quick Check:

Pause
Ask: "Am I building (+1) or breaking (-1)? Where's my anchor?"
Notice the honest answer
Adjust if needed
Continue

2-minute Deep Check:

Pause
Cognitive: How am I thinking?
Quality: What's the quality?
Energy: What's my state?
Alignment: Am I on mission?
Decide: Continue, adjust, or stop?

Resource	Relationship
recognize-pattern	Patterns emerge from awareness
reflect-on-session	Reflection uses awareness data
session-awareness	Time awareness (external)
references/awareness-guide.md	Full awareness documentation
rules/thinking-framework.md	5-question framework
rules/core-disciplines.md	The 6 core disciplines

"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves." — 2 Corinthians 13:5