timeline-generator
Generates a chronological timeline of key events, decisions, and flashpoints from a collection of documents. Use when asked to create a timeline, understand sequence of events, see what happened when, or track how a situation evolved over time.
When & Why to Use This Skill
The Timeline Generator is a powerful Claude skill designed to transform unstructured document collections into structured, chronological narratives. It excels at scanning multiple files to extract dates, key decisions, and pivotal flashpoints, providing users with a clear visual and textual map of how a situation, project, or event evolved over time. By identifying patterns and turning points, it turns information overload into actionable historical insights.
Use Cases
- Project Management: Reconstruct the history of a long-term project to track milestones, pivots, and decision-making processes across various meeting notes and memos.
- Legal and Compliance: Build an evidence-based timeline of events for audits, investigations, or case preparation by synthesizing information from disparate documents.
- Incident Response: Create a detailed post-mortem timeline by mapping out the exact sequence of technical failures and response actions during a system outage or security breach.
- Research and Analysis: Track the evolution of a specific topic, market trend, or news story by extracting chronological data points from a library of reports and articles.
| name | timeline-generator |
|---|---|
| description | Generates a chronological timeline of key events, decisions, and flashpoints from a collection of documents. Use when asked to create a timeline, understand sequence of events, see what happened when, or track how a situation evolved over time. |
Timeline Generator
Extracts dates and events from documents to create a chronological narrative.
When to Use
- User asks for a "timeline" of events
- User wants to understand "what happened when"
- User needs to see the sequence of decisions
- User wants to track evolution of a project or situation
Instructions
Phase 1: Extract Dates and Events
Scan all documents in the target folder
For each document, extract:
- Explicit dates mentioned
- Implicit timing ("last month", "Q2", "after the rollout")
- What happened at each date point
- Who was involved
- Significance
Categorize events by type:
- 📢 Announcements/Decisions
- 🚀 Launches/Deployments
- ⚠️ Problems/Concerns
- 💡 Proposals/Ideas
- 📊 Metrics/Results
- 🔄 Pivots/Changes
- 👥 People Events
Phase 2: Build the Timeline
- Sort chronologically
- Identify turning points - moments where direction changed
- Note gaps - periods with no documented activity
- Connect cause and effect - what led to what
Output Format
# Timeline: [Topic]
## Chronological Events
### [Year or Quarter]
| Date | Event | Type | Source |
|------|-------|------|--------|
| Jan 2025 | CEO announces AI initiative at Davos | 📢 | carla_post_davos_memo |
| Mar 2025 | EnterpriseAI rollout begins | 🚀 | enterpriseai_rollout |
### [Next Period]
...
## Turning Points
1. **[Date]: [Event]**
- What changed: [description]
- Triggered by: [cause]
- Led to: [consequence]
## Patterns Observed
- [Pattern 1]
- [Pattern 2]
## Gaps in the Record
- [Period with no documentation]
- [Questions about what happened between X and Y]
Tips
- Pay attention to the time between events—sometimes silence is significant
- Look for accelerations (things happening faster) or decelerations
- Note when the same person appears at multiple turning points
- Watch for events that happened simultaneously but might be connected