channel-hygiene

Channel Hygiene Skill

Chat workspaces sprawl by entropy: a channel per whim, three channels where one topic lives, dead projects' channels haunting the sidebar, and every question answered with "wasn't that discussed somewhere?" Hygiene is structural: one purpose per channel (stated in the topic line), a naming scheme that sorts and signals (#proj-, #team-, #help-), an archive pass for the dead (archiving is free and reversible — the fear is misplaced), and posting norms that keep conversations findable — threads for discussions, @-mentions priced honestly, urgency signaled by convention instead of ALL CAPS hope.

What This Skill Produces

• The channel audit — every channel: purpose (stated or guessed), last-activity, overlap verdicts
• The map and naming scheme — the prefix taxonomy, the one-purpose rule, topic lines written
• The norms card — threads, @-discipline, urgency signals, and where-to-post routing — one screen, pinned
• The archive pass — the dead and duplicated archived, with the it's-reversible announcement

Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:

• The channel census — the list with member counts and last-activity (export or eyeball); the audit works on inventory, not impressions
• The recurring confusions — where do announcements go? Why are there three design channels? The map answers the actual questions
• The platform's mechanics — archiving behavior, thread culture, the tools available (channel descriptions, pinned posts) — norms use what exists
• The team's @-pain — is @-channel abused? Are DMs swallowing team knowledge? The norms card weights by symptom

Framework: The Hygiene Rules

1. One purpose, stated in the topic: every surviving channel's topic line completes "post here for ___" — channels that need "and" in that sentence are two channels; channels where nobody can complete it are archive candidates. The topic line is the routing card at the point of confusion.
2. Prefixes are navigation: #team- (a group's home), #proj- (temporary, archived at ship — the expiry is the point), #help- (questions, threaded), #ann- (announcements, restricted posting, no discussion) — the sidebar becomes a sorted map, and new-channel creation inherits the scheme's discipline.
3. Archive without fear, loudly: channels dead >90 days get archived with the announcement stating the two facts that kill the objections: archives are searchable and un-archiving takes one click. Duplicated topics merge into the survivor with a pointer post. The sidebar halving is the visible win that funds the norms' adoption.
4. Threads keep channels skimmable: discussions thread; the channel surface stays scannable headlines. The norm is stated positively ("thread replies so the channel stays skimmable") and modeled by the leads — thread culture is caught, not decreed.
5. @-signals are priced, urgency is explicit: @-channel = "everyone must see this today" (rare by definition) · @-person = "you specifically, action expected" · no-@ = ambient. Urgent-and-blocking gets its stated convention (the 🔴 prefix, the #help-urgent lane — whatever's chosen, it's written), because unpriced attention signals inflate until everyone mutes everything — and DMs about team topics get the gentle norm: ask in the channel, so the answer compounds ([faq-builder](../faq-builder/SKILL.md) feeds on this).

Output Format

Channel Hygiene: [workspace] — [N] channels → [M]

The Audit

| Channel | Purpose (topic-line test) | Last active | Verdict |

|---|---|---|---|

The Map + Scheme

[Prefix taxonomy · surviving channels with written topic lines · the new-channel rule]

The Norms Card (pin this)

[Threads · @-pricing · the urgency convention · where-to-post routing · the ask-in-channel-not-DM nudge]

The Archive Pass

[The list · the merge pointers · the announcement with the two fear-killers]

Quality Checks

• [ ] Every surviving channel passes the topic-line test
• [ ] The prefix scheme covers team/project/help/announce with project expiry noted
• [ ] The archive announcement states searchable + reversible
• [ ] The norms card fits one screen and is pinned where confusion happens
• [ ] @-signals and the urgency convention are written, not folklore

Anti-Patterns

• [ ] Do not audit by memory — the census with last-activity dates is the ground truth
• [ ] Do not delete when archiving exists — reversibility is what makes the pass politically free
• [ ] Do not create channels per mood — the naming scheme is the door, and the door has a test
• [ ] Do not let announcements and discussion share a channel — the restricted #ann- lane exists so the signal survives
• [ ] Do not decree thread culture — leads model it for two weeks and it installs itself