# Application Tracker > >- - **Type:** Skill - **Install:** `agentstack add skill-bydeng01-phd-application-skill-application-tracker` - **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior - **Seller:** [bydeng01](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/bydeng01) - **Installs:** 0 - **Category:** [AI & ML](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/ai-and-ml) - **Latest version:** 0.1.0 - **License:** MIT - **Upstream author:** [bydeng01](https://github.com/bydeng01) - **Source:** https://github.com/bydeng01/phd-application-skill/tree/main/skills/application-tracker ## Install ```sh agentstack add skill-bydeng01-phd-application-skill-application-tracker ``` Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent. ## About # Application tracker A PhD applicant is running many parallel processes — different deadlines, document checklists, and pending replies across a dozen labs — and the failure mode is silent: a missed deadline or a follow-up that never happened costs an entire opportunity. This skill is the applicant's air-traffic control. Its value is *surfacing* the few things that need action now out of a mass of state, accurately, so nothing winnable slips. ## What you produce An updated set of `status.md` files plus a concise **action digest** for the user: what's overdue, what's due soon, what's missing, and what's waiting on someone else. Accuracy and prioritization matter more than completeness — a digest that buries the one urgent deadline under thirty lines of "no action needed" has failed. ## Step 1 — Gather state Read every `knowledge-base/applications/*/status.md` (the `stage`, `deadline`, `priority`, checklist, and timeline) and the `knowledge-base/interactions/*.md` logs (what was sent, when, and any `Follow-up due` dates). Determine today's date with the shell rather than assuming it — overdue/upcoming calculations depend on it. ## Step 2 — Compute what needs attention Sort everything into a small number of action buckets, ordered by urgency: - **Overdue** — a passed application deadline still marked unsubmitted, or a `Follow-up due` date in the past with status still "awaiting reply". These are the headline items. - **Due soon** — deadlines or follow-ups within the next ~14 days. Show the date and the days remaining so urgency is legible. - **Missing documents** — checklist items still pending for applications whose deadline is approaching (transcripts, letters, writing samples, test scores). Surface these early because documents like recommendation letters have their own lead time. - **Waiting on others** — sent emails or submitted applications where the ball is in the professor's or committee's court; note when a polite follow-up becomes appropriate. - **No action needed** — everything else, summarized in a single line, not enumerated. For follow-up timing, respect the dates logged by **outreach-email**; a cold email typically warrants a follow-up ~2 weeks out, and only one or two follow-ups before moving on. ## Step 3 — Update the records Where the state has clearly changed, update the `status.md` files: advance `stage`, tick completed checklist items, correct deadlines you've confirmed. Keep edits faithful to what you actually know — don't mark something submitted on assumption. If you change a record, note it so the user can see what moved. ## Step 4 — Deliver the digest Lead with the action buckets, most urgent first. Be specific and scannable: ```markdown ## PhD application status — ### ⚠ Overdue / act now - : follow-up to Prof X is 5 days overdue (emailed , no reply) → send follow-up - ... ### Due within 14 days - : application deadline (in 9 days); still missing: writing sample ### Waiting on others - : submitted ; committee decisions typically ### On track - 6 other applications, nothing due in the next two weeks. ``` End with a short recommended next-action list tied to the urgent items (e.g. "draft the overdue follow-up to Prof X" → hand to **outreach-email**; "request the missing transcript"). ## Step 5 — Offer recurring tracking Staying on top of deadlines is inherently recurring, and the whole point is to catch things *before* they're missed. Offer to set up a scheduled task (e.g. a Monday-morning digest) that re-runs this check and surfaces only what needs action that week. Many applicants don't realize this can run automatically. ## Guardrails Never invent or guess a deadline or a status — an applicant who relies on a fabricated date is worse off than one who knows the date is unconfirmed. When a date or requirement is unverified, say so and flag it for the user to confirm at the source. Don't auto-send follow-ups; surface that one is due and hand the drafting to outreach-email for the user to review and send. ## Source & license This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code. - **Author:** [bydeng01](https://github.com/bydeng01) - **Source:** [bydeng01/phd-application-skill](https://github.com/bydeng01/phd-application-skill) - **License:** MIT Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above. ## Pricing - **Free** — Free ## Security capabilities Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access: - **Network access:** no - **Filesystem access:** no - **Shell / process execution:** no - **Environment & secrets:** no - **Dynamic code execution:** no *"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.* ## Versions - **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source. ## Links - Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-bydeng01-phd-application-skill-application-tracker - Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/bydeng01 - Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse --- Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.