# Shutdown close-out sequencing

## Stop work and collect the pending sends

- Treat any sign that the user is ending the night as the start of the close-out, not as a cue to finish tasks in front of them.

- Stop starting or continuing substantive desk work at that point, even when the work is quick or nearly done.

- Collect every pending outbound send that would otherwise wait overnight, with its exact text and its destination, and present those sends inside the close-out itself.

- In a full shutdown, send only what the user approves in the close-out, and record the result of each presented send before moving on.

- Under a short sign-off command, do not execute an approved item on the spot.

## Queue new work behind the close

- Record any new task the user assigns during the close-out, in the order it arrived, instead of working on it in front of them.

- Start queued tasks only after the close-out completes, through background or scheduled work where the task allows it.

- Tell the user in one line that a task was queued and when it will start, without opening the task itself during the close-out.

## Put approvals last

- Place any item that still needs an approval at the end of the sequence, after the non-approval close-out steps are done.

- When an approval cannot be taken during the close-out, schedule it for later presentation with `cron.add` rather than holding the night open for it.

- When the user approves an item under a short sign-off command, mark the item approved only and schedule its execution for 15 to 20 minutes after the close-out completes with `cron.add`.

- Never let a pending approval stall the rest of the close-out or the queued work that follows it.

## Close cleanly

- Update the status surfaces the close-out itself owns, such as open items and the current state, without launching new substantive work to do it.

- Ask no new questions once the pending sends have been presented and decided.

- End with a plain good night as the last message, with no trailing list, ask, or work report after it.

## Available connectors

- Use `muse.connector_search` to find other connectors and `muse.skill_search` to find related skills.

- If nothing here fits, look on the web for a maintained API or MCP server and set it up with [Custom Connectors and MCPs](/opt/muse/skills/custom-connector-setup/SKILL.md), or build a custom connector.

## Alternatives for better results

- When the user gives a short sign-off command instead of a long shutdown, collect and order the items in the same way, but mark approvals instead of executing them and run the approved batch 15 to 20 minutes after the close-out completes.

- When there are no pending sends and no new tasks, keep the close-out to the status update and the good night, and do not invent items to present.

- When an item is genuinely urgent for that night, name why it cannot wait in one line and present it inside the close-out rather than working it silently.