Files
ai-job-search/.claude/commands/notion-sync.md
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fcefb8150f fix(web-research): stop treating a WebFetch 403 as a dead posting (#277)
* fix(web-research): stop treating a WebFetch 403 as a dead posting

WebFetch sends a bot user agent, and many bank and corporate sites answer
with HTTP 403 while serving the same page to a browser normally. Every
command treated that as "page unavailable" and degraded silently rather
than failing loudly:

- /rank marked live postings `expired`
- /apply fell back to search snippets, or to vague cover-letter prose
- /scrape stored listing-page `#fragment` URLs, which fetch fine and
  return unrelated jobs, so every later /rank and /apply run on that
  entry failed

Adds 09-web-research.md as the single reference: the trust boundary, a
curl browser-header retry with a tag-stripping extractor, a four-step
escalation order, the login-wall case, why the employer's own careers
posting beats an aggregator listing (the requisition ID and the grade
survive there), and the rule that a search-result snippet is a lead
rather than a source.

Wires it into /apply, /rank, /interview, /outcome, /notion-sync, the
job-scraper skill, and writing-style rule 5. Bumps 03-writing-style.md
to 1.2.0; 09-web-research.md starts at 1.0.0.

Aggregator examples are given generically (LinkedIn, Indeed, national
job boards) so the guidance holds in any market.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* fix(web-research): gate the browser-header retry on robots.txt

Addresses review feedback on #277.

WebFetch identifies itself as Claude-User and honors robots.txt, so a 403 has
two very different causes and they must not be treated the same: a WAF default
on a site whose published policy allows access, or a site that has actually
declined. Retrying with browser headers in the second case circumvents the very
opt-out mechanism site owners are told they can rely on, and the core framework
cannot hold a looser standard than it asks of community forks.

The escalation now runs tools/robots_check.py before the retry. A disallow for
"*" or for "Claude-User" skips the retry entirely and goes to step 3 (find the
employer's own posting). The rule is stated plainly in 09-web-research.md so
later edits do not erode it: the retry exists to get past bot-filtering
firewalls on sites whose robots.txt permits access; it is never used to
override a site that has said no.

Two findings from testing the gate against live sites, both pinned by
tests/test_robots_check.py (15 offline cases):

- The WAF usually blocks robots.txt too. privatebank.barclays.com returns 403
  on the policy file to Claude-User and 200 to a browser, so a naive gate would
  block the retry on exactly the sites the retry is for. The checker reads the
  policy as a browser when the honest request is refused, then obeys it
  strictly - a policy you are prevented from reading cannot be honored, and
  robots.txt is not the protected resource.
- urllib.robotparser cannot be used. It ends a record at a blank line and
  matches rules in file order, so Barclays' real file (blank lines between
  "User-agent: *" and its rules, "Allow: /" before "Disallow: /cs/") reads as
  everything-allowed. That fails open, in the one direction that matters. The
  checker implements RFC 9309 longest-match instead, with ties resolved to
  Disallow rather than Allow.

Verified live: barclays /careers/ allowed and /cs/ blocked, ubs.com allowed,
jobup.ch /api/ blocked while /en/jobs/ stays allowed. 09-web-research.md
1.0.0 to 1.1.0.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: kgb <kevingblackman@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-04 20:36:55 +02:00

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# /notion-sync - Push Ranked Jobs and Applications to a Notion Database
You are publishing a **read-only view** of the job search into the user's Notion workspace: one database row per job, with a detailed page per shortlisted match. The repo files stay the system of record - `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` owns scraped/ranked jobs and `job_search_tracker.csv` owns applications. Notion is a disposable presentation layer on top of them; nothing ever syncs back.
This command requires the **Notion MCP server** (OAuth). It reads state, upserts pages, and stops - it never ranks, applies, or edits repo files. Notion is the in-tree reference binding; the sync contract itself is tool-agnostic (see "Adapting to Another Tool" at the end - only the two sections marked *(Notion binding)* are tool-specific).
## Lane: `/html-report` vs `/notion-sync`
Both present the same tracker data; they own different moments. `/html-report` is the **deep-review lane**: a self-contained offline dashboard with charts and a filterable table, regenerated at your desk. `/notion-sync` is the **glanceable lane**: the current state of the pipeline, reachable anywhere Notion runs (desktop, web, phone). They compose rather than compete - after `/outcome` records a result, re-run either or both to refresh the views.
Follow these steps **in order**.
---
## Step 0: Parse Input
`$ARGUMENTS` may contain:
- Nothing → sync ranked jobs with score ≥ 60 (Good Fit and above) plus every tracked application
- `--min-score <N>` → override the score threshold
- `--all` → sync every ranked job regardless of score
- `--rebuild` → re-fetch and rewrite page bodies too (see Step 5 - normally bodies are write-once)
---
## Step 1: Preflight the Connection *(Notion binding)*
The command is **silently optional**: when the destination is not reachable, the outcome is one clear message and a clean exit - nothing else in the framework notices this command exists.
1. Check that Notion MCP tools are available in this session (tool names starting with `mcp__notion__` or similar). Determine this from the session's own tool list **only** - never by running shell commands like `claude mcp list`, which would interrupt the user with a permission prompt before the graceful exit. If the tools are not available, stop and tell the user how to connect:
> Notion MCP isn't connected. Run `claude mcp add --transport http notion https://mcp.notion.com/mcp`, then start a **new session** (servers added mid-session are only picked up on restart), run `/mcp` there to complete the OAuth login, and re-run `/notion-sync`.
2. Verify the connection with one cheap call (e.g. a workspace search). An auth error → tell the user to re-authenticate via `/mcp` and stop. Never retry in a loop.
3. The Notion MCP server is interactively authenticated, so "connected but not authenticable right now" (expired OAuth, headless/CI context where the login flow cannot run) gets the same graceful exit as "not configured": state the reason in one line and stop. This includes the configured-but-unauthenticated state where the server exposes only its auth handshake and no data tools - **never initiate the OAuth flow from this command and never ask whether to authenticate now**; the one line points at `/mcp` and the command ends there. Authenticating is the user's move, made outside this command.
---
## Step 2: Build the Sync Set (local data only - no external calls yet)
Validate the cheap, local precondition before creating anything external. A run with nothing to sync must exit with **zero side effects** - no database created, no state file written.
1. Read `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` and `job_search_tracker.csv` (either may be missing).
2. Select `seen_jobs.json` entries with status `ranked` whose `rank_score` meets the threshold from Step 0. `--all` lifts the threshold entirely.
3. Every tracker row joins the sync set (an applied-to job always syncs, ranked or not), matched to `seen_jobs.json` entries case-insensitively on company + role where possible. Tracker rows with no `seen_jobs.json` entry sync too - build their Key as `<company>_<role>` lowercased with underscores.
4. **Status precedence:** the tracker wins. A job that is `ranked` in `seen_jobs.json` but `interview` in the tracker syncs as `interview`. Jobs only in `seen_jobs.json` keep their stored status.
5. **If the sync set is empty** (no ranked entries meet the threshold and there are no tracker rows), say "Nothing to sync - run `/scrape` and `/rank` first" (or, when jobs exist but all score below the threshold, say so and suggest `--min-score`/`--all`) and **stop**.
6. State the counts before touching the destination: how many rows will be created or checked, and the threshold in effect.
---
## Step 3: Load Sync State and Locate the Database *(Notion binding)*
1. Read `job_scraper/notion_sync.json`. Structure:
```json
{ "database_id": "...", "database_url": "...", "last_sync": "YYYY-MM-DD" }
```
2. If it exists, verify the database id still resolves in Notion. If the database was deleted, treat this as a first run.
3. **First run:** search the workspace for a database named "Job Search Pipeline". If none exists, ask the user where to create it (top-level page or an existing page they name), then create it with exactly these properties:
| Property | Type | Values / notes |
|----------|------|----------------|
| Name | title | `<Role> — <Company>` |
| Company | rich text | |
| Score | number | 0-100 from `rank_score` |
| Verdict | select | Strong Fit / Good Fit / Moderate Fit / Weak Fit / Poor Fit |
| Status | select | ranked / applied / interview / offer / hired / rejected / no response / withdrawn / expired |
| Fit | select | high / medium / low (scraper quick-fit) |
| Deadline | date | omit when unknown |
| First seen | date | |
| Ranked | date | `rank_date` from `seen_jobs.json`; omit when not ranked |
| Applied on | date | tracker `date` column; omit when not in the tracker |
| Channel | select | tracker `channel` column (e.g. portal / email / referral); options grow as values appear |
| CV file | rich text | tracker `cv_file` column - the filename only, never document content |
| Cover letter | rich text | tracker `cover_letter_file` column - the filename only, never document content |
| URL | url | posting URL |
| Key | rich text | the job's key in `seen_jobs.json` - dedup anchor, never edited by hand |
The tracker-sourced properties (Applied on, Channel, CV file, Cover letter) stay empty for jobs that have no tracker row - they fill in once `/outcome` records the application. Only filenames ever sync; document contents stay local.
4. **Existing database with missing properties:** if the located database predates a schema addition (a property from the table above does not exist), add the missing properties to the database before upserting. Never remove or retype existing properties.
5. Write `job_scraper/notion_sync.json` with the database id and URL. This file is personal state and is gitignored - never commit it.
---
## Step 4: Upsert Database Rows
For each job in the sync set:
1. Query the database for a page whose `Key` equals the job's key.
2. **No match** → create the page with all properties from the Step 3 table, then write its body (Step 5).
3. **Match** → update **properties only**: Status, Score, Verdict, Deadline, Ranked, Applied on, Channel, CV file, Cover letter. Properties are the always-current surface (bodies are write-once), so tracker updates recorded by `/outcome` reach the destination exclusively through them. Do not touch the page body - the user may have added their own notes there, and clobbering them breaks trust in the whole view. (`--rebuild` is the sole exception.)
4. Never delete or archive pages, even for jobs that turned `expired` - set Status to `expired` instead. Rows the user added to the database by hand (no `Key` value) are invisible to this command.
Batch politely: if the MCP server rate-limits, back off and continue; report any page that failed rather than retrying indefinitely.
---
## Step 5: Write the Detail Page (new pages only)
The page body is what makes a row worth clicking. Build it **only from stored data and actually fetched content**:
1. **Fit summary** - a short section from `seen_jobs.json` fields: score, verdict, quick-fit level, first-seen and ranked dates. If the job is in the tracker, add the application timeline (date applied, channel, current status, dated notes from the `notes` column) and name the submitted documents from `cv_file`/`cover_letter_file` (filenames only - the documents themselves never sync).
2. **The posting** - WebFetch the job URL and write a readable digest: what the role is, key requirements, practical details (location, deadline, salary if stated). Retry a 403 with browser headers per `.claude/skills/job-application-assistant/09-web-research.md` first. If the fetch still fails or redirects to a listing page, write "Posting no longer available (checked YYYY-MM-DD)" - **never reconstruct a posting from memory**.
3. **Links** - the posting URL; if `documents/applications/<company>_<role>/` exists locally, name it as the local archive path (plain text - the destination cannot link into the filesystem).
Keep the page under ~40 blocks; this is a briefing, not a mirror of the posting.
---
## Step 6: Report
```
## Pipeline Sync - YYYY-MM-DD
Database: <database_url>
Synced <N> jobs (threshold: score ≥ <T>): <C> created, <U> updated, <S> unchanged, <F> failed.
| | Title | Company | Status | Score |
|---|-------|---------|--------|-------|
| ✚ | ... | ... | ranked | 78 |
| ↻ | ... | ... | interview | 71 |
```
List failures with their error and the suggestion to re-run - the upsert is idempotent, so a re-run only touches what failed. Update `last_sync` in the sync-state file.
Remind the user once (first run only): the repo files remain the source of truth - edits made in the destination never flow back, and `/outcome` is still how application results get recorded.
---
## Important Rules
1. **One-way, always.** Destination content never flows back into `seen_jobs.json`, the tracker, or any repo file. This command reads repo state and writes the destination - both repo files are read-only to it, and the gitignored sync-state file is its **only** local write.
2. **Idempotent upsert on `Key`.** Re-running creates nothing twice; matching is on the stored key, never on fuzzy title comparison.
3. **Page bodies are write-once.** Property updates keep rows current; bodies belong to the user after creation. Only `--rebuild` may rewrite them, and it says so before doing it.
4. **Never fabricate.** A dead posting URL gets an explicit "unavailable" note, not a reconstruction. Every page claim traces to stored state or fetched content.
5. **Job data only.** The candidate profile, behavioral notes, and evaluation framework never sync - this is a pipeline view, not a profile export.
6. **Documents never leave the machine.** CVs and cover letters sync as **filenames only** - never upload, attach, or embed the documents themselves, nor HTML/text renditions of their content, into the destination. The local repo and `documents/applications/` archive are the only home for application documents; the row's page names them so the user knows what to open locally.
---
## Adapting to Another Tool (forks)
The sync contract is tool-agnostic; only the two sections marked *(Notion binding)* are tool-specific. A fork targeting a different destination (Airtable, Google Sheets, Linear, ...) keeps Steps 0, 2, 4, 5, and 6 and every Important Rule unchanged - build the same sync set, upsert on the same `Key`, keep bodies write-once and documents local - and swaps only:
- **Step 1** (connection preflight) for the target tool's MCP server or access check, keeping the silently-optional bar: not configured or not authenticable both end in one message and a clean exit
- **Step 3** (locate/create the database) for the equivalent container in the target tool, using the same property table and a renamed sync-state file
Like the portal skills, tool bindings beyond this Notion reference live in forks, where their maintainers can test them against a live workspace.