Application Manager

When to Use This Skill

Trigger when the user asks to:

• Sync or refresh job application emails from Gmail ("sync my applications", "check my job emails", "refresh my tracker")
• Update the status of one or more specific applications ("mark Amazon as rejected", "I got an offer from Stripe", "update my application status")
• Add new applications discovered in Gmail ("add this application to my tracker", "log this job email")
• Check what emails arrived from a specific company ("did Google email me back?", "any updates from Meta?")
• Track offers, rejections, or interview invitations automatically ("did I hear back from anyone?", "what's my interview pipeline?")
• Sync applications into Notion ("add to my Notion tracker", "update my Notion job board")
• Sync applications into a local SQLite database ("add to my sqlite tracker", "update my local tracker")
• Export or review their full application pipeline ("show my application pipeline", "what's the status of all my applications?")
• Update a specific company's page with conversation details, contacts, or prep notes
• Flag stale applications that haven't had activity in 30+ days ("what's gone quiet?", "flag stale apps", "what needs follow-up?")
• Re-enrich all existing Notion pages with timeline, contacts, and prep notes ("re-enrich all pages", "update all pages", "add prep notes to all my applications")

Keywords: sync applications, update my application, job tracker, application status, add to notion, update notion, check my tracker, update my sqlite tracker, got an offer, got rejected, interview invite, job emails, Gmail job sync, career tracker, application manager, track job applications

Setup (first-time use)

Always read profile.md first. It contains the user's tracker backend choice, Notion database ID or SQLite path, Gmail label IDs, and career email.

Resolve these fields before continuing (collect from user + write back to profile.md):

1. Tracker backend — Integrations > Tracker Backend

   • If blank: ask the user — "Do you use Notion or would you prefer a local SQLite file?"
   • Set to notion or sqlite

2. If notion — resolve Integrations > Notion > Career tracker database ID

   • If missing: ask user to open their Notion career tracker and copy the URL. The ID is the UUID in notion.so/<workspace>/<DATABASE_ID>?v=...
   • Derive: NOTION_DB_ID, COLLECTION_URL = collection://<NOTION_DB_ID>

3. If sqlite — resolve Integrations > Tracker Backend > SQLite DB path

   • Default: ~/.offerplus/applications.db
   • On first use, initialize the DB: swelist tracker init --db <path> Or directly: sqlite3 <path> "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS applications (name TEXT PRIMARY KEY, status TEXT NOT NULL, job_id TEXT, applied_on TEXT, notes TEXT, updated_at TEXT DEFAULT (datetime('now')));"

4. Gmail label IDs — Integrations > Gmail Labels table

   • If missing: run mcp__claude_ai_Gmail__list_labels, show the list, ask the user which labels are job-related, fill in the table in profile.md.

5. Career email — Personal Info > Career email

   • If missing: ask the user which email address receives job application emails.

Config: Company → Gmail

Populate from the user's own labels (mcp__claude_ai_Gmail__list_labels):

Add rows for any other companies the user has labeled. If no labels exist, rely on sender pattern alone.

Config: Status Mapping

Map email signals → pipeline status value (pick the first match). The pipeline is ordered from early to late stage; never move a status backwards.

If multiple threads exist for the same role, use the most recent email's status.

Config: Next Action Mapping

Auto-set Next action when creating or updating a Notion page:

Config: Link Extraction

Scan the full email body (not just the snippet) for ATS application URLs. Use the first match from the priority list; stop once found.

Rules:

• Strip tracking parameters (?gh_src=, ?utm_*, etc.) before saving.
• If multiple ATS URLs found in one email, prefer the one matching the priority list first.
• If no ATS URL found, set link = null; do not write the field.
• Never fabricate or guess URLs.

Config: Tag Inference

Infer Tags values from the email body using these rules (all case-insensitive). Only write tags that already exist in the Notion Tags options list — check first, omit if not present.

Present inferred tags to the user before writing when running interactively:

"Inferred tags: [Referral, Remote] — write to Notion? (y/n/edit)"

When running non-interactively (bulk sync), write them silently and note in the report.

Config: Company Aliases

Used in Step 3 to match email-extracted company names against existing tracker entries. Check aliases before running edit-distance; aliases are authoritative.

Add rows to this table whenever the user encounters a new company variant and confirms a merge. Write updated rows back to profile.md under a Company Aliases table so they persist across runs.

Edit-distance fallback (when no alias matches):

FUNCTION fuzzy_match(extracted_name, existing_names[]):
  candidates = []
  FOR each existing_name in existing_names:
    dist = levenshtein(extracted_name.lower(), existing_name.lower())
    IF dist <= 2 OR one_is_prefix_of_other(extracted_name, existing_name):
      candidates.append((existing_name, dist))
  RETURN sorted(candidates, by=dist)[:3]   # top 3 closest

If candidates found: present to user — "Found similar entry: '{existing}'. Is this the same company as '{extracted}'? (y/n)"

• Yes → use existing page; write alias to profile.md for future runs
• No → treat as new company; create new row

Config: Notion Database

(skip if tracker_backend is sqlite)

Expected schema (updated pipeline schema):

If the database still uses the old schema (status values Not started, In progress, Done instead of the pipeline above), notify the user and map as follows until they upgrade:

Config: SQLite Schema

(skip if tracker_backend is notion)

Current (v0.5.0) schema:

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS applications (
  name           TEXT PRIMARY KEY,   -- "Company — Role Title"
  status         TEXT NOT NULL,      -- pipeline status (see Status Mapping)
  job_id         TEXT,
  company        TEXT,
  applied_on     TEXT,               -- ISO date YYYY-MM-DD
  last_touch     TEXT,               -- ISO date of most recent email
  interview_date TEXT,               -- ISO date of next scheduled interview
  next_action    TEXT,               -- Waiting | Prep | Follow up | Send availability
  link           TEXT,               -- job posting or portal URL (ATS-extracted)
  tags           TEXT,               -- comma-separated inferred tags e.g. "Referral,Remote"
  notes          TEXT,
  updated_at     TEXT DEFAULT (datetime('now'))
);

Migration from v0.2.x (run once if the DB already exists):

ALTER TABLE applications ADD COLUMN company        TEXT;
ALTER TABLE applications ADD COLUMN last_touch     TEXT;
ALTER TABLE applications ADD COLUMN interview_date TEXT;
ALTER TABLE applications ADD COLUMN next_action    TEXT;
ALTER TABLE applications ADD COLUMN link           TEXT;
ALTER TABLE applications ADD COLUMN tags           TEXT;

Run via: sqlite3 <DB_PATH> < migration.sql Or inline: sqlite3 ~/.offerplus/applications.db "ALTER TABLE applications ADD COLUMN last_touch TEXT; ..."

At Step 0, check whether last_touch column exists (PRAGMA table_info(applications)) and run the migration automatically if not.

Workflow

INPUT: company (optional), date_range (default: newer_than:6m)

STEP 0  Load profile
  Read profile.md → extract tracker_backend, CAREER_EMAIL, label table
  IF tracker_backend == "notion":  resolve NOTION_DB_ID, COLLECTION_URL
  IF tracker_backend == "sqlite":
    resolve DB_PATH; run init if DB does not exist
    check PRAGMA table_info(applications) for last_touch column
    IF missing: run migration SQL (see Config: SQLite Schema)
  IF any required field blank: collect from user → write to profile.md → continue
  IF company given AND not in label table:
    run list_labels → confirm with user → append to profile.md label table

STEP 1  Search Gmail
  IF company given:
    query = build_query(company)          # see Query Builder below
  ELSE:
    query = 'subject:"application" OR subject:"your application" OR subject:"interview" newer_than:6m'
  threads = gmail_search(query, max_results=20)
  FOR each thread WHERE snippet is ambiguous:
    fetch full thread via gmail_get_thread(thread_id)

STEP 2  Parse threads → applications[]
  FOR each thread:
    company_name   = extract_company(thread)
    role_title     = extract_role(thread)
    status         = map_status(thread)         # use Status Mapping table above
    next_action    = map_next_action(status)    # use Next Action Mapping table above
    date           = most_recent_message_date(thread)
    applied_date   = earliest_message_date(thread)
    job_id         = extract_job_id(thread)     # if present in email
    interview_date = extract_interview_date(thread)
                     # scan body for patterns: "June 9", "Monday June 9 at 2pm PT",
                     # "scheduled for <date>", "your interview is on <date>"
                     # normalise to ISO date YYYY-MM-DD; set null if not found
    link           = extract_link(thread)
                     # match ATS URL patterns (see Config: Link Extraction)
                     # strip tracking params; null if not found
    suggested_tags = infer_tags(thread)
                     # apply Tag Inference rules; returns list e.g. ["Referral","Remote"]
                     # empty list if no signals found
    page_name      = f"{company_name} — {role_title}"
    APPEND { page_name, company_name, status, next_action, date, applied_date,
             job_id, interview_date, link, suggested_tags, thread_id }

STEP 3  Deduplicate (with fuzzy company matching)
  IF tracker_backend == "notion":
    all_pages = notion_fetch(COLLECTION_URL)   # cache for reuse in Steps 6+7
    existing_names = [p.name for p in all_pages]
    FOR each application:
      # 1. exact match
      existing = find_exact(application.page_name, existing_names)
      IF not found:
        # 2. alias match on company portion
        canonical = resolve_alias(application.company_name)  # Config: Company Aliases
        existing = find_exact(canonical + " — " + role_title, existing_names)
      IF not found:
        # 3. edit-distance match on company name portion
        company_candidates = fuzzy_match(application.company_name,
                                         [extract_company(n) for n in existing_names])
        IF company_candidates:
          ask user to confirm merge (show top match + distance)
          IF confirmed: existing = candidate; write alias to profile.md
      IF found: set existing_status, action = "update" or "skip"
      ELSE:     action = "create"

  IF tracker_backend == "sqlite":
    existing_rows = sqlite3 DB_PATH "SELECT name, company, status FROM applications"
    FOR each application:
      # 1. exact match
      result = find_exact(application.page_name, existing_rows)
      IF not found:
        # 2. alias match
        canonical = resolve_alias(application.company_name)
        result = find_exact(canonical + " — " + role_title, existing_rows)
      IF not found:
        # 3. edit-distance match on company column
        company_candidates = fuzzy_match(application.company_name,
                                         [r.company for r in existing_rows if r.company])
        IF company_candidates:
          ask user to confirm merge
          IF confirmed: result = candidate; write alias to profile.md
      IF result is not null: set existing_status, action = "update" or "skip"
      ELSE:                   action = "create"

STEP 4  Apply changes
  IF tracker_backend == "notion":
    FOR each create/update:
      confirm_tags = filter suggested_tags to only values in existing Notion Tags options
      IF interactive AND confirm_tags not empty:
        prompt user to confirm / edit tag suggestions
    creates → notion_create_pages(batch) with all fields incl. Interview date, Link, Tags
    updates → notion_update_page per entry with status, Last touch, Next action,
              Interview date (if extracted), Link (if extracted, don't overwrite existing),
              Tags (merge with any already on page; add new confirmed ones only)

  IF tracker_backend == "sqlite":
    FOR each create:
      sqlite3 DB_PATH "INSERT OR IGNORE INTO applications
        (name,status,company,job_id,applied_on,last_touch,interview_date,next_action,link,tags)
        VALUES (?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?)"
    FOR each update:
      sqlite3 DB_PATH "UPDATE applications SET status=?, last_touch=?,
        next_action=?, interview_date=COALESCE(?,interview_date),
        link=COALESCE(?,link), tags=COALESCE(?,tags),
        updated_at=datetime('now') WHERE name=?"

STEP 5  Enrich page content (Notion only, when company is given OR when status changed)
  FOR each application that was created or updated (and tracker is notion):
    fetch full thread via gmail_get_thread(thread_id)
    extract:
      timeline[]       = list of { date, event_summary } sorted chronologically
      key_contacts[]   = list of { name, email, role } from From/Cc headers
      conversation[]   = key quotes or summaries from each email in thread
      prep_suggestions = generate 3-5 bullet prep suggestions based on status + role
    Build structured page content:
      ## Timeline
      | Date | Event |
      ...
      ## Key Contacts
      | Name | Email | Role |
      ...
      ## Conversation Notes
      [bullet summary of each email in thread]
      ## Preparation
      [3-5 tailored bullet points based on company + role + stage]
    notion_update_page(page_id, content=structured_content)

    IF interview_date is not null AND Google Calendar MCP is available:
      ask user: "Create a calendar event for <company> interview on <date>?"
      IF yes:
        google_calendar_create_event(
          summary  = "<company> — <role> Interview",
          start    = interview_date + "T09:00:00",  # use extracted time if available
          end      = interview_date + "T10:00:00",
          description = "Application tracked in 2026 Career Notion database."
        )

STEP 6  Staleness detection
  stale_threshold = today - 30 days
  IF tracker_backend == "notion":
    # all_pages already fetched and cached in Step 3 — no second fetch needed
    stale = [p for p in all_pages
             if p.status NOT IN ("Rejected", "Withdrawn", "Offer")
             AND (p.last_touch < stale_threshold OR p.last_touch is null)
             AND p.next_action != "Follow up"]
    FOR each stale page:
      notion_update_page(page_id, properties={"Next action": "Follow up"})

  IF tracker_backend == "sqlite":
    stale = sqlite3 DB_PATH "SELECT name, status, last_touch FROM applications
      WHERE status NOT IN ('Rejected','Withdrawn','Offer')
      AND (date(COALESCE(last_touch, updated_at)) < date('now','-30 days'))
      AND COALESCE(next_action,'') != 'Follow up'"
    FOR each stale row:
      sqlite3 DB_PATH "UPDATE applications SET next_action='Follow up',
        updated_at=datetime('now') WHERE name=?"

STEP 7  Report
  IF no specific company was given (full sync):
    IF tracker_backend == "notion":
      counts = tally status values from all_pages (fetched in Step 6)
    IF tracker_backend == "sqlite":
      counts = sqlite3 DB_PATH "SELECT status, COUNT(*) FROM applications GROUP BY status"
    print funnel summary line (see Report Format below)
  print per-application summary (see Report Format below)

Workflow: Bulk Re-enrichment Mode

Triggered when the user says "re-enrich all pages", "add notes to all applications", "update all pages with prep notes", or uses the --enrich-all flag.

Runs Step 5 enrichment (timeline, key contacts, conversation notes, prep suggestions) against all existing Notion pages, not just the ones touched in the current sync. Requires Notion backend. Skip gracefully if tracker_backend is sqlite (no page content).

INPUT: include_closed (default: false) — whether to enrich Rejected/Withdrawn pages

STEP R0  Load profile (same as main STEP 0)

STEP R1  Fetch all pages
  all_pages = notion_fetch(COLLECTION_URL)
  IF include_closed == false:
    pages = [p for p in all_pages if p.status NOT IN ("Rejected", "Withdrawn")]
  ELSE:
    pages = all_pages
  print: "Found {len(pages)} pages to enrich."

STEP R2  Match pages to Gmail threads
  FOR each page in pages:
    company_name = extract_company_from_name(page.name)
    role_title   = extract_role_from_name(page.name)
    query        = build_query(company_name) with date_range="newer_than:12m"
    threads      = gmail_search(query, max_results=5)
    IF no threads found:
      skip page; note in report as "no emails found"
      CONTINUE
    best_thread  = most_recent_thread(threads)
    full_thread  = gmail_get_thread(best_thread.id)
    STORE { page, full_thread }

STEP R3  Enrich each page (same as main STEP 5)
  FOR each { page, full_thread }:
    extract timeline, key_contacts, conversation notes, prep_suggestions
    notion_update_page(page.id, content=structured_content)
    IF page.interview_date is null:
      interview_date = extract_interview_date(full_thread)
      IF found: notion_update_page(page.id, properties={"Interview date": interview_date})
    IF page.link is null:
      link = extract_link(full_thread)
      IF found: notion_update_page(page.id, properties={"Link": link})

STEP R4  Report
  print:
    Re-enriched: {N} pages
      ✦ {Company} — {Role}  (+ interview date | + link | full notes)
    Skipped (no emails): {M} pages
      · {Company} — {Role}

Rate-limiting note: Enriching many pages will issue many API calls. Pause 1 second between Gmail thread fetches to avoid hitting rate limits. Process pages in batches of 10 and report progress after each batch.

Query Builder

FUNCTION build_query(company_key, date_range="newer_than:6m"):
  cfg = COMPANY_CONFIG[company_key]
  parts = []
  IF cfg.sender:   parts.append(f"from:{cfg.sender}")
  IF cfg.label_id: parts.append(f"label:{cfg.label_id}")
  subject_terms = 'subject:application OR subject:interview OR subject:offer OR subject:position OR subject:assessment OR subject:next steps'
  RETURN f'({" OR ".join(parts)}) ({subject_terms}) {date_range}'

Examples:

• Amazon with label → (from:noreply@mail.amazon.jobs OR label:<label_id>) (subject:application OR ...) newer_than:6m
• Unknown company → fall back to from:@<company>.com or company name in subject

Storage API Calls

Notion — Create (batch)

{
  "data_source_id": "<NOTION_DB_ID>",
  "pages": [
    {
      "properties": {
        "Name": "Amazon — SDE, AWS",
        "status": "Applied / Received",
        "Company": ["Amazon"],
        "Tags": ["Referral"],
        "Applied on": "2026-05-17",
        "Last touch": "2026-05-17",
        "Interview date": null,
        "Next action": "Waiting",
        "Link": "https://boards.greenhouse.io/amazon/jobs/12345"
      },
      "content": "Applied: 2026-05-17\n\n## Timeline\n| Date | Event |\n|---|---|\n| 2026-05-17 | Application submitted |\n\n## Preparation\n- Research AWS products and services\n- Practice system design at scale"
    }
  ]
}

Notion — Update (single, status + dates + next action)

{
  "page_id": "<page-id>",
  "command": "update_properties",
  "properties": {
    "status": "Interviewing",
    "Last touch": "2026-05-28",
    "Interview date": "2026-06-09",
    "Next action": "Prep"
  },
  "content_updates": []
}

Notion — Update (single, staleness flag)

{
  "page_id": "<page-id>",
  "command": "update_properties",
  "properties": {
    "Next action": "Follow up"
  },
  "content_updates": []
}

Notion — Update (single, full page enrichment)

{
  "page_id": "<page-id>",
  "command": "update_properties",
  "properties": {
    "status": "Interviewing",
    "Last touch": "2026-05-28",
    "Next action": "Prep"
  },
  "content": "## Timeline\n| Date | Event |\n|---|---|\n| 2026-05-01 | Application submitted |\n| 2026-05-20 | Recruiter reached out |\n| 2026-05-28 | Interview scheduled for June 9 |\n\n## Key Contacts\n| Name | Email | Role |\n|---|---|---|\n| Jane Smith | jane@company.com | Recruiter |\n\n## Conversation Notes\n- 2026-05-28: Email from Jane Smith scheduling a technical interview for June 9 at 2pm PT.\n\n## Preparation\n- Review data structures and algorithms\n- Prepare STAR stories for behavioral questions\n- Research company mission and recent products\n- Practice whiteboard-style coding problems\n- Prepare 3–5 questions to ask the interviewer"
}

Notion — Search (dedup)

{
  "query": "Amazon — Software Development Engineer",
  "data_source_url": "collection://<NOTION_DB_ID>",
  "filters": {}
}

SQLite — Create

swelist tracker add "Amazon — SDE, AWS" \
  --status "Applied / Received" \
  --job-id 10414382 \
  --applied-on 2026-05-17 \
  --db <DB_PATH>

SQLite — Update

swelist tracker update "Amazon — SDE, AWS" \
  --status "Interviewing" \
  --db <DB_PATH>

SQLite — Search (dedup)

swelist tracker get "Amazon — SDE, AWS" --db <DB_PATH>
# Returns JSON object if found, null if not found. Exit code 1 when not found.

SQLite — List all

swelist tracker list --db <DB_PATH>
swelist tracker export --format json --db <DB_PATH>

SQLite — Funnel summary query

sqlite3 ~/.offerplus/applications.db \
  "SELECT status, COUNT(*) AS n FROM applications GROUP BY status ORDER BY n DESC;"

SQLite — Staleness query

sqlite3 ~/.offerplus/applications.db \
  "SELECT name, status, COALESCE(last_touch, updated_at) AS last_activity
   FROM applications
   WHERE status NOT IN ('Rejected','Withdrawn','Offer')
   AND date(COALESCE(last_touch, updated_at)) < date('now','-30 days')
   ORDER BY last_activity ASC;"

Google Calendar — Create interview event

{
  "summary": "Applied Intuition — Software Engineer Interview",
  "start": { "dateTime": "2026-06-09T14:00:00", "timeZone": "America/Los_Angeles" },
  "end":   { "dateTime": "2026-06-09T15:00:00", "timeZone": "America/Los_Angeles" },
  "description": "Application tracked in 2026 Career Notion database."
}

Naming Convention

"{Company} — {Role Title}"

Rules:

• Em dash (—), not hyphen
• Company name in title case
• Role title verbatim from the job posting or email subject when possible

Report Format

Pipeline: {N} Applied · {N} OA · {N} Interviewing · {N} Offer · {N} Rejected
  (omit pipeline line when syncing a single company)

Synced {N} application(s) on {date}  [{backend}: notion|sqlite]

Created:
  ✦ {Company} — {Role} → {status}  [next: {next_action}]
    🔗 {link}  (omit if not found)
    🏷  Tags: {tag1}, {tag2}  (omit if none inferred)

Updated:
  ↑ {Company} — {Role} → {new_status}  (was: {old_status})  [next: {next_action}]
  + Page enriched: timeline, key contacts, prep notes added
  📅 Interview date: {date}  (calendar event created / skipped)
  🔗 Link extracted: {link}  (omit if not found)
  🏷  Tags added: {tag1}, {tag2}  (omit if none)

Skipped (already up to date):
  · {Company} — {Role} → {status}

Flagged as stale (no activity > 30 days → Follow up):
  ⏰ {Company} — {Role}  [last touch: {date}]

Merged (fuzzy company match confirmed):
  ⟳ "{extracted}" → matched to "{existing}"  [edit distance: {n}]

Errors:
  ✕ {description of issue}

Edge Cases