Application Tracker

Overview

A job search is a pipeline. The live book is the Career store (career tool + #/career). Optional markdown notes are a backup, never a second source of truth.

Pipeline stages

discovered → matched → ready → applied → replied → interview → offer → won / rejected

Tracker format

Prefer career action=status and career action=stage. The desk already writes applications.md next to the store on every save; read it with career action=read file=applications.md. Shape:

| Company | Role | Applied | Stage | Last contact | Next action | Due | Notes |

Per-application notes file for serious processes: contacts, interview notes, questions asked, salary discussed.

Workflow

1. Prepare a factual CV and cover for the selected job (career action=prepare).
2. career action=apply opens the manual employer submission flow and leaves the application ready. Mark stage=applied only after the user confirms a completed portal submission.
3. For professional email, configure and test the account using mail_config and mail_test. mail_draft previews the existing CV and cover attachments; send_email requires that draft's revision. Report an email application sent only when its receipt has status=accepted and a Message-ID. SMTP acceptance is not a delivery or read confirmation.
4. Automatic email and reply sync have separate persistent opt-ins. Auto-send uses the scheduled Career loop, an explicit published application address, a match threshold and daily limit. Never enable either opt-in from a legacy autopilot setting alone. sync_mail attaches actual replies to recorded applications; do not invent responses or send follow-ups automatically.
5. Follow-up policy: followup-writer + career action=followup wave=j3 then j7. Update the final outcome from the recruiter's response or the user's decision.
6. Schedule reminders with cron when requested: follow-ups due, interview prep (trigger interview-coach 2 days before), offer deadlines.
7. Weekly review: pipeline stats (applied/response/interview rates), what's stuck, this week's actions.
8. Post-decision: log the outcome and learnings (which channel/CV version converts best).

Metrics that matter

• Response rate < 10% → fix targeting/CV (ats-analyzer)
• Interviews but no offers → fix prep (interview-coach)

Rules

• Every live application has a "next action + date" - no passive rows.
• Keep interview notes verbatim where possible; they're gold for negotiation later.