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Project Rhythm Engine

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1. Overview

Project Rhythm Engine keeps your project moving forward with automated standups, structured reviews, and smart meeting scheduling. Instead of manually tracking check-ins and coordinating calendars, the system creates a cadence tailored to your stage - daily standups during active building, weekly reviews as you scale - and adjusts automatically as your project evolves. You stay accountable without the admin overhead, and your sherpa knows exactly where you need support.

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2. Step-by-Step Guide

Getting Started with Your Project Rhythm
  1. Rhythm Auto-Assignment: When your project transitions to a new stage (like moving from SPECIFY to ROUTE), the system automatically assigns a meeting cadence. You’ll receive a notification showing your standup schedule and review frequency. Check your Journey Dashboard to see your current rhythm configuration.
  2. Daily Standup Prompts: At your configured time (default 08:00 in your timezone), SupaSherpa sends you a standup prompt via your preferred channel (Slack, email, or in-platform). The message asks three questions: “What did you accomplish yesterday? What are you working on today? Any blockers?”
  3. Respond to Standups: Reply to the standup prompt within 4 hours. Type your update directly in the channel - no special formatting required. The system extracts your accomplishments, plans, and blockers using AI, then files the summary to your project vault automatically.
  4. Review Your Standup History: Visit the Journey Overview page and navigate to the “Rhythm” section. Click “View Standup History” to see past responses, participation trends, and your rhythm health score (0-100 based on how consistently you complete standups).
  5. Gateway Reviews: When your PRD crosses a stage boundary or your brief confidence score hits 70%, the system schedules a gateway review meeting within 48-72 hours. You’ll receive a calendar invite plus a review brief 24 hours before the meeting, containing your momentum score, PRD summary, recent vault documents, and open action items.
  6. Customize Your Cadence (Sherpa only): If you’re a sherpa, visit the Sherpa Combined Dashboard, select a project, and click “Customize Rhythm”. Adjust standup frequency (daily, weekly, or none), change the time, or modify review schedules. Your customizations persist across stage transitions.

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3. Common Questions

What happens if I miss a standup?
If you don’t respond within 4 hours, the system marks the standup as missed. After 3 consecutive misses, your sherpa receives a notification to check in with you. Your rhythm health score drops, but it resets as soon as you complete the next standup. Missing occasional standups won’t derail your project - the system is designed to flag patterns, not punish isolated misses. How does the cadence change as my project progresses?
Each ICP category and journey stage has a default template. Founders moving from idea to launch typically start with daily standups and weekly sprint reviews. As you transition to LAUNCH_TO_SCALE, the rhythm shifts to weekly async standups and monthly strategic reviews. Stage transitions update your cadence automatically unless your sherpa has customized it. What triggers a gateway review meeting?
Two events: when your PRD transitions between stages (FORGE to VALIDATE, for example) or when your brief confidence assessment crosses 70% for the first time. The system schedules the review within 48-72 business hours and generates a briefing document 24 hours before the meeting. If you have multiple triggers within 72 hours, the system merges them into a single review instead of creating duplicates. Can I turn off standups if my schedule is unpredictable?
Yes, through your sherpa. Standups respect quiet hours from your channel preferences - if your configured standup time falls during quiet hours, the system delays the prompt until 30 minutes after quiet hours end. Your sherpa can also adjust frequency to weekly or pause standups temporarily if you’re in a transition period. Only assigned sherpas or platform admins can modify cadence settings. Where do my standup summaries get stored?
Every completed standup is filed to your project’s data room under “Meeting Notes” with the title “Standup Summary - [date]” and tagged as auto-generated. If your project has a linked Slack channel, the summary also posts there. Summaries include aggregated accomplishments, plans, blockers, and overall sentiment for all participants who responded that cycle.

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4. Troubleshooting

I’m not receiving standup prompts
Check your channel preferences in your profile settings. Confirm your preferred channel is set (Slack, email, or websocket) and that quiet hours aren’t blocking the configured standup time. If you’ve changed your timezone recently, your standup time may need adjustment - contact your sherpa to update the cadence config. The system defaults to websocket delivery if your preferred channel adapter is unavailable, so check your in-platform notifications as a fallback. Gateway review meetings aren’t appearing in my calendar
The system uses Calendar MCP to schedule gateway reviews. If Calendar MCP is in dev mode or unavailable, it falls back to sending your sherpa a notification with the review brief and instructions to schedule manually. Check with your sherpa if you expected a gateway review but didn’t receive a calendar invite within 72 hours of a trigger event (PRD stage change or confidence threshold crossing). My standup response mentions a blocker but my sherpa didn’t follow up
Blocker detection requires AI confidence of 70% or higher to trigger an escalation. If your blocker description is vague or embedded in a longer update, the AI may not classify it as a blocker. Try being explicit: start blocker descriptions with “Blocker:” or “I’m stuck on:”. If the blocker was detected (check your standup summary), your sherpa should have received the escalation within 5 minutes. Escalations go to their preferred channel - if they didn’t respond, follow up directly via the Project Messaging feature. My rhythm health score dropped suddenly
Rhythm health is calculated from standup participation rate over the last 30 days. Missing multiple consecutive standups or responding inconsistently drops the score. Complete standups on time for 5-7 consecutive cycles to rebuild your score. If you were unavailable due to vacation or external commitments, your sherpa can note that context in the system - health scores are one signal among many, not a performance metric. Meeting Intelligence Pipeline (Feature 072): Gateway reviews scheduled by Project Rhythm Engine automatically trigger meeting processing. After your review completes, the system captures the transcript, generates minutes, extracts action items, and files everything to your vault. This closes the loop - Rhythm Engine gets you into the right meetings at the right time, and Meeting Intelligence ensures you get value from every session. Proactive Nudge Engine: Project Rhythm integrates with the nudge system to avoid notification overload. If you receive a standup prompt, the system won’t send duplicate nudges about the same topic for 12 hours. Rhythm notifications (standup prompts, review briefs, blocker escalations) are tracked in your nudge history so the platform coordinates communications instead of bombarding you. Sherpa Journey Management: Your sherpa uses Project Rhythm data to guide your journey. Standup participation rates, blocker frequency, and gateway review outcomes feed into their dashboard. If your rhythm breaks down (3+ missed standups, declining health score), your sherpa receives escalations to intervene before momentum stalls. Strong rhythm = clear sherpa visibility = better support when you need it.