Syncing the Tracker

After a fan-out (or any meaningful version bump), the master Google Sheets tracker needs to reflect the new state. The tracker-sync skill does this for you — scans project folders, uploads the latest .nbflow files to Drive, and updates the tracker's tabs.

This page is the operator-side walkthrough.

What the tracker is

A Google Sheets spreadsheet with one row per workflow, tracking:

• Current version
• Status (testing / approved / archived)
• Fan-out state (which accounts have shipped)
• Last updated timestamp
• Direct link to the latest .nbflow in Drive
• Notes from the most recent history entry

The tracker is your at-a-glance project state. Without it, you'd have to read the version registry JSON to know what's where.

When to sync

Sync after any of these:

• A workflow ships to V1 (approved + fanned out)
• A meaningful V0-N iteration during testing
• A variant lands (Lvl 1-4)
• A new product or account is added
• Before a client meeting where you'll show the tracker
• Weekly maintenance to catch drift

You can skip sync for:

• Surgical edits that don't bump the version
• Read-only audits
• Test runs you're discarding

How to invoke

You: sync the tracker

Claude: [runs the tracker-sync skill]

  Scanning projects/...
  Found 5 workflows; 3 have changes since last sync:

  - XYZG1: V0-5 → V1 (approved, fanned out to 4 accounts)
  - XYZS2: V0-2 → V0-3 (testing iteration — Scene 03 prompt edits)
  - XYZG3: new workflow, V0-1

  Uploading to Drive...
  - XYZG1-V1.nbflow → uploaded
  - XYZS2-V0-3.nbflow → uploaded
  - XYZG3-V0-1.nbflow → uploaded

  Updating Sheets tracker...
  - "Approved Workflows" tab: 1 row added (XYZG1)
  - "Testing Workflows" tab: 1 row updated (XYZS2), 1 row added (XYZG3)
  - "Version History" tab: 3 rows appended

  Tracker is current. View it at [tracker URL].

The whole pass takes under a minute for a small portfolio. A larger portfolio (20+ workflows) might take 2-3 minutes.

What the tracker looks like after sync

Three primary tabs:

Approved Workflows

One row per workflow at V1+ status. Columns: workflow code, current version, accounts fanned out, last updated, link to .nbflow.

Testing Workflows

One row per workflow at V0-N or V{N}-0-N status. Same columns. Lets you see what's in-flight at a glance.

Version History

Append-only log of every meaningful change ever made. New rows added by every sync.

(Specific tab names and column layouts may vary by team setup — check your tracker.)

What the tracker is NOT

A few things the tracker doesn't do:

• Doesn't trigger generation — it's a view, not a controller. To run a workflow, you still use the Manager
• Doesn't import edits made directly in Sheets back to the project files — sync is one-way (files → tracker)
• Doesn't replace the version registry — reference/version-registry.json is the canonical source of truth. The tracker is the human-readable mirror

When the tracker disagrees with reality

If tracker-sync reports zero changes but you know you made changes, two possibilities:

1. The version registry wasn't updated when you made the change. The skill reads the registry as the source of truth — if the registry says nothing changed, nothing gets synced
2. The change was a surgical edit that doesn't warrant a version bump — those don't appear in the tracker by design

Verify by reading the version registry:

You: show me the version registry for XYZG3

Claude:
  XYZG3:
    current_version: V0-3
    status: testing
    last_updated: 2026-05-10
    history: [V0-1, V0-2, V0-3]

  Registry hasn't been updated since 2026-05-10. If you made changes
  after that, the registry didn't capture them.

When to sync per session

Common rhythms:

Cadence	Rationale
After every meaningful workflow change	Tracker stays current; never see drift
At the end of every work session	Fewer syncs, but catches everything before logging off
Once a week	Lowest overhead, but drift accumulates
Before any meeting where tracker is shown	Always sync — never present stale state

Pick the rhythm that fits your workflow. The skill is cheap to run, so syncing more often is fine.

Sharing the tracker with the team

The tracker is a shared Google Sheet. Anyone with view / edit access can see project state in real time without running anything.

If you need to add a teammate to the tracker, share the Sheets file with their Google account directly. The sync skill doesn't change permissions — that's a manual Sheets operation.

When you're ready

You've finished Chapter 7. You can now:

• Fan a workflow out from one account to many using the 7-step protocol
• Recognize and avoid STANDARD drift
• Recover from a broken fan-out by restoring and retrying
• Keep the master tracker current after meaningful changes

→ Next: Chapter 8 — Products & Accounts. Concepts for how brand / product / account structures work — what files exist, how avatars are configured, the sales-channel mechanics, compliance rules.