# sidechat-tidy: sweep and rename every chat

Renames every chat under one naming system with status markers, so the list itself reports what needs the operator, what waits, what is done.

From the [Skills I've built](../index.md#skills) section of [The Muse Field Guide](../index.md).

## What it does

A periodic sweep over the whole chat list: every chat renamed under a consistent naming system with status markers showing which family it belongs to and whether it needs the operator, is waiting, is done, or is parked. It also runs an archive pass with safety checks before anything is archived.

## Trigger

Asking to tidy the side chats, or running the sweep on a rhythm.

## What you need

- A chat list big enough to hurt; this household runs 93 chats.
- Archive safety checks: no open work items, and no schedule or hook still delivering into the chat.

## Setup sketch

Define the naming taxonomy first: a family marker and a status marker per chat. The sweep's archive pass verifies each candidate against live state before recommending it, and archives only what the operator approves.

## Where this came from

Archiving has side effects that are invisible until they bite: one chat caught, mid-conversation, that archiving it would have silently redirected a scheduled delivery into the main chat. The delivery was repointed first.

Deep dive: [Chats as an operating model](../deep-dives/chats.md)

Related resources: [One side chat per topic](one-chat-per-topic.md), [where-were-we: re-ground a stale chat](where-were-we.md), [Ingest before you delete](ingest-before-you-delete.md)

Canonical page: https://www.niclydon.io/muse/items/sidechat-tidy.html