chore: archive completed OpenSpec changes
Archive all completed changes and create final specifications: Archived changes (2025-11-03): - add-application-email (8 requirements) - add-application-management (9 requirements) - add-application-validation (9 requirements) - add-cover-letter-generation (13 requirements) - add-cover-letter-pdf-conversion (7 requirements) - add-profile-template (4 requirements) - add-profile-validation (3 requirements) Created specifications: - applicant-profile: User profile management with validation - application-email: Email generation for job applications - application-management: Application workflow and folder structure - application-validation: Application completeness checking - cover-letter-generation: Tailored cover letter creation - cover-letter-pdf-conversion: PDF export with Swiss formatting All features are now fully documented in openspec/specs/ and ready for use. 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
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# Proposal: Cover Letter Generation
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## Why
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The application management system now supports creating, populating, and validating applications, but users still must manually write their cover letters. This is time-consuming and doesn't leverage the strategic analysis already captured in `application.md`.
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**Problems without automated cover letter generation:**
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- Users must manually translate match strategy into compelling narrative
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- Risk of inconsistency between application strategy and actual cover letter content
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- Time-consuming to write personalized cover letters for each application
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- May not effectively incorporate key messages and tone guidance from application.md
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- Difficult to maintain consistent quality across multiple applications
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**Current workflow gap:**
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1. ✅ Validate profile
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2. ✅ Create application
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3. ✅ Populate application with job analysis
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4. ✅ Validate application completeness
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5. ❌ **Generate cover letter** ← Missing
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6. ❌ Generate CV (future)
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7. ❌ Generate application email (future)
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## What
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Add a `/write-cover-letter` slash command that generates tailored cover letters based on the strategic analysis in `application.md` and personal information in `profile.md`.
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### Core Functionality
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1. **Location Detection**: Auto-detect current application folder or accept optional application name parameter
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2. **Safety Gates**:
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- Automatically run `/validate-application` before generating (stop if fails)
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- Check if `cover-letter.md` already exists (stop if exists)
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- Allow explicit overrides via flags: `--skip-validation`, `--force`/`--overwrite`
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3. **Multi-source Generation**:
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- Read `profile.md` for applicant background (experience, skills, achievements)
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- Read `application.md` for job-specific strategy (match strategy, key messages, tone, company insights)
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4. **Standard Structure**: Generate 1-page cover letter with:
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- **Opening**: Introduction and position reference
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- **Why This Role**: Genuine interest, company research insights
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- **What You Bring**: Relevant experience and skills (from match strategy)
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- **Cultural Fit**: Alignment with company values and culture
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- **Closing**: Strong call to action, availability
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5. **Tone & Language**:
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- Use tone guidance from application.md (Formal/Balanced/Casual)
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- Infer language (German/English) from job posting context
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6. **Output**: Save to `cover-letter.md` in application folder
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### User Experience
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```bash
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# From inside application folder
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cd applications/pending/2025-11-02-TechCorp-Senior-Developer
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/write-cover-letter
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# Or from anywhere with parameter
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/write-cover-letter 2025-11-02-TechCorp-Senior-Developer
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# Override safety checks
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/write-cover-letter --skip-validation
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/write-cover-letter --force # Overwrite existing cover-letter.md
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```
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**Success flow:**
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```
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🔍 Validating application...
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✅ Application validation passed
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📝 Generating cover letter...
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✓ Read profile.md (applicant background)
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✓ Read application.md (job strategy)
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✓ Analyzed match strategy (3 key experiences identified)
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✓ Incorporated key messages
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✓ Applied tone: Balanced
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✓ Language: English
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✓ Generated 376 words (target: 300-400)
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✅ Cover letter saved: cover-letter.md
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Next steps:
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1. Review cover-letter.md for accuracy and authenticity
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2. Personalize with any additional insights
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3. Generate CV: /write-cv (coming soon)
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```
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**Blocked flow (validation fails):**
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```
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🔍 Validating application...
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❌ Application validation failed
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Your application has incomplete sections. Please fix these issues first:
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## Job Description Summary
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- [ ] Required Skills: Missing or empty
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Run /validate-application for full details, or use --skip-validation to proceed anyway (not recommended).
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```
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**Blocked flow (cover letter exists):**
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```
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❌ Cover letter already exists: cover-letter.md
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To regenerate, use:
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/write-cover-letter --force
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Warning: This will overwrite your existing cover letter.
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```
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### Content Generation Strategy
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**Opening Paragraph (Hook + Position):**
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- Reference specific job title and company name
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- Brief statement of interest
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- One compelling reason for applying (from research notes or key messages)
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**Why This Role Paragraph:**
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- Connection to company mission/values (from research notes)
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- Genuine interest in the role (from key messages)
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- Reference to company news, projects, or initiatives
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**What You Bring Paragraphs (1-2):**
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- Highlight 2-3 most relevant experiences from match strategy
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- Use specific achievements and quantifiable results from profile.md
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- Connect experiences to job requirements
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- Incorporate keywords from job description
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**Cultural Fit Paragraph:**
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- Align personal values with company culture (from research notes)
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- Reference soft skills that match company culture indicators
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- Show enthusiasm for work environment or team
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**Closing Paragraph:**
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- Strong statement of interest
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- Availability for interview
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- Thank you and call to action
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- Professional sign-off
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**Quality Standards:**
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- Length: 300-400 words (1 page)
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- Tone: Match application.md tone assessment
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- Language: Inferred from job posting
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- Authenticity: Use real experiences from profile.md only
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- Keywords: Incorporate naturally from job description
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- Personalization: Reference company-specific insights
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## Impact
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### Benefits
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- **Time savings**: Reduce cover letter writing from 1-2 hours to 10-15 minutes (review/refinement)
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- **Consistency**: Ensures cover letter aligns with application strategy
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- **Quality**: Leverages strategic analysis already done in application.md
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- **Personalization**: Each cover letter tailored to specific job and company
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- **Completeness**: Addresses all key messages identified in planning phase
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- **ATS optimization**: Natural incorporation of keywords from job description
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### Changes Required
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- New slash command: `/write-cover-letter`
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- Documentation updates in `src/CLAUDE.md`
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- No changes to existing commands or templates
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### User Workflow Impact
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**Updated workflow:**
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```
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1. Validate profile (/validate-profile)
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2. Initialize application (/new-application)
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3. Add documents to input/ folder
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4. Populate application (/populate-application)
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5. Validate application (/validate-application)
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6. **Generate cover letter (/write-cover-letter)** ← NEW
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7. Review and refine cover-letter.md manually
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8. Generate CV (future: /write-cv)
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9. Generate email (future: /write-email)
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```
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### Risks & Mitigations
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**Risk**: Generated cover letters may sound generic or AI-written
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**Mitigation**:
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- Use authentic experiences from profile.md only
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- Incorporate company-specific research from application.md
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- Apply appropriate tone from tone assessment
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- Encourage manual review and personalization
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**Risk**: Overwriting existing work
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**Mitigation**:
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- Check for existing cover-letter.md and stop
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- Require explicit `--force` flag to overwrite
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- Warn user about overwrite consequences
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**Risk**: Generating from incomplete application
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**Mitigation**:
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- Auto-run /validate-application before generation
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- Stop if validation fails (unless `--skip-validation`)
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- Clear error messages about what needs to be fixed
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## Implementation Approach
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**Pattern consistency:**
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- Follow same location detection as `/validate-application`
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- Match command structure and error handling patterns
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- Use consistent validation and safety check patterns
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**Data sources:**
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- Primary: application.md (match strategy, key messages, tone, research)
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- Secondary: profile.md (experience, skills, achievements)
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- Tertiary: Job description from input/ (if needed for additional context)
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**Generation approach:**
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- Use Claude to generate human-quality prose
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- Maintain factual accuracy (no hallucination)
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- Balance structure with natural flow
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- Target specific word count (300-400 words)
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**Future integration:**
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- Cover letter generation is first of three document commands
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- Pattern will be reused for `/write-cv` and `/write-email`
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- Consider unified template system for all document types
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