pick

rigger pick [--json]

One name, across every project in the work: which one to take up now, the stage it is on, and the reason it comes before the others. Then the order the rest wait in, by the same rule, and the projects the rule does not consider.

$ rigger pick
Work on widget  v0.2.0 · Plugins
  1 change since the last release that no finished sitting has seen: feat(plugin): load plugins from a folder
  1 question waits on the owner · 1 order from neighbours

Then, by the same rule
  gadget  v1.0.0  last sitting 2026-10-27
  sample  v0.2.0  last sitting 2026-10-27

Left out
  archive  out of the rotation - worked on when asked

The calendar answers the same question when a version has been aimed at the week. Most weeks of a busy line have nothing aimed at them, and pick answers anyway.

The rule

An order of reasons, not a sum of scores. The first reason that holds for a project is its reason, and a project with a stronger reason comes before every project with a weaker one:

Reason	Holds when	Within it, first
late	a version is aimed at a week already gone, with no tag	the longest past its week, then the higher tier
due	a version is aimed at this week	the higher tier, then the longest without a sitting
unseen	a change landed since the last release that no finished sitting of the project has seen	the one waiting longest
answered	the owner decided something about it outside a sitting, after its last one	the one waiting longest
behind	its tier asks for more - a floor broken, or a rhythm lapsed	a floor before a rhythm, then the higher tier, then the longer lapse
turn	nothing presses	the longest without a sitting; never having had one is longest of all

A reason is a sentence you can check, and steer: aim a version at the week with version plan and it comes first; give a project a tier and its rhythm is kept. There are no weights to tune.

unseen is narrower than “commits since the tag”. A change made from a neighbour’s sitting, or in a sitting that was never closed, is work the record has lost the thread of. A change a sitting made and chose not to tag is not: the sitting knew. Counting it would pick the same project on every run while it waits on something outside it. It is counted on the project’s line instead - “1 change waits for the next tag”.

Questions do not take a project out. A question to the owner does not stop a stage, so it does not stop the pick either; the questions waiting, and the orders neighbours placed, are counted on the line.

The tier C signal is not a reason. It says a second declared product started before the first shipped - which is a reason to work on the first one, not the one it names.

Git is read first

Before choosing, pick reads every repository in the work as sync does - tags and changes, without asking GitHub - so the reason stands on today’s commits, not on the last sitting’s. A commit made in one project from another project’s sitting is exactly what the record would otherwise not know. A repository that does not read is named at the end, and its facts are as of the last time it did.

Left out

Why	Meaning
out	its tier is out: worked on when asked
no-stage	nothing is planned for it, so there is no stage to work on
put-down	every open task of everything planned is frozen or asleep

A version aimed at a week brings a project back in whatever else is true of it: aiming a version is asking for it. A place the record keeps for itself (project service) is not work and is not listed at all.

Over MCP

The same answer is the pick tool, so an assistant told to get on with the line, with no project named, asks the record which one and then reads that project’s context. The Monday brief names the pick when nothing is aimed at the week.

The JSON is a contract

Every field is named here, and the test suite fails when the JSON prints one this page does not name. pick and every item of then have one shape.

Field	Type	Meaning
week	string	The current week, as 2026-W44.
pick	object or null	The project to work on; null when every project is left out.
pick.project	string	The project.
pick.tier	string or null	Its tier: A, B, C or out; null when it has none.
pick.reason	string	Why it comes where it does: late, due, unseen, answered, behind or turn.
pick.version	string	The version to work on: the one aimed at a week for late and due, the current stage otherwise.
pick.title	string or null	That version’s title, or null.
pick.planned	string or null	The week the version is aimed at, for late and due; otherwise null.
pick.weeks_late	integer or null	How many weeks that week is past, for late; otherwise null.
pick.unseen	array	The subjects of the changes since the last release that no finished sitting has seen, oldest first.
pick.unseen[]	string	One change’s subject line.
pick.untagged	integer	How many changes landed since the last release, seen or not.
pick.answered	integer	How many things the owner decided outside a sitting since its last one.
pick.behind	object or null	How its tier asks for more; null when it does not.
pick.behind.lag	string	missed-cycle (tier A), without-focus (tier B) or rhythm (longer without a release than its rhythm).
pick.behind.weeks	integer	Weeks without a release - without a turn, for without-focus.
pick.behind.rhythm_weeks	integer or null	Weeks between releases its tier asks for.
pick.last_turn	string or null	The day of its last sitting, as YYYY-MM-DD; null if it never had one.
pick.sitting_open	boolean	Whether a sitting on it is open now.
pick.waiting	integer	Its questions waiting on the owner.
pick.asked	integer	The orders its neighbours placed with it, still open.
then	array	The rest of the order, by the same rule.
then[]	object	One project, in the shape of pick.
then[].project	string	The project.
then[].tier	string or null	Its tier, or null.
then[].reason	string	Its reason, as for pick.
then[].version	string	The version to work on.
then[].title	string or null	Its title, or null.
then[].planned	string or null	The week it is aimed at, or null.
then[].weeks_late	integer or null	Weeks past that week, or null.
then[].unseen	array	Changes no finished sitting has seen.
then[].unseen[]	string	One change’s subject line.
then[].untagged	integer	Changes since the last release.
then[].answered	integer	Owner’s decisions since its last sitting.
then[].behind	object or null	How its tier asks for more, or null.
then[].behind.lag	string	missed-cycle, without-focus or rhythm.
then[].behind.weeks	integer	Weeks behind.
then[].behind.rhythm_weeks	integer or null	Its rhythm in weeks.
then[].last_turn	string or null	The day of its last sitting, or null.
then[].sitting_open	boolean	Whether a sitting on it is open.
then[].waiting	integer	Questions waiting on the owner.
then[].asked	integer	Open orders from neighbours.
left_out	array	The projects the rule does not consider.
left_out[]	object	One of them.
left_out[].project	string	The project.
left_out[].why	string	out, no-stage or put-down.
unread	array	The projects whose git did not read.
unread[]	string	One project’s name.

Fields may be added; none is renamed or removed without a major version.

Related

• week - the Monday brief, which names the pick when nothing is aimed.
• next - the calendar’s own focus, and the tier signals behind reads.
• version plan - aim a version at a week, and it comes first.
• project tier - the rhythm behind keeps.
• context - what to read once the project is picked.