Set a filename convention that sorts, searches, and survives — date-first ISO format, the descriptor grammar, version suffixes that end the FINAL-final2 era, and the rollout that gets a team actually using it. Use when asked set up file naming rules, our filenames are chaos, what should we call our files, or fix the v2-final-FINAL problem. Produces the convention with its grammar, examples for the team's real file types, the version rule, and the one-line cheat sheet.
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Use filename-convention to create a filename grammar, real-file examples, version rule, one-line cheat sheet, and new-files-plus-drain rollout for [file population], based on [retrieval pattern] and [current filename samples].
Required inputs
[file population]
[retrieval pattern]
[current filename samples]
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SKILL.md
name: filename-conventiondescription: "Set a filename convention that sorts, searches, and survives — date-first ISO format, the descriptor grammar, version suffixes that end the FINAL-final2 era, and the rollout that gets a team actually using it. Use when asked set up file naming rules, our filenames are chaos, what should we call our files, or fix the v2-final-FINAL problem. Produces the convention with its grammar, examples for the team's real file types, the version rule, and the one-line cheat sheet."
Filename Convention Skill
Report_final_v2_FINAL_johns-edits(2).docx is a filesystem crying for grammar. A working convention is small — date first in ISO form so files sort themselves, a few descriptor slots in fixed order, a version rule that bans "final" — and it's enforced by usefulness: names that sort chronologically and surface in search within seconds pay their own adoption. The convention fits on one line; everything longer goes unused.
What This Skill Produces
The grammar — the slot order (YYYY-MM-DD_project_doctype_descriptor_v2) tuned to the team's real files
Worked examples — the team's actual recent files, renamed per the grammar
The version rule — v1, v2, v3 + -draft/-approved states; "final" banned by decree with the reason
The one-line cheat sheet — the whole convention, postable in the folder guide
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
The file population — what the team actually produces (contracts, decks, exports, meeting docs); the grammar's slots come from what needs distinguishing
The sort need — chronological (date-first) vs. entity-first (acme_2026-07-19_... when browsing-by-client dominates); the retrieval pattern picks the lead slot
Cloud-doc reality — Google Docs/Notion pages need the convention too (titles are names); versioned-by-platform files relax the version suffix
The current chaos sample — a dozen real filenames; the before/after table is the convention's best salesman
Framework: The Grammar Rules
ISO date first (usually):2026-07-19 sorts correctly forever, is unambiguous across cultures, and makes every folder self-chronologizing. The one legitimate exception: entity-first when browsing-by-entity is the dominant retrieval — pick per the team's seek pattern, once.
Fixed slot order, hyphen/underscore discipline:date_project_doctype_descriptor_version — underscores between slots, hyphens within them (acme-renewal). Fixed order means the eye parses filenames like a table; mixed order means reading every name in full.
The version rule ends the FINAL era: integers only (v1, v2), state tags where useful (v3-approved), and "final" is banned because it's a prophecy, not a state — v4-final-final2 is the ban's justification, printed on the cheat sheet. Platform-versioned files (cloud docs) drop the suffix entirely; duplicating the platform's version history in names is noise.
Descriptors are for humans, dates are for machines: the descriptor slot answers "which one is this" in two-to-four words (board-pack, signed-copy, eu-pricing) — jargon the team shares is fine; codes only the author knows are not.
Rollout by usefulness, not mandate: rename the twenty most-touched files as the demonstration, post the one-liner, and apply the convention to everything new — old files get renamed when touched (the drain rule from folder-structure-designer). Mass-renaming breaks links; opportunistic renaming doesn't.
Output Format
Filename Convention: [team]
The One-Liner (post this)
YYYY-MM-DD_project_doctype_descriptor_vN — underscores between slots, hyphens inside, ISO dates, integers for versions, "final" is banned.
Before / After
Now
Under the convention
[The team's real dozen, renamed]
Edge Rules
[Cloud docs: title = name, no version suffix · exports/receipts: date+source+period · the entity-first variant if chosen, with its why]
Quality Checks
The lead slot matches the team's dominant retrieval pattern
Slot order is fixed and separator discipline is stated
"final" is banned with its printed justification
Examples use the team's real files, not invented ones
Rollout is new-files-plus-drain, never mass rename
Anti-Patterns
Do not allow DD-MM vs MM-DD ambiguity — ISO or chaos, there is no third option
Do not encode what the folder already says — Clients/Acme/acme-acme-contract wastes a slot
Do not permit "final" even once — it's the gateway drug to FINAL-final2
Do not design slots for files the team doesn't produce — grammar bloat kills adoption
Do not mass-rename history — links break; the drain rule gets there without the breakage