title: MMDEP inbox and dashboard — lessons from the MMDEP Actions panel status: input for the inbox/dashboard design (Atul, 12 Oct: "the artefact can inspire our design of MMDEP inbox and dashboard; the MMDEP MCP can also have some features from this") date: 2026-10-12
Lessons from the MMDEP Actions panel¶
The panel (a private Claude page with a small database, pinned in Atul's sidebar) ran the PM-to-Atul loop on 12 Oct. What worked, for the MMDEP inbox, dashboard and MCP:
| Feature | Why it worked | For MMDEP |
|---|---|---|
| Decisions with tap choices, a recommended option, and an optional note | Atul answers in seconds, from a phone | specify and approve items carry choices and recommended; respond takes a choice plus a note |
| Actions with Done, I have a concern, Not yet, plus a comment | A concern is a first-class answer, not a failure | Item states: open, done, concern, deferred |
| The agent's reply shown under each item, then moved to Done | Atul sees the loop close without asking | Every item keeps a reply thread; closed items stay readable |
| Groups (streams) with a progress bar and a closed/total count | Shows how near a stream is to closure | Items carry group and stream; the dashboard shows progress per group |
| Red "Blocks Claude" tag | Atul knows what to do first | Items carry blocking: true and who is blocked |
| One-line collapsed items | The page stays short | Dashboard default view is collapsed |
| Atul can add an item or a group (request to Claude, or a to-do) | Two-way, not only agent to human | MCP raise_item open to humans from the dashboard; new groups allowed |
| Links open in a new tab | Documents never replace the panel | Same |
Gaps to solve in MMDEP proper: no push when Atul answers (the agent reads on its next run); answers live in the page's store, not in the MMDEP ledger. The hosted MMDEP inbox (tools server, HTTPS, a token per agent) closes both: the panel becomes a view over the inbox.
Added 12 Oct (Atul)¶
- Links everywhere: every MR, issue and document reference in a reply is a link (the panel now turns "API !132" or "PE #321" into links automatically).
- Project sections: one group per project with its open-MR status, and items sorted by what blocks them: waiting for CI, needs a terminal job, needs a decision, ready for review, superseded.
- The panel moves into each agent's window: once the hosted inbox exists, each project agent shows the same panel filtered to its project, and the button reads Send to agent instead of Send to Claude. The MMDEP panel stays as the cross-project view.
CI efficiency rules for the onboarding pack (Atul, 12 Oct)¶
- Work packages, not one MR per issue (D4): related issues in one MR, one pipeline.
- Skip tests for documentation-only changes:
rules: changes:so MRs touching onlydocs/**or*.mdrun no test jobs. Most of today's 236 open MRs are documentation. - One pipeline per change:
workflow: rulesso a push to an MR branch doesn't run both a branch pipeline and an MR pipeline. - Cancel superseded runs:
interruptible: trueon test jobs, and auto-cancel redundant pipelines in project settings. - Cache dependencies between jobs; run only the tests for the changed area where the suite allows it.
- Quota: GitLab counts compute minutes per top-level group (the namespace that owns the project), not per member, so role changes don't add minutes; grouping projects by vertical (repository structure proposal) gives each group its own quota. Check each group's Settings > Usage quotas.