What this page is.
Two more household muscles. Appliances & Repairs is the "something is broken at 8pm" toolkit — searching the manual, drafting the service-call message, logging what happened so you don't solve the same problem twice. School Forms, HOA & Landlord is the recurring-admin toolkit — the pile on the counter, permission slips, HOA notices, school forms, and the rest of the stack.
Part 1 · Appliances, Repairs & Warranties.
The dishwasher's not draining. The fridge is making a noise. The HVAC won't kick on. The washer is flashing an error code nobody knows how to read. The plumber is standing in your kitchen asking for the model number. Your landlord wants you to describe the problem "in detail." You have to explain to the warranty company that the leak started "a few weeks ago" and now you're being asked for an exact date.
All of this has one thing in common: the information exists. The model number is on the manual. The warranty period is on the receipt. The last time this exact thing broke is in an email somewhere. Home Operations is where you stop hunting and start pulling it up in seconds.
Search the manual.
You uploaded appliance manuals in the Home Operations build. This is what they're for. When something acts up, you don't read the manual — you ask Claude to.
The "my appliance is doing something weird" prompt
Using the [APPLIANCE] manual in this Project, help me troubleshoot. Here's what's happening: [DESCRIBE THE PROBLEM — what it's doing, what it's not doing, any error code on the display, how long it's been happening, and what I last tried].
Walk me through, in order:
(1) Any basic check I should do first (filter, circuit breaker, reset).
(2) What the manual says about this specific symptom or error code — quote the page.
(3) Whether this is something I can handle myself or needs a pro / the landlord.
(4) The exact model and serial number info a service person will ask for.
Do not give me safety advice that's already obvious (don't touch exposed wires, etc.). Don't tell me to "consult a professional" unless the manual says to.
Why the last line matters.
Generic AI answers pad every repair question with three paragraphs of "be careful, call a pro, unplug it first." That's the opposite of useful when the point of this prompt is to tell you when a pro is needed. Claude will still be responsible with actual electrical / gas work — the manual itself will say "call a pro" for anything genuinely dangerous, and Claude will echo that. But you won't get the generic boilerplate.
The home history log — stop solving the same problem twice.
Six months from now the dishwasher will make the same noise and you'll stand in your kitchen trying to remember what the guy did last time. Did he replace a pump? Was it the filter? Did we already use the warranty on this? What did it cost? You won't remember. Nobody remembers.
Fix: one running document called Home History inside the Home Ops Project. Dated entries, scannable. Claude drafts each entry for you right after the repair — before you forget.
Create a home history entry — run after any repair / service visit
Create a Home History entry for me. Here's what happened: [TELL THE STORY — what broke, what you tried, who you called, what they did, what it cost, anything they recommended for next time].
Format as:
- Date: [TODAY'S DATE]
- Item: [WHAT / WHERE]
- Problem: [ONE LINE]
- What was done: [ONE LINE]
- Who did it: [NAME / COMPANY / PHONE]
- Cost: [DOLLAR AMOUNT OR "WARRANTY" OR "LANDLORD COVERED"]
- What to know next time: [ONE LINE — what to try first, what not to do, which technician to request]
Keep it tight. One scroll of my phone should show 20 entries.
Voice-mode version — for after the repair truck pulls away.
Best time to log a repair is the minute the tech leaves, while you're still in the kitchen. Hit voice mode (the voice-mode setup), say "Hey Claude — log a Home History entry," and walk through what happened out loud. Claude writes it up in 30 seconds. Review, send to the file, done.
The service-people roster & warranty tracker.
Two more short documents that live in the Project.
1
Service People
Names, companies, phone numbers, and one-line "why I liked them" notes. Plumber, electrician, HVAC, handyman, yard, pest, cleaner, whoever. Update it any time you find someone good.
2
Warranty Tracker
Appliance name, purchase date, warranty length, expiration date, receipt file name, warranty contact info. One line per thing. No PDFs — just the pointers.
Build both rosters at once
Help me build two reference documents for my Home Operations Project:
(1) SERVICE PEOPLE — a contact list of people I've used and liked. Here's what I remember: [DUMP NAMES, COMPANIES, PHONES, OR JUST "THE PLUMBER WHO FIXED THE KITCHEN SINK IN 2024"]. Format as a simple list: Name / Service type / Phone / Company / One-line note on why I liked them. Leave blanks where I didn't give you info — I'll fill them in.
(2) WARRANTY TRACKER — every appliance or major purchase that's still under warranty, based on the manuals and receipts in this Project. For each: Item / Purchase date / Warranty length / Expiration date / Receipt or warranty file name / How to file a claim (phone or website).
Sort the warranty tracker by expiration date, soonest first. Flag anything expiring in the next 90 days.
Pro bonus — monthly warranty watch.
If you have Cowork from Phase 3, set up one scheduled task that checks your warranty tracker every month and emails you a heads-up about anything expiring soon. Ten minutes of setup, peace of mind forever.
Pro bonus — monthly warranty watch
Using Cowork: on the first of every month, open the Warranty Tracker in my Home Operations Project and check for anything expiring in the next 60 days. If something is expiring, draft me a plain-English heads-up email (to me) that says: item, expiration date, how to file a claim if I need to, and whether I should consider extending the warranty. If nothing is expiring, send me a one-line "all clear" note. Set this as a scheduled task, first of the month, 8 a.m.
And a second Pro move — the Cowork receipt scan.
After any repair, take a photo of the receipt on your phone and save it to a Google Drive folder called Home Ops Receipts. Then dispatch: "Cowork, take the newest file in Home Ops Receipts, extract the date, vendor, amount, and what was done, and append it to my Home History log in the Home Ops Project as a new entry." You'll never have to type a repair log again. Setup lives in the Cowork setup if Drive isn't connected yet.
Part 2 · School Forms, HOA & Landlord Comms.
Permission slip for the field trip. Reading log signatures. School absence form from Tuesday you forgot to send. HOA notice about the trash cans. Landlord's annual renewal letter. The form from soccer about volunteer hours. A neighbor asking if we can coordinate carpools. A school survey that needs a response by Friday. A rental inspection notice asking you to respond within seven days.
Every one of these is a reply. None of them is hard, but half of them sit unanswered because replies feel overwhelming.
The pattern — one prompt, any admin reply.
Every household-admin email is the same structure: someone asked for a thing or sent you news, you need to respond, and you want it to sound like you and not like a form. This prompt handles it.
The admin-reply prompt — save this forever
Draft a reply in my voice to the message below. Use the Mom Profile and Home Operations custom instructions for tone. Keep it short, polite but not apologetic, and specific.
What I need the reply to do: [ANSWER YES/NO / REQUEST SOMETHING / ASK FOR AN EXTENSION / DECLINE WITHOUT BURNING A BRIDGE / CONFIRM DETAILS / SUBMIT INFO THEY ASKED FOR]
What they need to know from me (if anything): [FACTS — kid name, dates, any specifics]
If you're missing anything you'd normally include (a date, a signature line, an address), ask me ONE question. Otherwise just draft.
Here's the message:
[PASTE THE EMAIL / NOTICE / FORM LANGUAGE]
Why "ask ONE question" matters.
Without that line, Claude sometimes guesses and produces a draft with bracketed placeholders you have to fix. With it, Claude asks the one real thing it's missing (e.g., "Which kid is this for?") and then gives you a finished draft. Small detail, big time save.
Five reply templates worth keeping.
Same voice, different situations. Save these wherever you saved the five Phase 1 templates — they're the household-admin equivalent.
Template 1 — Permission slip / form reply
Draft a short permission slip reply in my voice. Kid: [NAME]. Event: [WHAT]. Date: [DATE]. Any allergies, medications, or special notes the school needs: [FROM KID PROFILE, OR STATE NONE]. My emergency contact info for this trip: [PHONE]. End with a yes or no on chaperoning: [YES / NO / MAYBE — HERE'S WHEN I'M AVAILABLE].
Template 2 — HOA / landlord dispute (respectful, on-record)
Draft a reply in my voice to [HOA / landlord / property manager] about [ISSUE]. I disagree with [WHAT]. My position: [BRIEF REASON]. I want: [OUTCOME]. Keep the tone respectful, on-record, and factual. Reference the specific section of the [bylaws / lease] if it applies (check the file in this Project). Do not threaten legal action. End with a clear ask and a date by which I'd like a response.
Template 3 — Landlord / maintenance request
Draft a maintenance request to my landlord in my voice. What's happening: [PROBLEM]. When it started: [DATE / APPROX]. Model or location if relevant: [PULL FROM HOME OPS IF AVAILABLE]. Urgency: [EMERGENCY / THIS WEEK / WHENEVER]. My availability for access: [DAYS / TIMES]. Confirm I'll be documenting this conversation in writing (keep that line polite — they expect it).
Template 4 — School absence / late / early pickup note
Draft a short school note in my voice. Kid: [NAME]. What happened: [ABSENT / LATE / EARLY PICKUP / MISSED TEST]. Reason: [ONE LINE — don't over-explain]. Make-up or next-step ask (if any): [WORK TO MAKE UP / TEST RESCHEDULE]. Keep it under four sentences.
Template 5 — Neighbor coordination (carpool, borrow, share)
Draft a short neighbor message in my voice. Context: [WHAT we're coordinating — carpool, borrow a tool, share a pet sitter, exchange keys for mail, etc.]. What I'm proposing: [SPECIFIC ASK]. Flexibility: [WHEN I CAN / CAN'T]. Easy exit clause: give them a graceful way to say no. Warm but not fussy.
The batch-draft move — one sitting, whole pile.
The above templates handle one reply at a time. For the Tuesday-night pile of six things that have built up, use the same batch move from the Sunday Assembly — but aimed at household admin instead of calendar items.
Handle the whole pile
I'm going to paste a bunch of household admin messages that need replies. For each one, do three things:
(1) Triage — is this actually urgent, or can it wait? (Respond within 24 hours / this week / this month / ignore.)
(2) Draft a reply in my voice, using the appropriate template style (permission slip / landlord / HOA / school / neighbor / other).
(3) Flag anything that needs a decision from me first (e.g., "do you actually want to chaperone?") before the reply goes out.
Number the messages 1, 2, 3… so I can match your drafts to what I pasted. Keep each draft short.
Here are the messages:
[PASTE EACH MESSAGE, SEPARATED BY A BLANK LINE OR "---"]
How to work through the output
- Read the triage line first. Kill anything marked "ignore" — don't even reply.
- For the "respond within 24 hours" items, send Claude's draft (or quick-edit and send).
- For the "this week" items, keep Claude's draft in a reply window and go back after dinner.
- For any decision flag, make the call in 30 seconds and reply to Claude with the answer — it'll update the draft.
Pro bonus — batch-draft in Gmail.
If you have Cowork from Phase 3 and the Gmail connector turned on (set up in the Cowork setup), you can have Cowork draft the replies straight into your Gmail drafts folder. Nothing sends without you — every draft waits for your review. Same batch move, zero copy-paste.
Pro bonus — batch-draft in Gmail
Using Cowork with my Gmail: scan my inbox for household admin messages in the last 7 days — school emails, HOA notices, landlord or property manager messages, neighbor coordination, permission slips. For each one that needs a reply:
(1) Label it "Household Admin" in Gmail.
(2) Draft a reply in my voice using the templates from my Home Operations Project.
(3) Save each draft to my Gmail drafts folder — do NOT send anything.
When you're done, hand me back a list of everything you drafted, sorted by urgency (next 24 hours / this week / whenever). Pause before starting — I want to approve the first draft before you do the rest.
The "pause before starting" move.
Standard safety pattern from Cowork Safety FAQ. Cowork pauses after the first draft so you can confirm it's hitting the right tone and triaging correctly before it grinds through the rest. Saves you from a drafts folder full of 12 messages that all got the tone slightly wrong.