[🛠] Making Daily Review v2 Too Big, Then Cutting It Back Down

✨ GPT-5.5 Summary 　

A record of expanding Daily Review v2 into an automation-centered system the day after reopening the blog, then immediately rolling it back into a manual check-in log that can be closed within 15 minutes.

Yesterday, while organizing the blog restart post, the blog reopened.

But just because the blog reopened does not mean Daily Review immediately became sustainable.

In fact, the first thing I touched today was Daily Review. The center of this blog is ultimately the Today Was series. If the post that closes each day does not return, the blog restart ends as a declaration.

The problem was clear.

While trying to revive Daily Review, I almost created a system that was too large.

At First, I Attached a Lot of Automation

The first commit was affd30e.

affd30e  update: DR v2 workflow

At that point, I added quite a lot at once.

_project/blog-system/scripts/new-daily-review.py
_project/blog-system/scripts/prepare-codex-feedback.py
_project/blog-system/generated/.gitignore
_project/blog-system/weekly-review-template.md
_project/blog-system/monthly-inbody-review-template.md
_project/blog-system/daily-review-v2-template.md
_project/blog-system/codex-feedback-prompt.md
_project/blog-system/README.md
_project/blog-system/backlog.md

From the outside, it looked good.

There was a script to create a new Daily Review draft, a script to create a Codex feedback request file, and templates for weekly reviews and monthly InBody reviews. The generated/ folder was excluded from git, and feedback request files were meant to be used only as work files.

The current workflow was also written in the README.

1. Create the Daily Review post first.
2. After finishing the body, request GPT-5.5 feedback.
3. If needed, use a helper script to create a Codex request file.
4. Open the generated request in Codex and receive short feedback.

From an automation perspective, it seemed pretty plausible.

But I immediately felt uneasy.

Was this really necessary right now?

Publishing Came Before Features

The goal of Daily Review v2 was not to build an impressive operating system.

The goal was to close the day within 15 minutes at the end of the day. To check whether I won today, what I left behind, how I handled my body, and where I escaped before producing output.

But if I attach helper scripts, generated requests, weekly reviews, and monthly InBody reviews, the system becomes fancy. At the same time, the startup cost rises.

Daily Review does not stop only because features are missing.

Rather, the larger the format becomes, the less I want to write it. When the pressure to “write it properly” attaches itself, a record that should close each day turns into another task.

So I rolled it back immediately.

397395c  revert: DR v2 workflow changes

In this commit, I deleted the helper scripts and weekly/monthly templates I had just added.

_project/blog-system/scripts/new-daily-review.py
_project/blog-system/scripts/prepare-codex-feedback.py
_project/blog-system/weekly-review-template.md
_project/blog-system/monthly-inbody-review-template.md
_project/blog-system/generated/.gitignore

This rollback was the core of today’s work.

It is easy to attach many features. Especially when working on a blog system, the desire to automate keeps appearing. But what I needed right now was not an automated review operating system. It was a Daily Review I could still write tonight.

I Reduced Daily Review v2 Back into a 15-Minute Closing Log

After the rollback, I corrected the direction in cf87c2a.

cf87c2a  update: daily review v2 feedback flow

The README description changed.

Daily Review v2 is a 15-minute closing log for the day.

The key phrase here is closing log.

Daily Review v2 is not a plan for tomorrow. It is not a place to create a new system. It is a record that judges today while closing the day.

So I reduced the rules like this.

Write the free-form diary first.
Fill in the short DR v2 control log by hand.
Focus on closing today, and do not create plans for tomorrow.
Leave the next restart point only as a bookmark, not a plan.
Attach GPT-5.5 feedback only after writing the diary and DR v2.

This direction is right.

Making plans feels good. But Daily Review is not a post written to feel good. It is a post that checks what I actually did today, where I collapsed, and how I handled my body and mind.

I Changed the Template into a Hand-Filled Structure

daily-review-v2-template.md changed along with it.

Previously, it started directly with the judgment section. Now it starts with a free-form diary.

## 💭 Diary

-

## 🧭 DR v2

Below that is the control log.

Today's judgment
Today's core goal
Today's tasks
Output
Body log
Avoidance log
Next restart point

The phrase Next restart point is important.

At first, there were flows like tomorrow’s adjustment and tomorrow’s first action. But that quickly makes both AI and me start creating plans. Plans are necessary, but if planning grows inside the Daily Review body, the function of closing today becomes blurry.

So I lowered it to Next restart point.

Not tomorrow’s entire plan. Just the position to restart from. A bookmark.

I Limited GPT-5.5 Feedback to Five Lines

I also reduced the GPT-5.5 feedback prompt.

Before, there was room for it to expand into Chief of Staff, Auditor, Body Coach, Builder, Faith & Values, Final Verdict, and Tomorrow’s First Action.

The prompt I revised today reduced it to five roles.

Executor
Watcher
PT Coach
Mental Coach
Faith Coach

Each role writes only one sentence.

I also made the prohibitions explicit.

No long comforting messages
No suggestions for new systems
No automation/migration/refactoring suggestions
No guessing facts that are not in the record
No creating goals or tasks for the next day
No more than one sentence per role

This is not about preventing AI from being used.

It needs limits because AI writes too well. If left alone, AI adds comfort, new plans, and automation suggestions. Then Daily Review grows again.

In Daily Review v2, AI is not the author. It is a short, sharp coach based on the diary and DR v2 already written.

What Changed Today

This evening’s flow can be summarized in three commits.

affd30e  Greatly expanded the DR v2 workflow
397395c  Immediately rolled back the expanded workflow and helper scripts
cf87c2a  Reorganized it as a 15-minute closing log and five-line GPT-5.5 feedback flow

By file, the core is this.

_project/blog-system/README.md
_project/blog-system/backlog.md
_project/blog-system/codex-feedback-prompt.md
_project/blog-system/daily-review-v2-template.md

The deleted files are important too.

_project/blog-system/scripts/new-daily-review.py
_project/blog-system/scripts/prepare-codex-feedback.py
_project/blog-system/weekly-review-template.md
_project/blog-system/monthly-inbody-review-template.md
_project/blog-system/generated/.gitignore

This deletion was not a failure.

It was correcting the direction.

Result

Daily Review v2 did not become flashier today.

It became smaller instead.

At first, I tried to attach automation, weekly reviews, monthly reviews, and feedback request generation. But that direction did not solve the current core problem. What I need right now is “Can I actually write this every day?”

So I deleted the helper scripts, reduced the template into a hand-filled closing log, and limited GPT-5.5 feedback to five lines.

From a portfolio perspective, this is better too.

It shows not just what I built, but what I cut back. I could have added features, but I rolled them back because they could damage the user flow. The user of this blog is ultimately me. If I cannot write every day, even the most impressive automation fails.

Today’s Daily Review v2 is not a completed giant system.

But it came back down toward something I can write every day again. That is right for now.