Generate Annual Schedule

Overview

Locate research directory: Read .claude/kids-camp-planner.local.md to get the research_dir path (default: camp-research). All user data paths below are relative to this directory. The family profile is at <research_dir>/family-profile.md.

Generate a consolidated annual camp schedule that combines all school-break periods into a single view. Reads summer assignments from the spreadsheet's Daily Schedule tab, looks up non-summer dates from the school calendar, applies provider assignments for PA days and breaks, and produces both a markdown schedule and an updated spreadsheet with an "Annual Schedule" tab.

When to Use

• After the summer schedule is built (Daily Schedule tab populated)
• When PA day, winter break, or March break plans are finalized
• To refresh the annual view after any schedule changes
• To produce a full-year cost summary

Workflow

Step 1: Gather Inputs

Read the family profile from <research_dir>/family-profile.md for:

• Children's names
• School board

Locate the required files:

• Spreadsheet: The budget xlsx (e.g., examples/sample-budget.xlsx) with Provider Comparison and Daily Schedule tabs
• School calendar: The school board's calendar file in ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/camp-planning/references/school-calendars/

Step 2: Confirm Non-Summer Assignments

The summer schedule comes from the spreadsheet. For non-summer periods, confirm or accept defaults:

Period	Default Provider	Override?
PA Days	City of Toronto	Ask user if different
Winter Break	YMCA Cedar Glen	Ask user if different
March Break	YMCA Cedar Glen	Ask user if different
Fall Break	Same as --break-provider	Ask user if different

Ask the user: "For PA days I'll use City of Toronto ($62/day) and for winter/March/fall breaks I'll use YMCA Cedar Glen ($87/day). Want to change any of these?"

If children need different providers on specific days (e.g., Emma does Science Camp for a PA day while Liam does YMCA), create an overrides JSON file. Every day can have a different provider per child — see the --overrides argument below.

Step 3: Run the Generator Script

python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/generate-annual-schedule/scripts/generate_annual_schedule.py \
  --xlsx examples/sample-budget.xlsx \
  --calendar ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/camp-planning/references/school-calendars/public-boards/tcdsb.md \
  --children "Emma,Liam" \
  --pa-day-provider "City of Toronto" \
  --break-provider "YMCA Cedar Glen" \
  --output-md <research_dir>/annual-schedule-2025-2026.md \
  --update-xlsx

For per-child, per-day provider assignments, add an overrides file:

python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/generate-annual-schedule/scripts/generate_annual_schedule.py \
  --xlsx examples/sample-budget.xlsx \
  --calendar ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/camp-planning/references/school-calendars/public-boards/tcdsb.md \
  --children "Emma,Liam" \
  --pa-day-provider "City of Toronto" \
  --break-provider "YMCA Cedar Glen" \
  --overrides <research_dir>/schedule-overrides.json \
  --output-md <research_dir>/annual-schedule-2025-2026.md \
  --update-xlsx

Arguments:

• --xlsx: Path to the budget spreadsheet (reads Provider Comparison + Daily Schedule tabs)
• --calendar: Path to the school calendar markdown file
• --children: Comma-separated children's names (must match spreadsheet column headers)
• --pa-day-provider: Default provider for PA day coverage (must exist in Provider Comparison tab)
• --break-provider: Default provider for winter break and March break (must exist in Provider Comparison tab)
• --fall-break-provider: Default provider for fall break coverage (defaults to same as --break-provider; must exist in Provider Comparison tab)
• --overrides: Optional JSON file with per-child, per-date provider overrides (see below)
• --output-md: Path for the generated markdown file
• --update-xlsx: Flag to add/replace "Annual Schedule" tab in the spreadsheet

Overrides JSON format:

The overrides file lets you assign different providers to each child on any date. Children not listed for a date fall back to the period default (--pa-day-provider or --break-provider). Summer dates can also be overridden (replacing the spreadsheet assignment for that child).

{
  "2025-09-26": {"Emma": "Science Camp Toronto", "Liam": "YMCA Cedar Glen"},
  "2025-10-10": {"Liam": "YMCA Cedar Glen"},
  "2025-12-22": {"Emma": "City of Toronto"},
  "2026-03-16": {"Emma": "Science Camp Toronto", "Liam": "City of Toronto"}
}

All provider names in the overrides file must exist in the Provider Comparison tab.

Multi-school families: If children attend different schools, pass per-child calendars:

python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/generate-annual-schedule/scripts/generate_annual_schedule.py \
  --xlsx examples/sample-budget.xlsx \
  --calendar "Emma:${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/.../tdsb.md" \
  --calendar "Liam:${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/.../gist.md" \
  --children "Emma,Liam" \
  --pa-day-provider "City of Toronto" \
  --break-provider "YMCA Cedar Glen" \
  --output-md <research_dir>/annual-schedule-2025-2026.md \
  --update-xlsx

On days where only some children are off school, the others show "In school" with $0 cost.

Step 4: Review Output

The script produces:

Markdown file with:

• Period-by-period sections (Summer, each PA Day, School Holidays, Fall Break, Winter Break, March Break)
• Day-by-day tables with per-child camp assignments and costs
• Period subtotals
• Annual summary table with total days and costs

Updated spreadsheet with:

• New "Annual Schedule" tab covering all ~64 days
• Dynamic column layout matching Daily Schedule: 3 prefix + (N x 6 child block) + 1 daily total (supports 1-4 children)
• VLOOKUP formulas referencing Provider Comparison tab for costs
• SUM formulas for totals
• Existing 4 tabs preserved untouched

Step 5: Present Summary

Show the user the annual summary:

Annual Schedule Generated:
- Summer 2025: 40 days
- PA Days: 7 days
- School Holidays: 5 days
- Winter Break: 7 days
- March Break: 5 days
- Total: 64 days

Files updated:
- <research_dir>/annual-schedule-2025-2026.md
- examples/sample-budget.xlsx (Annual Schedule tab added)

What the Script Reads

From Provider Comparison tab (cols A-M, rows 4+):

• Provider names and daily rates (camp fee, before care, after care, lunch, total)
• Supports up to 3 rate sections: Summer, PA Day, and Break (Winter/March/Fall)
• PA Day and Break columns are optional; when empty, summer rates are used as fallback

From Daily Schedule tab (dynamic columns, rows 4-43):

• Date, week number, and camp name per child (up to 4 children)
• Column layout: 3 prefix cols (Date, Day, Week#) + 6 cols per child + 1 Daily Total
• For 2 children: cols A-P (16 cols); for 3: cols A-V (22 cols); for 4: cols A-AB (28 cols)
• These are the summer assignments (40 rows)

From school calendar markdown:

• PA day dates and purposes (from ### PA Days - Elementary table)
• School holidays — single-day holidays like Thanksgiving, Family Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Victoria Day (from ### Holidays & Breaks)
• Fall break dates, if applicable (from Fall Break row in ### Holidays & Breaks)
• Winter break dates (from Christmas Break row in ### Holidays & Breaks)
• March break dates (from Mid-Winter Break (March Break) row)

Output Format

See ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/examples/sample-annual-schedule.md for the complete output format.

Additional Resources

Scripts

• scripts/generate_annual_schedule.py - Read spreadsheet + calendar, generate annual schedule markdown and xlsx tab. Supports --update-xlsx to add Annual Schedule tab to existing spreadsheet.

Related Skills

• Plan Summer: Build the summer daily schedule that feeds into the annual view
• Plan PA Days: Look up PA day dates and find coverage programs
• Plan March Break: Plan March break camp coverage
• Budget Optimization: Calculate costs and apply discounts