Recruit User Guide & Visual Walkthrough

Complete visual walkthrough and reference manual for Recruit.

Recruit is a native macOS command center (Recruit.app) paired with an AI-assisted Go CLI (recruit) and background daemon (recruitd) for technical job discovery, intelligent fit scoring, opportunity pipeline execution, network leverage management, and interview mastery.

View on GitHub 🍳 Open Practical Cookbook →


1. Architecture & Hybrid Storage

Recruit separates its interactive macOS SwiftUI interface from its core Go data and AI engine:

  • Native macOS App (Recruit.app): Provides the multi-column workbench, drag-and-drop Kanban pipeline, Vim-enabled collateral editors (:_), interactive stage playbooks, and WhisperKit voice coaching.
  • CLI & Daemon (recruit / recruitd): Executes multi-source job scraping, weighted AI fit scoring, Google Contacts/Gmail synchronization, and scheduled background routines.
  • Hybrid Storage:
    • SQLite (~/.local/share/recruit/recruit.db): Stores structured records across 25+ tables (jobs, opportunities, people, interactions, search firms, target orgs, prospect events, flashcards, and unemployment outreach logs).
    • Markdown Collateral (~/.local/share/recruit/data/): Stores human-readable, Git-friendly Markdown files for tailored resumes, cover letters, company research briefs, gap-bridge worksheets, and interview preparation guides.
  • Dual-Mode AI Routing: Supports local Ollama inference and cloud providers (Google Gemini and Anthropic Claude) with automatic rate-limit handling, search-grounding fallback, and an Idle AI Queue that defers heavy background generation until your Mac is idle.

2. Dashboard & Daily Routine

Recruit Dashboard Overview Recruit Dashboard Overview (annotated)

  1. Unified Command Sidebar: Navigate across the Dashboard, Jobs (Active, Starred, Passed, All Jobs), Pipeline (Board, List), Network (People, Search Firms, Connections, Target Orgs), Prospecting, Tools (Duplicates, Ghost Sweep, Sharpen, Unemployment), and Profile & Insights.
  2. Today’s Networking Agenda: Surfaces ranked, context-aware relationship actions—such as warm intro requests at companies with active openings, pre-interview check-ins, and high-priority referral follow-ups.
  3. Follow-Up Alerts & Tasks: Highlights overdue and upcoming opportunity follow-up dates alongside action items linked to specific opportunities or contacts.
  4. Daily Routine Checklist: Tracks daily and weekly automation tasks (Fetch Jobs, Scan Email Alerts, AI Discover Jobs, Scrape Target Careers, Fetch Business Signals, Daily Briefing, Sync Google Contacts, and Fetch Prospect Events). Click Run All Due or hold Option+Shift to enqueue tasks into the background Idle AI Queue.

Interactive Widget Dock: Use the floating dock at the bottom of the Dashboard to toggle cards on or off and reorder your layout.


3. Job Discovery, Tokenized Triage & AI Fit Scoring

Jobs Workbench & AI Fit Scoring Jobs Workbench & AI Fit Scoring (annotated)

  1. Tokenized Search & Triage List: Filter hundreds of scraped listings using Stash-model key:value tokens (company:, remote:, source:, is:starred, is:fit, score:) with Tab auto-completion and quick filter pills.
  2. Role Header & AI Fit Reasons: Every listing is evaluated against your candidate profile (profile.yaml) across role level, technical domain, skills overlap, compensation band, and remote/location preferences. Fit reasons clearly separate green profile matches from yellow gap warnings.
  3. Notes & Full Requisition Spec: Add personal margin notes in a Vim-capable editor (:_) and inspect the cleaned Markdown requisition spec without leaving the workbench.
  4. Source Metadata & Tagged Email: Tracks the originating ATS (Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, Workday, or email alert) and generates a deterministic plus-addressed application email (e.g., alex.rivera+job-vang@example.com) so inbound recruiter replies automatically correlate with the job.

Ghost Sweep & Duplicate Detection

  • Duplicates (Tools -> Duplicates): Groups cross-posted requisitions across multiple job boards and merges them while preserving notes and history.
  • Ghost Sweep (Tools -> Ghost Sweep): Concurrently verifies HTTP liveness and ATS indicators to flag expired, filled, or stale “ghost” listings for one-click dismissal.

4. Pipeline Kanban & Interactive Opportunity Playbook

Pipeline Kanban & Stage Playbook Pipeline Kanban & Stage Playbook (annotated)

  1. Drag-and-Drop Kanban Columns: Move opportunities across Interested, Applied, Screening, Interviewing, Offer, and Closed. Cards display fit score badges, days-in-stage counters, priority flags (P1–P3), and follow-up alarms.
  2. Opportunity Header & Stage Bar: Transition stages with one click, launch Auto-Package (which generates a tailored resume, cover letter, and research brief in one batch), or open the Application Assistant side-by-side browser to auto-fill ATS forms.
  3. Interactive Opportunity Playbook: Guides each opportunity through an 11-milestone roadmap organized into four phases (Strategic Intel & Positioning, Tailored Collateral, Outreach & Conversion, and Interview Mastery & Close), highlighting the single Recommended Next action.
  4. Strategic Intel & Tailored Collateral:
    • Company Research Brief: Synthesizes product architecture, engineering culture, recent funding/earnings signals, and executive leadership.
    • Gap-Bridge Positioning Worksheet: Maps your career achievements directly against hard role requirements and frames mitigation narratives for potential skill gaps.
    • Tailored Resume & Cover Letter Editors: Split-pane Markdown editors with Style Blueprint voice enforcement, ATS keyword coverage meters, PDF export, and a 3-Stage Verification Pipeline (Claim Extraction -> Profile Grounding -> Fabrication Detection) that guarantees zero hallucinated metrics or employers.

5. Executive Network CRM & AI Leverage Scoring

Network CRM & AI Leverage Scoring Network CRM & AI Leverage Scoring (annotated)

  1. Curated People CRM & Tier Filters: Organize your professional network into relationship cadence tiers—Close (30 days), Regular (90 days), Weak (180 days), and Cold—and immediately filter for Stale contacts overdue for a touchpoint.
  2. Outreach & Relationship Cadence: Draft context-aware outreach emails (Compose Email), run deep background research (Research Person), log coffee chats or referrals (Log Interaction), and mark contacts touched with one click.
  3. Executive Network Leverage: Computes a composite 0–100% leverage score across four dimensions—Warmth & Health, Seniority & Influence, Target Org Proximity, and Advocacy & Reciprocity—and surfaces an explicit Opportunity Creation Unlock explaining how the contact can help unlock an active role.
  4. Contact Metadata & Context Notes: Links contacts directly to Company Research pages, search firms, LinkedIn profiles, and interaction histories.

Search Firms, Connections & Target Orgs

  • Search Firms: Track executive recruiting boutiques, retained search partners, and individual headhunters alongside their domain specialties.
  • Connections (connections.csv): Import your raw LinkedIn connections archive to cross-reference 1st-degree insiders at any company in your job feed before promoting key contacts into your curated People CRM.
  • Target Orgs & Prospecting: Monitor high-priority companies for leadership changes, funding rounds, expansion signals, and newly opened engineering requisitions.

6. Sharpen (Interview Prep), Audio Coaching & Unemployment Tracker

  • Sharpen (Tools -> Sharpen):
    • Spaced-Repetition Flashcards (SM-2): Drill system design, leadership narratives, and domain concepts with keyboard-first grading (Space to flip, 1–4 for Again, Hard, Good, Easy).
    • Practice Prompts & Voice Coaching: Record spoken answers to behavioral and architectural questions using local WhisperKit transcription and receive structured AI rubric scores on clarity, STAR structure, technical depth, and executive presence.
  • Live Interview Transcripts: Capture or import technical screen recordings, diarize speakers, and run AI post-mortems to extract questions asked and follow-up action items.
  • Unemployment Outreach Tracker (Tools -> Unemployment): Automatically logs qualifying job applications and networking activities by benefit week and exports audit-ready CSV/PDF compliance reports.

7. Keyboard Shortcuts & Built-In Consoles

ShortcutAction
Cmd+KOpen Universal Command Palette (jump to any view, job, opportunity, contact, or action)
Cmd+F / /Focus tokenized search bar in the active list
Tab / Shift+TabCycle auto-suggest filter tokens (company:, stage:, tier:, is:) or slash commands
j / kNavigate down / up in Jobs, Pipeline, People, and Flashcard lists
s / xStar (s) or Pass/Dismiss (x) the selected job listing
pPromote the selected job listing to the Opportunity Pipeline
Ctrl+`Toggle the bottom Drop-Down Terminal & SQLite SQL Console
Cmd+?Open the searchable 24-topic in-app Recruit User Guide