Harness AI to Analyze Your Workflow with Custom PowerShell Scripts

Introduction

In today's fast-paced work environment, keeping track of our progress and productivity can often feel overwhelming. Whether you create scripts, write blogs, or produce videos, files can accumulate across various directories, leaving you questioning, "What did I accomplish?" To tackle this challenge, I developed a PowerShell function named Get-WhatIWorkedOn. This article will walk you through how it works and how you can harness AI to gain valuable insights into your workflow.

Understanding the Function

The Get-WhatIWorkedOn function enables you to summarize your recent work across various directories. It efficiently recurses through specified folders, checking for files modified within a defined time frame. Here’s an overview of how it operates:

1. Directory Structure: I maintain multiple directories for my projects including live streams, PowerShell AI assistants, videos, blog posts, and custom agents. This cluttered ecosystem makes it challenging to recollect what I worked on previously.

2. Default Operation: By default, the function retrieves files worked on yesterday or today. It displays the filenames and last modified timestamps, giving me an immediate overview of my recent activities.

3. Custom Date Range: Beyond the default setting, you can specify custom date ranges. For instance, you can check files modified in the last week or month to see a broader array of your work.

4. Exporting to Excel: A useful feature of this function is its capability to export results to an Excel file using the Export-Excel command from an external module called ImportExcel. This allows for easy tracking and historical insight into your work.

Integrating AI for Deeper Insights

While tracking activities is insightful, I wanted to go a step further by leveraging AI. I integrated my PowerShell function with an AI model to analyze the collected data more comprehensively. Here’s how I achieved this:

1. AI Integration: Using the Invoke-OIChat function from the PSAI module, I can send data directly to the AI for analysis. This includes the filenames and the context of the work performed.

2. AI Prompts: When invoking the AI, I provide a prompt that instructs it to act as an RS Technic journalist. The AI reviews the provided filenames, identifies common themes, and generates a report summarizing the activities and suggesting future work orientations.

3. Output Format: The AI’s output is formatted in markdown, making it easy to preview and read. It highlights key takeaways, thematic insights, and recommendations that can steer my future projects.

4. Example Findings: In recent uses of this function, the AI has generated summaries around Powershell projects, live streams, training materials, and more, connecting the dots between diverse files and suggesting opportunities for collaboration and documentation initiatives.

By blending PowerShell scripts with AI capabilities, you can enhance your workflow analysis significantly, helping you remain organized and informed about your contributions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Get-WhatIWorkedOn PowerShell function not only aids in tracking your work but also pairs effectively with AI to analyze and summarize project insights. By utilizing these tools, you can streamline your work process, generate valuable reports, and focus on innovation in your projects.

If you're interested in implementing this solution, I will post a link to the Get-WhatIWorkedOn script, along with instructions for installing the PSAI module.

Keywords

• PowerShell
• AI
• Workflow
• Automation
• Export to Excel
• Analysis
• Productivity
• Scripting
• Insights
• Project Tracking

FAQ

Q1: What is the purpose of the Get-WhatIWorkedOn function?
A: The Get-WhatIWorkedOn function summarizes files you have worked on by checking various directories for modified files over a specified time frame.

Q2: Can I customize the date range for the analysis?
A: Yes, the function allows you to specify a custom date range to retrieve files modified over days, weeks, or months.

Q3: How does the integration of AI enhance the analysis?
A: AI provides deeper insights by identifying patterns and connections between your projects, offering summaries and recommendations based on the filenames you worked on.

Q4: What output formats can I expect from this analysis?
A: You can export the data to Excel and receive AI-generated insights in markdown format, making it easy to read and analyze.

Q5: Where can I find the Get-WhatIWorkedOn script?
A: The script will be made available via a provided link, along with installation instructions for the required modules.