Perkins Private preview

A Claude Code plugin for people looking for work

Tailored resumes. Every application, tracked. A work-search log that holds up.

Perkins tailors your resume to each posting using only facts you can back, keeps every application and follow-up on one dashboard, and, if you're on an unemployment claim, keeps the weekly work-search log your state asks for (Washington today).

Get started in five steps Read the setup guide

What you need: Claude Code on your own Claude plan, Python 3.11 or later, and Edge or Chrome. About ten minutes to set up.

Private preview. The guides are open to everyone. Installing needs an invite until the public release.

Work-search log Week ending Sat · Sun to Sat
01Application · Larkspur Analytics, Director of OperationsSolid
02Interview · Kestrel Energy, Head of Customer SuccessSolid
03Application · Alder Robotics, VP of Program ManagementSolid

Example data

5steps to your first tailored resume
2modes: searching, or searching on a claim
7job board systems it can read
0sign-ins, passwords, or claimant IDs stored

How to get started

Set up once. Tailor in minutes.

Five steps take you from nothing installed to your first tailored resume. Each one links to the full guide if you want the detail.

  1. Install the basics

    Python 3.11 or later, Claude Code, and a Chromium browser (Edge or Chrome) for printing PDFs. Then one package, plus one more on Windows.

    pip install markdown pip install tzdata # Windows only
    Setup guide: requirements by platform

  2. Add the plugin to Claude Code

    Perkins installs like any Claude Code plugin. Run these two commands inside Claude Code.

    /plugin marketplace add ReboundMan/Perkins /plugin install perkins@perkins
    Setup guide: installing and updating

  3. Run setup and pick your mode

    Setup asks where to keep your data (a folder you own, ~/job-search by default), then one question: are you also tracking work search for an unemployment claim? It also shows you how to let Claude Code read that folder without asking every time. Run the command, or just say "set up Perkins."

    /perkins:setup
    The two modes, explained

  4. Start your master resume, then let it grow

    Start master.md from the resume you already have. It doesn't need to be complete on day one. The master fills in as you tailor: you review each new version and ask for changes in plain words, like "add the vendor consolidation from 2023" or "the team was 40 people, not 35." Every fact that comes up that way goes back into your master too, so each new resume starts from a better record than the last.

    1. Tailor a version
    2. Review it and ask for edits
    3. New facts flow back into the master

    The tailoring model starts with five example role types you can rename and fill in, or ask Claude to draft them from your master.

    How tailoring works

  5. Tailor your first posting

    Just ask in plain words, with the posting's link. Review the draft and the gaps it names, and ask for whatever edits it needs. Apply yourself, then tell Perkins you sent it so it can record the application.

    Tailor my resume for https://jobs.example.com/ops-director I submitted the Larkspur application today

    Prefer commands? /perkins:tailor <link> and /perkins:tailor submitted Larkspur do the same thing.

    After that, day to day

    • Ask "where does my search stand?" (or run /perkins:job-status) to see what's due.
    • Say "log my interview with Kestrel today" (or run /perkins:log-activity) to record an interview, a referral, or a recruiter call.
    • Open dashboard.html in your data folder to see the whole search on one page.

Two modes, one setting

Searching, or searching on a claim

Most people only need Search. Turn on claims tracking when an unemployment claim starts, and turn it off when it ends. Your log stays put either way.

Default

Search

Everything you need to run a focused job search.

  • A tailored, fact-checked resume for every posting
  • Every application, conversation, and lead in one tracker
  • The dashboard, with follow-ups that are due
  • Employers to watch, and new postings found for you
Washington today

Search with tracking for Unemployment Claims

Everything in Search, plus the weekly record your state asks for.

  • A work-search log with your state's required fields, one file per claim week
  • Each entry graded solid or check, with confirmation screenshots you attach
  • A midweek check and a Monday reminder to file your claim
  • The claim week on your dashboard: this week's count and last week's filing

The dashboard

The whole search on one page

Rebuilt after every change. Overdue in red, coming up in amber, and with claims tracking on, the claim week at the top.

Below the panel, every table in your tracker: Submitted, Conversations and referrals, Considering, Passed, and Employers to watch.

Features

Built for the way a search really goes

Three jobs, done carefully: get the resume right, keep the search organized, and keep the weekly rhythm your claim depends on.

Tailor

A resume aimed at this job, built from your record.

True to your record

It reorders and rewords around what the posting asks for first. Every number, date, and title traces back to your master resume. Anything you can't back is named as a gap and kept out of the resume. Facts you add while reviewing go into the master, so the next version starts with them.

Reads the posting, ignores the tricks

Some postings hide text aimed at AI screeners. Perkins treats the posting as information, tells you what it found, and never follows it.

Gets the posting when sites make it hard

When a careers page loads slowly or hides behind scripts, it tries the rendered page and the public data feeds behind Workday, Greenhouse, Ashby, and iCIMS. It asks you to paste only as a last resort, and never signs in.

PDFs that print right

Every resume is saved as Markdown and a clean PDF, checked to fit on two pages, on Windows, macOS, or Linux.

Track

Every application and lead, and what to do next.

One dashboard

Counts across the top, a due-soon list of follow-ups, and every table below, rebuilt each time something changes.

Employers to watch

Keep a short list of employers worth checking every two weeks, with where they post jobs and any limit on how often you can apply.

New postings, found for you

It reads the public job boards behind your watch list (Greenhouse, Ashby, Lever, Workable, BambooHR, Rippling, and Workday) and adds senior roles that are new since your last check as leads.

Your files, in your folder

Everything is plain Markdown in a folder you choose. If you use Claude Docs, Perkins can keep a copy there too, and stops to ask if the two ever differ.

Keep the rhythm

The weekly cadence a search and a claim run on.

A work-search log that holds up

Your state's required fields, a grade on each entry, and confirmation screenshots you attach. It only logs an application after you confirm you sent it, and never guesses a field.

Claims tracking

Reminders that follow the claim week

A Wednesday count, a firmer nudge on Friday if you're short, and a Monday reminder to file last week's claim.

Claims tracking

Paced to the week

Set a weekly target, and hold extra applications for a later week instead of spending them all at once.

Reminders your way

Copy in a ready-made recipe: a scheduled Claude Code reminder, or a weekly GitHub issue listing what's due. Both stay off until you turn them on.

Built to be trusted

Five things Perkins never does

You decide where to apply and you press submit. Perkins tailors, records, counts, and reminds. That line doesn't move.

  • Never applies for you.You review every resume and submit it yourself.
  • Never signs in to anything.A login wall means you paste the posting text instead.
  • Never stores your SSN, claimant ID, or benefits login.Not in your files, not in your logs, not anywhere.
  • Never logs an application you haven't confirmed.A resume nobody sent isn't a job search activity.
  • Never guesses a field.If something is missing, it asks you, so your log stays accurate.

Questions

Before you start

What does it cost?

Perkins is free and open source under the MIT license. You need Claude Code, which runs on your own Claude plan.

If you like it, or it helps you, let me know! If you want to buy me a frosty beverage as a thank you, that's great.

Which states does claims tracking support?

Washington today. Each state's rules live in one small file that lists the agency's own sources and the date they were last checked, so more states can be added carefully.

Where does my information live?

In a folder on your computer that you choose, outside the plugin, so updates never touch it. Claude reads it in your own session. If you turn on the Claude Docs copy, your resumes also live in your Claude Docs account.

What happens when my claim ends?

Switch back to Search. Reminders stop after your last claim week, and your log is kept as it is, with a note on how long your state asks you to hold onto it.