Turn new city planning filings into a source-backed lead sheet with a recorded OpenAI Codex skill
PLOT Daily used the Record a skill feature in the OpenAI Codex app to capture up to 30 minutes of screen work in LA City Planning's Recent Case Filings, then let Codex write a skill that repeats the work. For each case the skill pulls the address, applicant, representative, case number, filing date, project description, and requested entitlement, reads the submittal documents and plans for project team contacts, and builds a Google Sheet with source links and research notes. The first run left some contact cells blank and created a new sheet instead of appending to the existing sheet; one added instruction fixed each problem.
At a glance
- Tools used
- OpenAI CodexGoogle Sheets
- Category
- Lead follow-up & inside sales
- Audience
- broker, investor
- Difficulty
- No-code setup
- Source
- How We Turned City Planning Filings Into a Repeatable Lead-Gen Skill
PLOT Daily Editorial Desk (AI for CRE Collective) · Article · Jul 28, 2026 - First step
- Create the Google Sheet with your lead columns first, then open Codex, go to Plugins, then Skills, choose Record a skill, and research two or three new filings in your city's planning portal by hand while the recorder runs.
Compliance note: Planning filings are public records, but cold outreach to the contacts still has to follow do-not-call, CAN-SPAM, and state solicitation rules. Some people-search sites block screen capture, as True People Search did in the source test, and some sites prohibit automated collection, so check each site's terms before scheduling the skill.
Suggested prompt
Written by this directory, inspired by the source. Replace the [bracketed] parts.
Run my planning-filings lead skill on [city planning portal URL]. 1. Collect the [5] newest case filings. For each case, record the address, applicant, representative, case number, filing date, project description, and requested entitlement. 2. Open the initial submittal documents and project plans, and record any owner, architect, engineer, surveyor, or general contractor named there, with the contact details the documents show. 3. Append each case as a new row in my existing Google Sheet [sheet name]. Do not create a new sheet. 4. Add the source link for every row and a research note on anything you could not confirm. 5. If a document won't load, fall back to values you already captured and fill as many fields as possible instead of leaving the row blank. Use only contact details published in the filing documents.