Report Writing

Report Writing

Converts scattered materials—audio/video recordings, handwritten notes, diagrams, digital notes, and supplementary documents—into a single, well-formatted MS Word report. The skill automatically infers appropriate sections from content signals or follows a provided template/sample structure.

It is designed to run in Claude Desktop with:

• An MCP filesystem server (for listing/reading files and folders)
• An MCP gaik-transcriber server (for transcribing audio/video recordings)

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• User needs to create a report, summary, or documentation from source materials
• User mentions "create a report", "generate documentation", "summarize documents"
• User wants to consolidate multiple documents/media into a single structured deliverable
• User has recordings, notes, images, or documents to process into a report
• User needs meeting notes, meeting minutes, or meeting documentation
• User provides a template or sample and wants content filled in
• User asks to "write up" notes, "document this", or create a Word document from materials

Inputs

Required (at least one):

• Audio/video recordings – transcribed using gaik-transcriber:transcribe_audio
• Handwritten notes (scanned images) – interpreted visually
• Digital notes (text files, markdown, etc.)
• Diagrams/sketches/figures (images)
• Source documents to synthesize

Optional:

• Supplementary documents (PowerPoint slides, PDF documents, Excel files)
• Output template (blank .docx with predefined headers, sections, logos)
• Sample output document (.docx or .pdf) defining style, format, tone, and length

Required parameter:

• input_folder: Path to the main input folder containing the required subfolder structure. If not provided, ask the user to specify it.

Required folder structure:

<input_folder>/
├── input_documents/     # Required: recordings, photos, notes, presentations, PDFs, etc.
├── templates/           # Optional: blank template with predefined headers, sections, logos
└── sample_documents/    # Optional: sample document defining style, format, tone, length

Tooling Rules (Windows vs Linux Path Safety)

Why this matters

On Windows, Claude Desktop + toolchains sometimes behave like they are in a POSIX shell, producing paths like /mnt/c/.... Meanwhile, your MCP servers may run native Windows Python, expecting C:\.... This mismatch can cause "file not found" or failing shell commands.

Strict rules

1. Prefer MCP filesystem tools for file/folder operations Use the filesystem server for listing and reading files instead of shell commands.

2. Avoid bash commands on Windows If you must run a command on Windows, prefer PowerShell.

3. When calling gaik-transcriber, prefer Windows drive-letter paths on Windows Pass file paths like C:\Users\...\recording.m4a. If you only have a POSIX/WSL path (e.g., /mnt/c/...), convert it to a Windows path before calling the transcriber, or rely on the transcriber server's internal normalization (recommended).

4. Never assume the environment is Linux Treat the runtime as OS-ambiguous and enforce the above rules to stay stable.

5. Never do the following: NEVER run pip install, python -c, pdfplumber, or any ad-hoc parsing code for .pdf/.pptx/.xlsx.

NEVER use /mnt/user-data/uploads/... paths; only use paths returned by the MCP filesystem listing or the user-provided Windows folder.

If you are about to do any of the above, STOP and switch to the built-in PDF/PPTX/XLSX skills.

Workflow

Step 0 — Collect context

Ask (only if not provided):

• Report title or purpose (optional but recommended)
• Desired output format (Word document is default)
• Any special focus or sections to emphasize
• Target audience (if relevant)

Step 1 — Validate input folder structure and capabilities

If the user has not specified an input folder path, ask for it and confirm it contains input_documents/ (required).

1) Validate folder structure (MCP filesystem only)

Use the filesystem MCP tool to list:

• <input_folder>
• <input_folder>\input_documents (required)
• <input_folder>\templates (optional)
• <input_folder>\sample_documents (optional)

If input_documents/ is missing or empty, stop and ask the user to add the source materials there.

2) Capability check (prevents Windows/Linux path loops for binaries)

Purpose: decide upfront whether this environment can process binary files from a Windows folder without requiring the user to upload them.

Inventory binary files found in:

• <input_folder>\input_documents
• <input_folder>\templates
• <input_folder>\sample_documents

Treat the following as binary (not safely readable via text tools):

• .pdf, .pptx, .xlsx, .docx

Decision:

• If ANY binary files exist and are ONLY in the Windows folder:
  • Assume you cannot process them directly unless you have a binary-capable tool.
  • The official Node filesystem MCP server supports reading text files and reading image/audio media, but does not guarantee generic binary reads for Office/PDF files.
  • Therefore:
    • If a dedicated MCP document-parser tool is available (recommended), use it for these files.
    • Otherwise, you MUST ask the user to upload/attach these binaries in Claude Desktop to process them with built-in PDF/PPTX/XLSX/DOCX skills.

If the user asks for "local-folder only" processing of PDF/PPTX/XLSX/DOCX:

• Explain that this requires either:
  • a binary-capable filesystem MCP server (supports base64/binary reads), or
  • a Windows-native document-parser MCP server.

Continue with the core workflow (transcription + text notes + images) regardless of the binary handling outcome.

Step 2 — Inventory input files

From input_documents/, create a quick inventory:

• Recordings (audio/video)
• Images (handwritten notes, diagrams)
• Text documents (notes, drafts, emails, etc.)
• PDFs / slides (read text if possible; otherwise summarize)

Step 3 — Transcribe recordings (gaik-transcriber MCP tool)

For each audio/video file, call:

• gaik-transcriber:transcribe_audio
  • file_path: full path to the recording
  • enhanced: false by default (true only if user asks for enhanced quality)

If transcription fails with "file not found":

• Re-check the path style and ensure Windows drive-letter paths on Windows.

Step 4 - Images (Handwritten Notes, Diagrams, Sketches, Figures)

For each image file (.jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif, .webp, .bmp, .tiff):

1. View the image using the appropriate tool
2. Interpret the image content (handwritten notes, diagrams, figures)
3. Create a textual description capturing all relevant information

Step 5 - Notes

Read files directly (.txt, .md, .rtf). Use /mnt/skills/public/docx/SKILL.md for reading/writing .docx files.

Step 6 — Supplementary documents (.pdf, .pptx, .xlsx, .docx)

Goal: extract relevant information from supplementary documents WITHOUT ad-hoc parsing code and WITHOUT Windows/Linux path mismatches.

Non-negotiables (hard rules)

• NEVER run cp, pip install, python -c, pdfplumber, soffice, pandoc, or any ad-hoc parsing commands to read .pdf/.pptx/.xlsx/.docx from Windows paths.
• NEVER assume C:\... or /mnt/c/... is accessible inside a Linux sandbox.
• NEVER invent upload paths (e.g., /mnt/user-data/uploads/...) unless the environment explicitly provides them.
• Do not use the filesystem MCP server to "load built-in skill files." The filesystem server is for user-allowed directories, not Claude's internal skill library.

Decision tree

A) If the supplementary file is uploaded/attached in Claude Desktop

• Use the corresponding built-in skill:

• View /mnt/skills/public/docx/SKILL.md skill for reading and editing DOCX files.

• View /mnt/skills/public/pdf/SKILL.md skill for reading PDF files.

• View /mnt/skills/public/xlsx/SKILL.md skill for reading and editing XLSX files.

• View /mnt/skills/public/pptx/SKILL.md skill for reading and editing PPTX files.

• Extract only relevant content for the report (key data, findings, timelines, etc.).

• Attribute extracted content by filename.

B) If the supplementary file is ONLY present in the Windows folder (discovered via filesystem:list_directory)

1. Text-like files (.txt, .md, .csv, .json)

• Read via filesystem read_text_file and extract relevant content.

2. Binary files (.pdf, .pptx, .xlsx, .docx) — IMPORTANT

• Do NOT attempt conversion or parsing via sandbox tools (pandoc/python/soffice/etc.).
• If a dedicated MCP document-parser tool is available:
  • Call the parser using the Windows path and use returned extracted text/tables in synthesis.
• Otherwise:
  • Ask the user to upload/attach the file(s) in Claude Desktop.
  • Continue processing what you can (transcripts, notes, images) and list the missing binaries under "Missing inputs".

Template + samples:

• If templates/sample documents are .docx/.pdf/.pptx/.xlsx and are only on Windows disk:
  • Ask the user to upload them.
  • If not provided, proceed with a clean default structure.

Output handling

• If supplementary binaries are unavailable (not uploaded, and no parser tool), clearly list them:
  • Missing inputs: <filename1>, <filename2>, ...
• Produce the report using available evidence and a default format.
• Do not block the entire workflow just because supplementary binaries are missing.

Step 7: Fuse Information

Combine all processed inputs into a single consolidated text block with clear separators:

=== TRANSCRIPTION: <filename> ===
<transcribed content>

=== HANDWRITTEN NOTES: <filename> ===
<interpreted content>

=== DIGITAL NOTES: <filename> ===
<note content>

=== DIAGRAM/FIGURE: <filename> ===
<description of diagram/figure>

=== SUPPLEMENTARY: <filename> ===
<extracted content>