Capture Triage

Capture Triage

What This Does

Turns mobile captures into actionable tasks in your Ready queue. Everything captured has intent - this skill makes it explicit so task-clarity-scanner can decide what's important.

Who It's For

Ed - capturing quick thoughts in Drafts Pro throughout the day.

The Philosophy

Everything captured has intent. Route to Ready, let task-clarity-scanner decide what moves to Someday/Maybe.

No passive filing. Every capture becomes a decision point.

Paths

Inbox:      /Users/eddale/Documents/COPYobsidian/MAGI/Zettelkasten/Inbox/
Processed:  /Users/eddale/Documents/COPYobsidian/MAGI/Zettelkasten/Inbox/Processed/
Daily note: /Users/eddale/Documents/COPYobsidian/MAGI/Zettelkasten/YYYY-MM-DD.md
Projects:   /Users/eddale/Documents/COPYobsidian/MAGI/Zettelkasten/PROJECT - *.md
Contacts:   /Users/eddale/Documents/COPYobsidian/MAGI/Zettelkasten/CONTACT - *.md

Important: Naming Clarification

Remember: This skill reads from the Inbox FOLDER and routes to the Ready SECTION. Tasks go to Ready section only - Captures section is for document links.

Instructions

Step 1: Check Inbox Folder (Root Only)

Important: Only check files directly in Inbox/, NOT subdirectories.

ls /Users/eddale/Documents/COPYobsidian/MAGI/Zettelkasten/Inbox/*.md 2>/dev/null

If no files found: Report "No captures waiting" and stop. If files found: Continue to Step 2.

Step 2: Load Context

Pull active project names from mission-context skill AND:

Glob: /Users/eddale/Documents/COPYobsidian/MAGI/Zettelkasten/PROJECT - *.md

Build a list of project names for matching.

Step 3: Read and Classify Each Capture (Background OK)

This step can run in background. Read and classify all captures before surfacing to user.

For each .md file in Inbox:

1. Read full content
2. Extract source URL from frontmatter (see Step 3b)
3. Detect if already-processed (see Step 3a)
4. Classify by intent (see Step 4)

Surface to user only after ALL files are read and classified.

Step 3b: Extract Source URLs

For x-bookmark files (filename starts with x-):

• Read tweet_url from YAML frontmatter
• This URL MUST be included when routing to Ready

For other captures with URLs:

• Check for url:, source_url:, or link: in frontmatter
• Check for markdown links [text](url) in body
• Preserve any URLs found for routing step

Step 3a: Detect Already-Processed Content

If capture content looks like a summary (has structure, headers, quotes sources):

• Flag as [PROCESSED]
• Will suggest routing as REFERENCE
• Won't offer research-swarm (already researched)

Signals of processed content:

• Has markdown headers (##, ###)
• Contains bullet lists with structured info
• Quotes or attributes other sources
• Looks like notes from a video/article

Step 4: Classify Each Capture

Priority Rule: Inline hints override auto-detection. Check for these FIRST:

• IDEA: or Idea: → IDEA
• Research: → RESEARCH (triggers swarm option)
• for [Project Name] → PROJECT_UPDATE
• Task: or TODO: → TASK

Auto-Detection (if no inline hint):

Step 5: Show Classification Preview (Two-Step)

Two-Step Pattern: Show preview table first, then ask decision in a separate message. Let user absorb the information before asking what to do.

Step 5a: Present the Table

Show what you found. Let user absorb the information first:

## Capture Triage Preview

Found [N] captures. Here's how I've classified them:

| # | File | Preview | Classification | Suggested Routing |
|---|------|---------|----------------|-------------------|
| 1 | note1.md | "Call dentist..." | TASK | Ready: Call dentist (MM-DD) |
| 2 | note2.md | "What if we..." | IDEA | Ready: Consider: [idea] (MM-DD) |
| 3 | summary.md | [PROCESSED] "Article about..." | REFERENCE | Ready: Review: [title] (MM-DD) |
| 4 | question.md | "Research: how do..." | RESEARCH | Spawn research-swarm? |

Pause here. Let the user see and absorb the table before asking for a decision.

Step 5b: Ask for Decision

After showing the table, ask ONE question using AskUserQuestion:

How would you like to proceed?

1. **Approve all** - Route everything as shown
2. **Go one-by-one** - Review each item individually
3. **Modify** - Change specific classifications before routing
4. **Skip all** - Don't process any captures right now

Key points:

• Show [PROCESSED] flag for already-summarized content
• RESEARCH items present in preview table with spawn option - user approves before spawning
• Let user approve, modify, or skip before any changes

Step 6: Route by Classification

After approval, route each capture:

IMPORTANT: Review tasks MUST include links.

For REFERENCE items, always include the source link so Ed can find it:

• X bookmarks: [Title](https://x.com/author/status/ID)
• Articles: [Article Title](URL)
• Obsidian docs: [[Document Name]]
• YouTube: [Video Title](URL)

If a capture has no URL but references external content, note this: (source needed)

Edit Instructions:

For each item routed to Ready:

1. Open today's daily note at: /Users/eddale/Documents/COPYobsidian/MAGI/Zettelkasten/YYYY-MM-DD.md
2. Find the ## Ready section
3. Use Edit tool to append the task in the format shown above
4. Do NOT add to ## Captures - that section is for document links only

Example Edit operation:

old_string: "## Ready\n- [ ] existing task"
new_string: "## Ready\n- [ ] existing task\n- [ ] [new task from capture] (01-06)"

If creating PROJECT or CONTACT files: Those files get created separately, and a LINK to them goes in Ready as a task (e.g., - [ ] [[PROJECT - Name]] - brief desc).