Obsidian Definition Extractor

Obsidian Definition Extractor

When to Use

• A note is dense and future agents need a cleaner definitions layer
• The user wants formulas, concepts, or short canonical meanings extracted from several related notes
• A cluster has many leaf notes but no compact glossary or reference sheet

When Not to Use

• Do not use for broad thematic mapping; prefer obsidian-topic-atlas
• Do not use for project-structure cleanup; prefer obsidian-project-normalizer
• Do not use when the source material is mostly narrative or personal reflection rather than concept-heavy content
• Do not use when the task requires editing the source notes directly

Inputs

• Source note or bounded note set, e.g. Knowledge/Obj-detection.md plus related detection notes
• Target term scope, e.g. "DETR family", "normalization layers", "RL core terms"
• Safe write area, usually learn/_codex/
• Existing vault guidance from learn/AGENTS.md

Output Files

• Single-note extraction: _codex/<topic_slug>_definitions.md
• Cross-note glossary: _codex/<topic_slug>_glossary.md
• Formula-focused variant: _codex/<topic_slug>_formula_sheet.md

Constraints

• Do not alter original notes to insert extracted definitions
• Do not silently merge unrelated topics into one glossary
• Preserve uncertainty when the source note is informal or incomplete
• Quote minimally; prefer paraphrase and explicit links back to the source notes
• Keep the run bounded to one topic family at a time

Procedure

1. Read learn/AGENTS.md and confirm _codex/ is the write-safe area.
2. Select one topic cluster with clear boundaries.
3. Read the smallest sufficient set of source notes.
4. Extract only high-confidence items:
   • explicit definitions
   • formulas
   • short method characterizations
   • contrasts between closely related methods
5. Normalize terminology carefully:
   • one heading per term
   • short definition
   • optional "source notes" list
   • optional "related terms" section
6. Separate confirmed definitions from inferred summaries.
7. Write a derived glossary under _codex/.
8. Include backlinks to the original source notes rather than copying whole passages.
9. Verify that the file improves retrieval and study, not just duplication.

Definition of Done

• Every extracted term is tied to an explicit source note or clearly marked as inferred synthesis
• The output is bounded to one concept family instead of becoming a mini-atlas
• Formulas and definitions are separated cleanly when both appear
• The new file improves lookup speed for future agents and humans
• The result contains minimal quotation and no silent mutation of canonical notes

Vault-Specific Guidance

• Good candidates in learn include:
  • detection metrics and evaluation
  • transformer attention variants
  • RL methods
  • normalization / activation families
  • football analytics metrics
• Avoid extracting from highly personal notes unless the user explicitly asks.
• Use references/definition_output_template.md if you want a stable layout for term pages.