kriscard TIL (Today I Learned) Capture
Turn a session into a durable, engaging knowledge note. The goal is a note future-you will actually want to read — not a dry changelog. This skill is the single source of truth for TIL note format.
Step 1 — Identify the Topic
Use $ARGUMENTS if provided. Otherwise infer from:
- Current working directory (
pwd) - Git repo name (
git remote get-url origin) - Dominant topic from the conversation
Complete when the topic/project name is explicit or the inferred topic is shown to the user.
Step 2 — Check for an Existing TIL Today
obsidian read path="3 - Resources/TIL/til-$(date +%Y-%m-%d).md" 2>/dev/null
If a note exists, append a session entry. Never overwrite — today may have multiple sessions.
Step 3 — Extract Learnings from the Conversation
Analyze the full conversation and pull out only evidence-backed material:
- What was built, learned, or designed — the artifact or insight
- Key decisions and trade-offs — why this approach over alternatives
- Bugs or blockers encountered and fixed — symptom, root cause, fix
- Aha moments — insights that reframe how you think about something
- What would be done differently — honest retrospective
Completion: every listed learning category has either extracted evidence from the conversation or is intentionally omitted as not applicable. Do not pad empty categories.
Step 4 — Write with an Engaging Voice
Write like telling a story to a friend, not filing a report.
Use:
- analogies: "it's like a cache, but for..."
- anecdotes: "We tried X first — it broke because..."
- before/after code for bug fixes and pattern changes
- Mermaid diagrams for architecture or data flow when they clarify structure
Required frontmatter tags: 3–5 tags using the til/ prefix.
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Technology | til/react, til/typescript, til/nextjs, til/python |
| Patterns | til/architecture, til/testing, til/debugging, til/performance |
| Libraries | til/tanstack-query, til/zod, til/prisma |
| Concepts | til/accessibility, til/security, til/composition |
New-note shape
---
tags: [til/typescript, til/architecture]
date: YYYY-MM-DD
project: <topic or project name>
---
# TIL: <engaging title that captures the insight>
## What We Covered
<brief context — one sentence>
## The Story
<narrative with anecdotes, analogies, code snippets>
## Key Insight
<the one thing to remember>
## What I'd Do Differently
<honest retrospective — omit if nothing stands out>
Existing-note append shape
Append only a session section. Do not repeat frontmatter or the top-level # TIL title.
## Session N — <engaging title>
### What We Covered
<brief context>
### The Story
<narrative>
### Key Insight
<the one thing to remember>
### What I'd Do Differently
<omit if nothing stands out>
Step 5 — Save the Note
# New note
obsidian create path="3 - Resources/TIL/til-$(date +%Y-%m-%d).md" \
content="<full note content>"
# Existing note — append a session entry only
obsidian append path="3 - Resources/TIL/til-$(date +%Y-%m-%d).md" \
content="\n## Session N — <title>\n\n<session content>"
After saving, confirm the note title, location, and categories included.
Hard Rules
- Never mention Claude or AI assistance in the note — write in first person
- Never overwrite an existing TIL — always append a session entry
- Write for future-you in 6 months, not for the PR description
- If Obsidian CLI fails: tell the user "Obsidian CLI isn't working — update Obsidian with CLI enabled"