How do I install the Distill skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add marsmike/distill in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Distill safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Distill?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Distill free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Distill?

marsmike (@marsmike) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Distill by marsmike — Agent Skill

Name: Distill
Author: marsmike

File contents

Knowledge Distillation

Transforms raw captures from 01_Capture/ into integrated, linked knowledge notes. Filesystem-first throughout — no CLI or embeddings store is required to run this workflow; vault/CLAUDE.md's "Distilling captures" section states the two non-negotiable rules (two-phase checkpoint, source preservation) that hold even without this skill loaded. Read rules.md before starting.

Modes

Mode	Use for	Reference
Distill (default)	Full pipeline: capture → search → PARA placement → enrichment → write	workflow.md
Triage	List and prioritize the inbox before distilling	workflow.md — Triage section
Insight	File a conversation synthesis as a new capture, then distill it	workflow.md — Insight section

Hard requirements (non-negotiable, see rules.md for the full list)

Two phases, one checkpoint. Analyze and propose, then stop for review before writing anything. Skip only on an explicit --auto/non-interactive instruction.
Search before writing. Run scripts/search.py against the capture's key terms — it degrades gracefully with no embeddings store present, but it must run; a distill pass with zero search is a name for "guessing at what already exists." When a gaiafield binary is available, scripts/graph.py's graph_context() also adds graph-derived backlink/bridge candidates the text search alone missed (see workflow.md); its absence never blocks this step. When the binary supports gaiafield v2, graph.inferred_candidates() adds a separately-labeled, report-only block of statistical candidates (workflow.md's "Inferred candidates" section) — these are never auto-applied, ever; see contract/KNOWLEDGE_API.md's v2 section, rule 1.
Every distilled note carries its source — a *Source: ...* line in the body and a source: frontmatter field — and gets status: distilled.
The capture leaves 01_Capture/ after distilling — archived (default, to 05_Archive/<Origin>-Captures-<YYYY-MM>/) or deleted (duplicates/empty stubs only).
Ambiguity goes to the DLQ, not a guess. If placement, source, or search results are genuinely unclear after one honest attempt, write a dead-letter note to 00_Memory/dlq/ via scripts/vault_utils.write_dlq_note() and say so in the Phase 1 report, rather than silently picking an answer.

Quick start

uv run --project "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts" python3 "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/search.py" "key terms from the capture" --top 10 --json

Then follow workflow.md's numbered steps.

References

Workflow — the full distill/triage/insight procedure
Rules — PARA placement logic, enrichment levels, the DLQ convention, cluster mode

---name: distilldescription: Process captures into vault knowledge — triage the inbox, distill one file, or file a conversation insight. Use when working with 01_Capture/.---# Knowledge DistillationTransforms raw captures from `01_Capture/` into integrated, linked knowledge notes.Filesystem-first throughout — no CLI or embeddings store is required to run thisworkflow; `vault/CLAUDE.md`'s "Distilling captures" section states the twonon-negotiable rules (two-phase checkpoint, source preservation) that hold even withoutthis skill loaded. Read [rules.md](references/rules.md) before starting.## Modes| Mode | Use for | Reference ||------|---------|-----------|| **Distill** (default) | Full pipeline: capture → search → PARA placement → enrichment → write | [workflow.md](references/workflow.md) || **Triage** | List and prioritize the inbox before distilling | [workflow.md](references/workflow.md) — Triage section || **Insight** | File a conversation synthesis as a new capture, then distill it | [workflow.md](references/workflow.md) — Insight section |## Hard requirements (non-negotiable, see rules.md for the full list)1. **Two phases, one checkpoint.** Analyze and propose, then stop for review before writing anything. Skip only on an explicit `--auto`/non-interactive instruction.2. **Search before writing.** Run `scripts/search.py` against the capture's key terms — it degrades gracefully with no embeddings store present, but it must run; a distill pass with zero search is a name for "guessing at what already exists." When a `gaiafield` binary is available, `scripts/graph.py`'s `graph_context()` also adds graph-derived backlink/bridge candidates the text search alone missed (see workflow.md); its absence never blocks this step. When the binary supports gaiafield v2, `graph.inferred_candidates()` adds a separately-labeled, **report-only** block of statistical candidates (workflow.md's "Inferred candidates" section) — these are never auto-applied, ever; see `contract/KNOWLEDGE_API.md`'s v2 section, rule 1.3. **Every distilled note carries its source** — a `*Source: ...*` line in the body and a `source:` frontmatter field — and gets `status: distilled`.4. **The capture leaves `01_Capture/`** after distilling — archived (default, to `05_Archive/<Origin>-Captures-<YYYY-MM>/`) or deleted (duplicates/empty stubs only).5. **Ambiguity goes to the DLQ, not a guess.** If placement, source, or search results are genuinely unclear after one honest attempt, write a dead-letter note to `00_Memory/dlq/` via `scripts/vault_utils.write_dlq_note()` and say so in the Phase 1 report, rather than silently picking an answer.## Quick start```bashuv run --project "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts" python3 "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/search.py" "key terms from the capture" --top 10 --json```Then follow [workflow.md](references/workflow.md)'s numbered steps.## References- [Workflow](references/workflow.md) — the full distill/triage/insight procedure- [Rules](references/rules.md) — PARA placement logic, enrichment levels, the DLQ convention, cluster mode

Frequently asked questions

Distill