# Quick Capture > quick-capture - Skill: `themarmack/quick-capture` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add themarmack/quick-capture` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/themarmack/quick-capture/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: themarmack (https://skillmd.com/u/themarmack) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/themarmack/quick-capture --- # quick-capture The fast input path. OB1 prompt-4 gave us five sentence-starter formats; this skill recognizes any of them and lands the note in the right place with the right schema. The user types a single line; the skill picks the surface, builds the frontmatter, writes the body, and confirms. ## When to use - The user wants to capture a decision, person note, insight, meeting summary, or AI-tool save **without** thinking about folder structure or frontmatter. - Anytime the user types one of the five recognized formats. - Inline during a conversation when something durable comes up. ## When NOT to use - Long-form research, multi-source synthesis, deep-dives — those go through Category 1 research skills. - Fact-claims requiring verification — that's `claim-extractor` + `verify-claim` → `memory-curator`. - Scheduled-agent output — those use `digest-writer` directly. ## The five formats Recognition is pattern-based on the leading sentence-starter: ### 1. Decision ``` Decision: . Context: . Owner: . ``` → `vault/decisions/{YYYY-MM-DD}-{slug-of-what}.md` → Template: `.templates/qc-decision.md` → `vault-writer.write_decision(title=, status='proposed', decided_on=, deciders=[], body=)` The status defaults to `proposed`; the user can edit to `accepted` later. Most quick-capture decisions are personal/program-level proposals that get formalized through the ADR process. ### 2. Person note ``` [Name] — [what you learned]. ``` → `vault/people/{slug-of-name}.md` → Template: `.templates/qc-person.md` → `vault-writer.write_person(handle=, name=, ...)` — **patch mode**: if the person already exists (e.g., from `voices.csv`), append "what you learned" to the body's "What I learned" section, don't overwrite. ### 3. Insight ``` Insight: . Triggered by: . ``` → `vault/insights/{slug-of-realization}.md` → Template: `.templates/qc-insight.md` → `vault-writer.write_insight(title=, body=)` ### 4. Meeting debrief ``` Meeting with about . Key points: . Action items: . ``` → `vault/events/{YYYY-MM-DD}/{slug-of-topic}.md` → Template: `.templates/qc-meeting.md` → `vault-writer.write_event(event_date=, event_type='meeting', title=, body=, participants=[])` ### 5. AI save ``` Saving from : . ``` → `vault/insights/{slug-of-takeaway}.md` (with `tags: [insight, ai-coding-tools]`) → Template: `.templates/qc-ai-save.md` → `vault-writer.write_insight(title=, body=)` ## Parsing rules The skill uses literal sentence-starters as the format trigger (case-insensitive): - `Decision:` → format 1 - `Insight:` → format 3 - `Meeting with` → format 4 - `Saving from` → format 5 - Anything else with ` — ` (em-dash or hyphen-em-dash) → format 2 If the input doesn't match any format clearly, **stop and ask**: "Which capture format did you mean? [decision / person / insight / meeting / ai-save]". Per the stop-and-report guardrail, do not silently misroute. ## Slug derivation For all formats: - Lowercase the title. - Replace non-alphanumeric chars with `-`. - Collapse repeated `-`. - Trim leading/trailing `-`. - Cap at 60 chars. - For decisions, prepend the date: `{YYYY-MM-DD}-{slug}`. ## Idempotency `vault-writer`'s per-surface idempotency rules apply: - Decisions: same-date same-slug → error (the user is making a different decision; they should disambiguate). - People: existing person → merge per `write_person` rules. - Insights: existing slug → rewrite body, bump `updated`. - Events: append-only, same-day same-slug → suffix `-2`. ## Output to user After writing, return a one-line confirmation with the vault path: ``` ✓ captured to vault/decisions/2026-06-20-skip-x-polling.md ``` Plus the [[wikilink]] form so the user can paste it elsewhere: `[[2026-06-20-skip-x-polling]]`. ## Composes with - [`vault-writer`](../vault-writer/SKILL.md) — every write. - [`vault-conventions`](../vault-conventions/SKILL.md) — schema for the target surface. - The 5 templates at `~/Obsidian/Research-Brain/.templates/qc-*.md`. ## Acceptance test (for step 10 done-criteria) Parse each of these 5 inputs without error and route to the correct surface: 1. `Decision: weekly-review runs Sunday PM. Context: end-of-week reflection beats start-of-week planning for this user. Owner: me.` → `vault/decisions/2026-06-20-weekly-review-runs-sunday-pm.md` 2. `Lenny Rachitsky — pivoted from describing to building research tools for PMs.` → patches `vault/people/lennysan.md` (Lenny exists from voices.csv). 3. `Insight: the Fable 5 export-control story plus Huryn's eval together justify a written internal note before any team considers Fable 5 adoption. Triggered by: noticing the cross-digest connection in the 2026-06-20 weekly review.` → `vault/insights/fable-5-internal-note-before-adoption.md` 4. `Meeting with security architecture team about Copilot AGENTS.md rollout. Key points: golden-path template needs an AGENTS.md stub, secure-coding patterns mirror from CONTRIBUTING.md. Action items: draft stub by EOW, circulate to repo template owners.` → `vault/events/2026-06-20/copilot-agents-md-rollout.md` 5. `Saving from Claude: the "default to refuted=true if uncertain" prompt-engineering line is load-bearing — without it, refute-prompts default to confirmation.` → `vault/insights/default-to-refuted-true-if-uncertain.md` For ambiguous input ("Some thought I had today"), ask which format.