How do I install the Defuddle skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add tonydzi/defuddle 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 Defuddle 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 Defuddle?

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 Defuddle free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free. This skill is licensed under MIT.

Who published Defuddle?

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

Defuddle by tonydzi — Agent Skill

Name: Defuddle
Author: tonydzi

Defuddle

Turn an article URL into a clean, vault-ready markdown note with the defuddle CLI, stripping ads, navigation and comments and cutting 40-60% of tokens versus a raw fetch. Prefer it over a raw web fetch whenever the task is reading or ingesting a normal web article. Triggers: "/defuddle <url>", "clean import this page".

tonydzi 9bd1ba6 2.7 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

/defuddle — clean web→markdown

The defuddle CLI (by kepano, MIT, v0.19.1) is installed globally via npm. Node is the only dependency.

Commands

# article → clean markdown on stdout
defuddle parse <url> --markdown

# with frontmatter (title/author/published/domain) — for the vault
defuddle parse <url> --markdown --frontmatter

# straight to a file
defuddle parse <url> --markdown --frontmatter --output "<path>.md"

The "article into the vault" flow

defuddle parse <url> --markdown --frontmatter → draft.
Then the standard ingest: a vault note (provenance origin: external!), reindex, ≥1 inbound link (rules always-archive-artifacts-to-vault, no-orphan-notes-rule).

⚠️ Gotchas (verified by a live /tt run, 2026-07-04)

exit code = 0 even on failure ("Error: fetch failed" is printed, but the code says success). In scripts, check stdout for ^Error:, NOT the exit code.
Empty input → a cryptic destructure error (also exit 0).
The CLI is machine-local: on another machine run npm install -g defuddle first (node required). The skill syncs across the cluster; the binary does not.

When NOT to use defuddle

A .md URL → fetch it directly; JS-heavy SPAs, paywalls, logins → a regular web fetch or live-browser automation.

Like this skill? It is one of 100 in second-brain-starter-kit: the second brain we built for ourselves and run every day at Palo Alto AI Research Lab. Install the whole set with npx skills add tonydzi/second-brain-starter-kit. Everything is open source and free, so take what you need.

Flagships worth a look on their own: secondop-panel (a second opinion from a panel of external models), claude-memory-tidy (stop your agent's memory from rotting), telegram-mcp-kit (your own Telegram over MCP in about 15 minutes).

Author: Anton Dziatkovskii, Palo Alto AI Research Lab. Telegram @tonydzi - WhatsApp +1 341 222 9178 - X @Tony_Stef_

Engineers: want to test-drive this setup? Message me. I hand out free starter seeds to engineers who test and report back, and custom skill requests are welcome.

---name: defuddledescription: Turn an article URL into a clean, vault-ready markdown note with the defuddle CLI, stripping ads, navigation and comments and cutting 40-60% of tokens versus a raw fetch. Prefer it over a raw web fetch whenever the task is reading or ingesting a normal web article. Triggers: "/defuddle <url>", "clean import this page".license: MIT---# /defuddle — clean web→markdownThe `defuddle` CLI (by kepano, MIT, v0.19.1) is installed globally via npm. Node is the only dependency.## Commands```bash# article → clean markdown on stdoutdefuddle parse <url> --markdown# with frontmatter (title/author/published/domain) — for the vaultdefuddle parse <url> --markdown --frontmatter# straight to a filedefuddle parse <url> --markdown --frontmatter --output "<path>.md"```## The "article into the vault" flow1. `defuddle parse <url> --markdown --frontmatter` → draft.2. Then the standard ingest: a vault note (provenance `origin: external`!), reindex, ≥1 inbound link (rules `always-archive-artifacts-to-vault`, `no-orphan-notes-rule`).## ⚠️ Gotchas (verified by a live /tt run, 2026-07-04)- **exit code = 0 even on failure** ("Error: fetch failed" is printed, but the code says success). In scripts, check stdout for `^Error:`, NOT the exit code.- Empty input → a cryptic destructure error (also exit 0).- The CLI is machine-local: on another machine run `npm install -g defuddle` first (node required). The skill syncs across the cluster; the binary does not.## When NOT to use defuddleA `.md` URL → fetch it directly; JS-heavy SPAs, paywalls, logins → a regular web fetch or live-browser automation.------**Like this skill?** It is one of 100 in [second-brain-starter-kit](https://github.com/tonydzi/second-brain-starter-kit): the second brain we built for ourselves and run every day at Palo Alto AI Research Lab. Install the whole set with `npx skills add tonydzi/second-brain-starter-kit`. Everything is open source and free, so take what you need.Flagships worth a look on their own: [secondop-panel](https://github.com/tonydzi/secondop-panel) (a second opinion from a panel of external models), [claude-memory-tidy](https://github.com/tonydzi/claude-memory-tidy) (stop your agent's memory from rotting), [telegram-mcp-kit](https://github.com/tonydzi/telegram-mcp-kit) (your own Telegram over MCP in about 15 minutes).Author: **Anton Dziatkovskii**, Palo Alto AI Research Lab. Telegram [@tonydzi](https://t.me/tonydzi) - WhatsApp [+1 341 222 9178](https://wa.me/13412229178) - X [@Tony_Stef_](https://x.com/Tony_Stef_)**Engineers: want to test-drive this setup?** Message me. I hand out free starter seeds to engineers who test and report back, and custom skill requests are welcome.

Frequently asked questions