wellcaffeinated Notes — Surprise
A serendipity skill. Pull random notes, find unexpected threads, present connections. Do not create or modify anything unless the user explicitly asks.
Before starting
Invoke the notebook:notes-workflow skill before proceeding. It verifies the vault connection, reads VAULT.md for conventions, and provides the CLI patterns this skill depends on. If it is not available, ask the user to install the notebook plugin.
What this skill does
- Pull several random notes from different parts of the vault using
obsidian random:read— run these calls in parallel since they're independent - Read each one fully
- Look for unexpected connections, resonances, or tensions between them
- Surface anything that seems generative — a question, a contradiction, a pattern the user hasn't noted
Handling ambiguity
Notes may be fragmentary, shorthand, or context-dependent. If a note is too sparse to interpret, skip it and pull another rather than guessing. If a connection you've surfaced relies on an interpretation of a messy note, flag that uncertainty to the user when presenting it.
Approach
Favour surprise over safety. The goal is not to find obvious connections but to bridge distant ideas — a physics note and a dance note, a project concern and a resource, an old archived idea and a current area. Treat the vault as a mind and look for the subconscious links.
Pull at least 4–6 notes to give enough surface area for unexpected connections. Vary the source folders — don't pull only from one area.
Presenting findings
- Lead with the most unexpected or generative connection
- Be concrete — quote the specific phrases or ideas that sparked the connection
- Suggest what a note bridging these ideas might contain, but don't create it unless asked
- Invite the user to pull another set if nothing landed
Read-only by default
If the user wants to capture a connection as a new note, ask where they'd like it filed before creating anything.