ideas

What this skill does

# Ideas Capture

Get ideas out of your head and into the vault immediately. Low friction is the whole point — capture
first, organize later. The Inbox is the landing zone.

## Quick Capture (single idea)

Write to inbox immediately, no questions:

```bash
obsidian create path="0 - Inbox/idea-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M).md" content="..."
```

Frontmatter to add:

```yaml
---
type: idea
captured: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM
context: <project name or topic, if obvious>
tags: [idea]
---
```

After capturing, ask ONE optional follow-up:

> "This looks like a [project / area / resource] idea — want a full project note now, or just inbox
> for later?"

Only ask if the answer isn't already obvious. If they say "just capture it", stop there.

## Idea Extraction from Conversation

When the conversation contains multiple ideas scattered through the discussion:

1. **Identify all distinct ideas** — don't lump unrelated things together
2. **Group related ideas** into clusters (same problem space, same project, same technology)
3. **Write one note per cluster** — related ideas together, unrelated ideas separately

```bash
# One note per distinct cluster
obsidian create path="0 - Inbox/idea-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M)-<slug>.md" content="..."
```

Present the clusters to the user before writing, in case grouping is wrong.

## When to Suggest a Project Note Instead

If the idea clearly has:

- A concrete outcome ("build X", "ship Y", "learn Z")
- An implicit deadline or urgency

...ask: "This sounds like more than an idea — want me to set up a project note in `1 - Projects/`?"
Then hand off to the `project` skill if yes.

## Naming Convention

- Single idea: `idea-YYYYMMDD-HHMM.md`
- Named idea: `idea-YYYYMMDD-HHMM-<short-slug>.md`
- Extracted cluster: `idea-YYYYMMDD-HHMM-<topic>.md`

Keep slugs short (2–3 words max). The timestamp is the primary identifier.

## Promote Mode — Graduate Daily Note Ideas

When the user wants to promote ideas from daily notes to permanent notes:

### Step 1 — Scan the last 14 days of daily notes

```bash
obsidian read path="2 - Areas/Daily Ops/YYYY/YYYY-MM-DD.md"  # repeat for each day
```

**Explicit signals**: `#idea`, `#expand`, "I should write about", named concepts, unresolved
`[[links]]`

**Implicit signals**: high-energy paragraphs (longer, stronger language), original frameworks,
recurring themes across 3+ days, questions that keep reappearing

**Not candidates**: tasks, meeting logistics, things with existing standalone notes

### Step 2 — Cross-reference existing vault

For each candidate:

```bash
obsidian search query="<candidate concept>" format=json
```

Categorize: New concept (no note exists) / Underdeveloped (thin note) / Already covered (skip) /
Recurring unresolved `[[link]]` (high priority)

### Step 3 — Present candidates table

| #   | Idea | Source | Days Mentioned | Status | Recommendation |
| --- | ---- | ------ | -------------- | ------ | -------------- |

Include for each: 1–2 sentence summary, exact quote from daily note, what it connects to in vault.

### Step 4 — Graduate selected ideas

**Always ask before creating or modifying files.**

For new notes: place in `3 - Resources/` (concept), `1 - Projects/` (actionable + deadline),
`2 - Areas/` (ongoing interest). Write as mini-essay (3–8 paragraphs) with core claim, context from
daily notes, `[[backlinks]]`, open questions. Go back and add `[[links]]` in source daily notes.

For enriching existing: read note, add dated section, add backlinks, update source daily note links.