---
name: reading-notes
description: "Process a book or article into structured progressive summary notes saved to the resources folder. Use when the user has finished reading something and wants to capture structured notes — 'I just finished reading X', 'take notes on this book'. Do NOT use for: fetching and summarizing a URL now (use summarize), capturing a raw thought (use capture), or web research (use research)."
schedulable: false
---

# Reading Notes

Turn a book or article into structured, permanent notes using the progressive summarization method, saved to your resources folder.

Usage: `/reading-notes [title]` or `/reading-notes` then follow prompts.

---


## Step 1: Get the Book/Article Info

Ask:
> What are you taking notes on?
> - Title:
> - Author:
> - Type: book / article / paper / other

Then ask:
> Are you:
> a) Sharing notes/highlights you've already taken : I'll organize them
> b) Describing the book from memory : I'll structure what you share
> c) Pasting raw text or quotes : I'll extract and synthesize

---

## Step 2: Gather Content

Based on their answer:
- **a)**: Ask them to paste their notes/highlights
- **b)**: Ask open questions: "What were the main ideas? What did you take away? Any memorable quotes?"
- **c)**: Ask them to paste the text

Take what they give, however messy.

---

## Step 3: Synthesize

From the raw input, extract:

- **Core thesis**: What is this book/article fundamentally about?
- **Key ideas**: The 3-7 most important concepts
- **Supporting evidence or examples**: What supports each idea?
- **Memorable quotes**: Exact words worth keeping
- **Surprises or challenges**: What contradicted or changed your thinking?
- **Actionable takeaways**: What can you do differently because of this?
- **Questions it raised**: What do you want to explore further?

---

## Step 4: Choose Subfolder

1. Glob existing subfolders in `[resources_folder]/*/`
2. Suggest a kebab-case subfolder based on the book/article's topic (max 2 levels, e.g. `books/productivity` or `science/neuroscience`)
3. Present to user: "I'd file this under `[resources_folder]/[suggested-path]/`. OK?"
4. Use confirmed path for file creation.

---

## Step 5: Create the Note

File: `[resources_folder]/[subfolder]/[Book Title] - Notes.md` (subfolder confirmed in Step 4)

```markdown
---
tags: [reference, topic-tag]
created: YYYY-MM-DD
source: /reading-notes
author: [Author]
type: [book/article/paper]
status: [reading/finished]
rating: [1-5 if they want to rate it]
---

# [Book Title]
*by [Author]*

## Core Thesis

[One paragraph : what is this fundamentally about?]

## Key Ideas

### [Idea 1 Title]
[Explanation in your own words]

> "[Supporting quote]"

### [Idea 2 Title]
[Explanation]

### [Idea 3 Title]
[Explanation]

## Memorable Quotes

> "[Quote 1]"
> : [Author], p. [page if known]

> "[Quote 2]"

## My Takeaways

- [What this means for my work/life]
- [What I want to try or apply]

## Questions & Further Exploration

- [Question raised by this book]
- [Related topic to research: [[Related Note]]]

## Raw Highlights

<!-- Paste original highlights here for reference -->
[Raw content if provided]

## Related

[[Related Note 1]]
[[Related Note 2]]
```

Populate `## Related` by searching for vault notes related to the book's topic (use the search tools if available, otherwise Glob `[resources_folder]/**/*.md`, `[knowledge_folder]/**/*.md`). For search-tool results, only include candidates with `rerank_score ≥ 0.30` (prefer `≥ 0.60`) — drop anything below 0.30 rather than linking a weak match.

---

## Step 6: Suggest Tags (background)

After writing, dispatch the **Tag Suggester** agent (`agents/tag-suggester.md`) as a background sub-agent (`run_in_background: true`, `mode: "bypassPermissions"`), passing `new_note_path`, `new_note_content`, `vault_root`, `knowledge_folder`, `resources_folder`, `areas_folder`, and `projects_folder`. Proceed to Follow Up immediately.

---

## Step 7: Follow Up

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
📚 Reading Notes — {Title}
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Author: {Author}
Saved to `[resources_folder]/[subfolder]/[Title] - Notes.md`

→ Add to a reading list in a project note?
→ Run /connect to find related vault notes.
→ Set a revisit reminder? (I'll add a task)

---

## Known Gotchas

- **Input option (b) — describing from memory — is the hardest path.** Users often conflate the author's ideas with their own take. Ask separate questions: "What was the book's main argument?" and "What did YOU conclude or take away?" to separate source material from personal synthesis.