Capture

# Capture — Brain-Dump Organizer A fast-to-action skill for transforming unstructured streams of mixed thoughts, tasks, and ideas into a clean four-section actionable system with zero information loss. ## Invocation Triggers **Explicit phrases** (any of): - "brain dump" - "capture this" - "let me dump some ideas" - "I've got a bunch of thoughts" - "here's everything on my mind" - "idea dump" - "let me just get this out of my head" - "I need to organize my thoughts" - "here's what I'm thinking" **Implicit signals** (no phrase, but the intent is unmistakable): - User pastes or dictates a long unstructured block of mixed ideas, tasks, plans - Multiple unrelated thoughts in one message without organizing framing - A wall of bullet-y text covering 3+ unrelated topics When you detect an implicit trigger, run the skill. Do NOT ask "do you want me to organize this?" first — the dump itself IS the request. ## Operating Principles (All Five Apply Always) 1. **Capture everything.** Zero loss. Trivial items go in; the user prunes later. Never silently drop something because it "seemed unimportant". 2. **Preserve voice.** If the user said "build something crazy with AI", do NOT restate as "Explore innovative AI-driven solutions." Keep the energy and the casual register. See `references/voice_preservation.md` for concrete anti-patterns. 3. **Match output complexity to input.** A 5-task dump does NOT get forced into 4 elaborate sections. See `references/complexity_matching.md` and the Compressed Output Pattern below. 4. **Be honest about ambiguity.** If you're unsure what something means, flag it. Don't guess silently. 5. **No action without approval.** The ONLY immediate action is the organization itself. Every offer in Section 4 waits for the user's explicit pick. ## Grill-Me Mid-Organization Clarifier Capture is fast-to-action by design. **No upfront intake.** The dump is enough — start organizing immediately. The grill-me discipline applies as a **single mid-organization clarifying question**, asked **only when** one item in the dump is genuinely ambiguous between *task* and *project*, AND the misclassification would meaningfully change the output: > **Quick clarification — one item in your dump could go either way. Is [X] a one-shot task or a multi-step project?** > > *Why I'm asking:* If I guess wrong on a borderline item I either bury a project as a task or inflate a task into a project that doesn't need the structure. One question per dump prevents that. **Stop condition:** Max 1 clarifying question per dump. After the answer (or if no clarification was needed), deliver the four (or compressed) sections. If the dump is unambiguous, skip the clarifier entirely. **Anti-pattern (do not do this):** asking 3 clarifying questions up front. That breaks the dump-and-organize flow that makes capture useful. ## Section 1: Projects & Ideas Cluster related items into themed projects when natural clustering exists. This section also holds: - Standalone creative sparks - Half-formed concepts - "What if" thoughts - Embedded decisions (`Decide: X or Y`) and open questions (`Q: ...`) — kept WITHIN the relevant project, NOT extracted into a separate top-level category **Format per project:** ``` ### {Project name in user's voice} - {component / sub-idea} - {component} - Q: {open question this project needs answered} - Decide: {decision this project requires} ``` Use the user's words for the project name. If the user wrote "ai dating app for ferrets", do NOT rename it to "AI-Powered Pet Companion Platform". ## Section 2: Tasks Flat, scannable, action-oriented. Includes: - Explicit todos - Decisions framed as `Decide: ...` - Open questions framed as `Resolve: ...` If a task belongs to a project from Section 1, append `[Project: X]` to link it — but don't repeat the project's context. **Format:** ``` - {task in imperative voice} [Project: X if related] - Decide: {decision} [Project: X if related] - Resolve: {open question} - ... ``` ## Section 3: Connections This is where the skill earns its keep — and where **fabrication is forbidden**. **Workflow:** 1. **Inventory the workspace** — Glob for filename patterns matching dump keywords, Grep for content matches, read the top-level directory structure. Use `scripts/workspace_inventory.py` to do this deterministically. 2. **Match dump items to existing content** — files / folders relating to dumped items, prior thinking in documents, in-progress projects with overlap. 3. **Surface dependencies within the dump** — items that affect each other, themes, ordering implications. 4. **Be honest about inaccessibility** — if you can't inspect the workspace (no filesystem available, MCP not connected), say so explicitly. Do NOT make up plausible-sounding connections. **Hard rule:** NEVER fabricate connections. Only surface ones actually found by Glob/Grep/Read. If no real connections exist: > **Connections:** No connections found — workspace inventory clean. If the workspace is inaccessible: > **Connections:** No workspace accessible from here. If you're running this from Claude Code or have a project with files attached, I can fill this in. Want to share where this work lives? See `references/workspace_detection.md` for the per-context detection-tactic catalog. ## Section 4: How I Can Help **Concrete offers, not abstract possibilities.** Every offer specifies what would be produced AND where it would go. | ✅ Right pattern | ❌ Anti-pattern | |---|---| | "I can research Consensus MCP integration patterns and give you 3 options. Output: `docs/consensus-options.md`." | "You might want to look into integration approaches." | | "I can draft the Q3 launch plan as a 1-pager. Output: chat reply, then `docs/q3-launch.md` if you want it filed." | "Maybe think about Q3 planning." | | "I can scaffold the new auth module with the existing pattern from `src/users/`. Output: 4 files in `src/auth/`." | "We could explore auth options." | End with the directive question: > **Which of these should I tackle?** ## Compressed Output Pattern When the dump has **5 or fewer items** and items are **unrelated** (no natural clustering), drop the 4-section format and use compressed: ``` ## What I heard - {item} - {item} - {item} - ... ## How I can help - {concrete offer with what + where} - {concrete offer with what + where} Which should I tackle? ``` The trigger is the `complexity_estimator.py` recommendation OR your judgment when no clusters exist. See `references/complexity_matching.md` for worked examples of when each format applies. ## Workspace Detection Strategy | Context | Detection method | |---|---| | Claude Code CLI | Glob for files matching dump keywords; Grep for content matches; read top-level structure. Use `scripts/workspace_inventory.py`. | | Claude.ai with project | Check project knowledge files for thematic overlap. List file titles; surface matches by keyword. | | Connected tools (Notion, Drive, etc.) | Search via MCP if available. | | No accessible workspace | State the limitation explicitly; ask user about their setup; do NOT fabricate. | ## Approval Gate After the four (or compressed) sections are delivered: - **Wait for the user's explicit pick** before doing anything else. - If the user says "go" without picking a specific offer: honor it, but explicitly note any items you weren't 100% sure about so they can correct. - The organization itself is the only auto-action. Every Section 4 offer requires green light. ## Error Handling | Situation | Behavior | |---|---| | Workspace inaccessible | State this; skip Section 3 or surface "no workspace accessible" + ask about setup | | Dump is very short (3-5 items) | Use compressed output; don't force 4 sections | | Items are highly ambiguous | Flag in output, ask up to 1 clarifier (or skip clarifier and surface ambiguity in delivery) | | Dump contains sensitive info | Acknowledge but don't echo verbatim if user asks for organization without quoting | | Conflicting items in the dump | Surface the conflict in Section 1 or 3 explicitly (`Conflict: X says A, Y says B`) | | User says "go" before approval | Honor it, but explicitly note items you weren't sure about | ## Tooling | Script | Role | |---|---| | `scripts/workspace_inventory.py` | Glob+Grep helper for Section 3. `python workspace_inventory.py --root . --keywords "k1,k2"` returns matches by keyword + folder structure. | | `scripts/dump_classifier.py` | Regex-classifies each dump line into `task` / `decision` / `question` / `idea` / `project-component`. Heuristic — override with judgment. | | `scripts/complexity_estimator.py` | Counts items, detects clustering signal, recommends `format=full` or `format=compressed`. | ## References - `references/workspace_detection.md` — context-specific detection tactics (CLI / web / MCP / inaccessible) - `references/voice_preservation.md` — corporate-speak anti-patterns with concrete examples - `references/complexity_matching.md` — compressed vs full output, worked examples ## Anti-Patterns To Reject - Fabricating workspace connections that weren't actually Glob/Grep-verified - Dropping items deemed "trivial" — capture everything, let the user prune - Corporate-ifying the user's casual language - Forcing 4-section structure when input is small (5 simple tasks doesn't need it) - Acting on Section-4 offers immediately without approval - Splitting decisions/questions into a separate top-level category instead of embedding them in the relevant project - Vague Section-4 offers ("you might want to consider…") - Asking 3+ clarifying questions up front (breaks fast-to-action) --- **Version:** 1.0.0 **Source spec:** [`megaprompts/05-capture-megaprompt.md`](../../../../megaprompts/05-capture-megaprompt.md) **Build pattern:** Path B (direct conversion). Re-grill with `/cs:grill-with-docs` if drift between spec and implementation surfaces.