Wiki Digest

About this prompt

Generate a periodic knowledge digest — a human-readable newsletter-style summary of what was learned, updated, and connected in your wiki over a specified period (day/week/month). Use when the user says "what did I learn this week", "give me a digest", "weekly summary", "knowledge report", "what's new in my wiki", "/wiki-digest [period]", "summarize my recent learning", or wants a readable overvie

Prompt body

# Wiki Digest — Knowledge Newsletter Generator

You are generating a human-readable digest of recent wiki activity: what was learned, what was updated, what themes are emerging, and what's worth reviewing. This skill summarizes *knowledge*, not sources — think of it as a weekly review session, not an ingestion status report.

## Before You Start

1. **Resolve config** — follow the Config Resolution Protocol in `llm-wiki/SKILL.md` (walk up CWD for `.env` → `~/.obsidian-wiki/config` → prompt setup). This gives `OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH` and `OBSIDIAN_LINK_FORMAT`.
2. **Parse the period** from the user's request:
   - "daily" / "today" / "yesterday" → last 24 hours
   - "weekly" / "this week" / no argument (default) → last 7 days
   - "monthly" / "this month" → last 30 days
   - ISO date like "since 2026-05-01" → pages updated since that date
   - Explicit number like "last 14 days" → that many days
3. Read `$OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/log.md` — last 200 lines — for entries within the period (timestamps are ISO-8601 prefixed lines).
4. Read `$OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/hot.md` for current session context.
5. If `$OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/_insights.md` exists, read its **Anchor Pages** table — you'll use it later to identify which new pages became hubs.

## Step 1: Collect Pages Active in the Period

Glob all `.md` files under `$OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH`. Skip special/system files:
- `index.md`, `log.md`, `hot.md`, `AGENTS.md`, `_insights.md`
- Anything under `_meta/`, `_archives/`, `_raw/`
- Journal digest pages themselves (`journal/digest-*.md`)

For each remaining page, read its frontmatter:
- `created` — when the page was first written
- `updated` — when it was last modified

Classify:
- **New pages**: `created` is within the period
- **Updated pages**: `updated` is within the period but `created` is before it
- **Unchanged**: neither date falls in the period → skip

If fewer than 5 pages were active, note it and offer to widen: *"Only 3 pages were active in the last 7 days — want a monthly digest instead?"* Stop here unless the user says to continue.

For each active page, collect: `title`, `category`, `tags`, `summary` (frontmatter field), `lifecycle`, any `^[ambiguous]` or `^[inferred]` markers in the body.

## Step 2: Identify Themes

From all active pages' tags, tally theme frequency:

```
For each tag across new + updated pages:
  count how many active pages carry it
Sort descending, take top 5
```

Also read `$OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/_meta/taxonomy.md` (if it exists). Flag any tag from step 1 that **does not appear** in the taxonomy — these are new vocabulary words that emerged this period.

Note which categories grew most (concepts/, entities/, skills/, synthesis/, references/, etc.).

## Step 3: Find Notable New Connections

Scan new and updated pages for cross-category wikilinks — links that bridge different knowledge layers. These are the most intellectually interesting outputs of the period.

For each active page, extract all `[[wikilink]]` targets. Classify each link by the target's category prefix. Flag links that cross categories (e.g., a `concepts/` page linking to an `entities/` page, or a `synthesis/` page bridging two topics).

Rank candidates by interestingness:
- **+3** if the link is across two categories that rarely connect (use `_insights.md` bridge data if available)
- **+2** if the target page is a top-10 hub (per `_insights.md` anchors)
- **+2** if the link appears in a `synthesis/` page (deliberate cross-cutting)
- **+1** if the source page is marked `^[inferred]` (synthesized connection, not directly stated)

Take the top 3–5 connections. Write each as a plain-English sentence: not just "A → B" but *why* the connection is interesting.

## Step 4: Surface Open Threads

Scan active pages and `_raw/` for unresolved work:

- **Drafts**: pages with `lifecycle: draft` or `lifecycle: stub`
- **Ambiguous claims**: count `^[ambiguous]` markers across all active pages (don't list every one — just the count and which pages have the most)
- **Unstaged notes**: count files in `$OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/_raw/` (anything here hasn't been promoted)
- **Taxonomy gaps**: tags from Step 2 that aren't in `_meta/taxonomy.md`

## Step 5: Choose Recommended Re-reads

From the *existing* (pre-period) pages, identify 2–3 worth revisiting given this week's new context.

Heuristic: find pre-period pages that share the most tags with the active pages from Step 1. These are foundational pages whose topic was extended this period — the new pages build on them but the user may not have revisited the foundation.

Also include any pre-period page that now has 2+ new incoming links from active pages (it just became more connected — a sign it's load-bearing).

Write each recommendation with a concrete reason: *"[[concepts/attention-mechanism]] — your foundational page; three new papers ingested this week all extend it"*, not just the page title.

## Step 6: Generate the Digest

Produce a structured, scannable markdown report. The Headlines section is the most important — it should feel like the opening of a good newsletter, synthesizing actual insight rather than listing page names.

Apply the link format from `llm-wiki/SKILL.md` (Link Format section) using `OBSIDIAN_LINK_FORMAT`. Default is `[[wikilink]]`.

```markdown
# Wiki Digest — [Period Label]
> [N new pages · M updated pages · period: YYYY-MM-DD to YYYY-MM-DD]

## Headlines

- [Concrete insight #1 — synthesize the actual knowledge, not just "learned about X"]
- [Concrete insight #2]
- [Concrete insight #3]

## New Knowledge

### New pages ([count])
| Page | Category | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| [[concepts/foo]] | concept | One-sentence summary from frontmatter |
| [[entities/bar]] | entity | One-sentence summary |

### Notable updates ([count])
| Page | What changed |
|---|---|
| [[skills/react-hooks]] | Added patterns for useCallback with async effects |

*(If no updates, omit this subsection.)*

## Emerging Themes

- **#[tag]** ([N pages]) — [One sentence on why this topic was active]
- **#[tag]** ([N pages]) — [...]
- **#[NEW TAG]** ([N pages]) ⭐ *New vocabulary — not yet in taxonomy*

Most active category: **[category/]** ([N pages added or updated])

## Key Connections Made

- [[concepts/A]] → [[entities/B]] — [Plain-English reason this connection is interesting]
- [[synthesis/X]] created — bridges [[concepts/Y]] and [[concepts/Z]] for the first time
- *(up to 5 connections)*

## Open Threads

- **Drafts to compile** ([count]): [[concepts/foo]], [[concepts/bar]] — still in draft lifecycle
- **Ambiguous claims**: [N] `^[ambiguous]` markers across [M] pages — run `/wiki-synthesize` to resolve
- **Unstaged notes**: [N] files in `_raw/` — run `/wiki-ingest _raw/` to promote them
- **Taxonomy gaps**: Tags `#newtag1`, `#newtag2` used but not in taxonomy — run `/tag-taxonomy`

*(Omit any subsection where count is 0.)*

## Recommended Re-reads

- [[concepts/X]] — [Specific reason: "3 new papers this week all extend this concept"]
- [[synthesis/Y]] — [Specific reason: "2 new pages created this week reference it"]
- [[skills/Z]] — [Specific reason: "now has 4 new incoming links — it's become a hub"]

---
*Generated by wiki-digest · [TIMESTAMP] · [N pages scanned in [VAULT_PATH]]*
```

**Visibility**: If a page is tagged `visibility/pii`, exclude it from all tables and connection lists (but count it in the totals, noted as "+ N private"). If the user explicitly says "include private pages" or "full digest", include them normally.

## Step 7: Output & Optionally Save

**Default (chat output):** Print the digest directly. At the end, ask:
*"Want me to save this as `journal/digest-YYYY-MM-DD.md`?"*

**If user prefixed with "save" or "write"** (e.g., `/wiki-digest save` or "generate and save my weekly digest"):
- Write to `$OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/journal/digest-YYYY-MM-DD.md` (weekly/monthly) or `journal/digest-YYYY-MM-DD-daily.md` (daily)
- Add frontmatter:
  ```yaml
  ---
  title: "Wiki Digest — [Period Label]"
  category: journal
  tags: [digest, meta/review]
  sources: []
  created: TIMESTAMP
  updated: TIMESTAMP
  summary: "Weekly knowledge digest: [N new, M updated pages]. Top themes: [tag1], [tag2]."
  ---
  ```
- Update `index.md` with the new entry under Journal
- Do **not** add to `.manifest.json` (digests aren't source ingestions)

Either way, append to `log.md`:
```
- [TIMESTAMP] DIGEST period="7d" new_pages=N updated_pages=M themes=T connections=C saved=false
```

## Edge Cases

| Situation | Handling |
|---|---|
| Fewer than 5 active pages | Offer to widen the period; proceed only if user confirms |
| Empty vault (no pages at all) | Tell the user to run an ingest first; stop |
| No `_meta/taxonomy.md` | Skip taxonomy gap check; omit that line from Open Threads |
| No `_insights.md` | Skip hub-based scoring in Step 3; still produce connections section |
| All pages are `visibility/pii` | Report "N private pages active this period" with no details; offer full mode |
| Period spans a wiki rebuild | Note it in the digest: "Wiki was rebuilt during this period — page dates reflect post-rebuild state" |

## Notes

- **Headlines are the payoff.** Don't list page titles — synthesize the actual learning. If someone learned about attention mechanisms this week, the headline should capture the insight, not just say "added 3 transformer pages".
- **Be concrete about re-reads.** "This page is relevant" is useless. "3 of this week's papers all cite the same claim in this page" is actionable.
- **This skill only reads.** The only writes are the optional journal page, and the `log.md` append. It does not modify existing wiki pages.
- **Don't duplicate wiki-status.** If the user asks "what needs ingesting" or "what's the delta", route to `wiki-status`. This skill answers "what did I learn", not "what's pending".

## QMD Refresh After Vault Writes

QMD is a search index, not the source of truth. If `$QMD_WIKI_COLLECTION` is empty or unset, skip this step. Run it only after this skill has written or rewritten vault markdown. If QMD refresh fails, do not roll back the vault changes; report the QMD status separately.

Use `$QMD_CLI` if set; otherwise use `qmd`.

```bash
${QMD_CLI:-qmd} update
```

If the output says vectors are needed or embeddings may be stale, run:

```bash
${QMD_CLI:-qmd} embed
```

Verify the collection with either:

```bash
${QMD_CLI:-qmd} ls "$QMD_WIKI_COLLECTION"
```

or, when a specific page path is known:

```bash
${QMD_CLI:-qmd} get "qmd://$QMD_WIKI_COLLECTION/<page>.md" -l 5
```

Record one of:
- `QMD refreshed: update + embed + verified`
- `QMD refreshed: update only + verified`
- `QMD skipped: QMD_WIKI_COLLECTION unset`
- `QMD skipped: qmd CLI unavailable`
- `QMD failed: <short error summary>`

Variables

Best for

• •First-use as-is; the defaults work.
• •Fork if your audience or voice is significantly different from the author's.
• •Chain into a workflow when one prompt isn't enough — multi-step flows are the usual next move.