metadata-only-intake-routing

name	metadata-only-intake-routing
description	Route sparse intake batches that only expose headers, titles, or create/update metadata into durable inbox notes without over-inventing content.

Metadata-only intake routing

Use this skill when a backfill batch contains records that are mostly title/header metadata, repeated headers, or other sparse signals with no safe body content.

What this skill covers

• Compaction of multiple records into a single inbox note by channel/thread.
• Deduping repeated titles or near-identical sparse records before writing.
• Preserving provenance with source URIs and/or source line ranges.
• Routing uncertain items to Inbox instead of forcing premature entity notes.
• Running the exact checkpoint commit only after all routed sources in the batch are processed.

Working rules

1. Compact by channel/thread first.
2. Dedupe repeated facts inside the group.
3. Ask the four intake questions for the grouped window:
   • What needs to be done?
   • How can I help now?
   • What facts changed?
   • What patterns/signals changed?
4. If a record has only a title/header and no body, treat it as a routing placeholder, not a task.
5. If routing is uncertain, write one sourced Inbox note for the batch instead of creating many tiny notes.
6. Never commit a source line that you could not fully process.
7. After triage/writeback, run the exact checkpoint snippet for the batch and verify the checkpoint file reflects the committed line.

Good defaults

• Prefer one compact note per batch when the batch is mostly metadata-only.
• Use representative vadimgest://... URIs in the note so the original record is traceable.
• Include a short batch-level note if the whole batch is sparse.
• Keep the summary terse: state that no concrete task can be extracted yet when that is true.

Pitfalls

• Do not invent bodies, decisions, or tasks from titles alone.
• Do not create a separate note for every repeated sparse header if they belong to the same channel/thread window.
• Do not commit a checkpoint line for a source you intentionally left unprocessed.
• Do not split one sparse batch into many entity notes just because the titles look thematic.
• Do not skip provenance: every durable note needs source URIs or line ranges.

Verification

• Re-open the written note and confirm the new batch was appended in the intended section.
• Confirm the checkpoint file shows the batch's commit line after the commit snippet runs.

Support files

• See references/sparse-header-batch.md for a worked example of a title-only Codex batch and the compacting pattern.