| name | memory/insight-distillation |
| description | Use during periodic review sessions (weekly/monthly/quarterly) to turn raw captures into reusable frameworks — patterns captured ≥3 times become named, documented, ready-to-reuse frameworks. Default skill for Starlight Second Brain. |
| type | personal-life-os |
Insight Distillation
"Three captures is a pattern. Five is a framework. Seven is a signature. Count."
When This Skill Activates
- Periodic review sessions — weekly, monthly, quarterly
- Keywords: distill, synthesize captures, monthly review, what did I learn, connect the dots, pattern across notes
- Default for: Starlight Second Brain
- Composes with: memory/knowledge-synthesis, intelligence/pattern-recognition, memory/vault-management
What This Skill Does
Turns raw captures into reusable frameworks. Captures are cheap; frameworks are portable IP. Distillation is the process of noticing the signal across the noise — patterns captured ≥3 times become named, documented, ready-to-reuse frameworks.
Distillation runs on three cadences:
- Weekly (lightweight, 15 min of the 30-min review): cluster inbox + new captures by theme; identify emerging patterns
- Monthly (90 min dedicated session): elevate validated patterns to named frameworks; archive raw captures
- Quarterly (half-day integration): cross-reference against Genius Profile; propose evolution or net-new frameworks
Core Principles
- Count occurrences, don't vibe. A pattern is only real at ≥3 occurrences across the window. Two is coincidence. One is anecdote. Inherited from Genius excavation — the rule is the same for personal ongoing capture as it is for one-time excavation.
- Distill before you dedupe. Two captures saying similar things is a signal; one "master note" erases the frequency signal. Cluster first, count second, elevate third.
- Distillate preserves; raw archives. Once a pattern elevates to a framework, the raw captures can archive — the distillate carries forward.
- Not every cluster becomes a framework. Sometimes a theme shows up 3 times and the honest answer is "interesting, not yet useful." Note the theme; don't force elevation.
- Cross-reference before naming. A pattern that resembles an existing Genius framework is probably evolution, not net-new. Check before naming.
Procedures
Procedure 1: Load Captures From Window
Scope by cadence:
- Weekly: Last 7 days of captures + current inbox
- Monthly: Last 30 days of captures + accumulated weekly clusters
- Quarterly: Last 90 days of monthly distillates + Genius Profile for cross-reference
Read all captures in the window. Do not skim — clustering requires reading in full. This is why weekly is 15 min, not 60 min: fewer captures, less to read.
Procedure 2: Cluster By Theme
Group captures that touch the same underlying theme. A theme is not a category — it's an emerging thing the person has been thinking about repeatedly.
Example (a practitioner's monthly distillation):
- Cluster A: 5 captures about client-calls where the framework worked even when the client resisted → theme: "framework resilience under client friction"
- Cluster B: 3 captures about why one vocabulary word kept returning across unrelated coaching conversations → theme: "vocabulary as diagnostic"
- Cluster C: 2 captures about a new energy-management observation → theme: still emerging, watch next month
Clusters are named in the person's own voice, not a generic category. "Framework resilience under client friction" is what the practitioner would say; "client-handling patterns" is what a template would say. Voice matters.
Procedure 3: Identify Emerging Patterns (≥3 Threshold)
For each cluster, count occurrences. Apply the threshold:
- ≥3 occurrences → eligible for elevation to framework (proceed to step 4)
- 2 occurrences → coincidence; hold for next window
- 1 occurrence → anecdote; archive or drop
Record the count. The count is part of the distillate — "observed 5 times across March" is stronger evidence than "I noticed this."
Procedure 4: Elevate Patterns To Frameworks
For each eligible cluster, write a framework draft:
### Framework: <name in person's voice>
**Observed:** <N times across <window>>
**Evidence:** <3-5 capture references — dates + one-line excerpts>
**What it says:** <2-3 sentences naming the pattern>
**When it applies:** <context in which this pattern holds>
**When it fails:** <counter-examples or boundary conditions noticed>
**Status:** draft / validated / deprecated
A framework starts as draft. It becomes validated at the next cadence (monthly → quarterly) if still observed. Deprecated if contradicted by later captures.
Procedure 5: Cross-Reference Against Genius Profile
Load the person's Genius Profile (genius/profile-<slug>.md). For each new framework draft, answer:
- Does this resemble an existing Profile framework?
- Yes, refinement → propose evolution to that framework; do not create net-new
- Yes, contradiction → flag for next excavation cycle; the Profile may be outdated
- No resemblance → candidate for net-new Profile framework at quarterly integration
Write proposals to second-brain/genius-evolution/<slug>.md. Never mutate the Profile directly — Genius agent confirms evolutions.
Procedure 6: Archive Raw Captures
Once a cluster has distilled into a framework draft, archive the raw captures:
- Raw captures →
second-brain/archive/<YYYY-MM>/
- Distillate (the framework draft) →
personal/<slug>/wisdom-vault.md under ## Personal Frameworks section
- Cluster notes that didn't elevate →
second-brain/clusters-<window>-<date>.md (preserves them for next window's counting)
The distillate carries the signal forward. The raw captures are preserved for provenance and re-distillation if the framework later matures or is contested.
Rules
- Never elevate a pattern to framework below the ≥3 threshold. The threshold is the discipline.
- Never mutate the Genius Profile directly. Propose; confirm via Genius agent at quarterly review.
- Never dedupe captures before counting. Frequency is signal — collapsing hides it.
- Never archive captures whose clusters haven't distilled. Preserve until the next window counts them.
- Always count in the person's voice. "Observed 5 times" not "n=5."
- Always cross-reference with Genius Profile before naming net-new frameworks. Most emerging patterns are evolution, not discovery.
- Always let clusters die honestly. Not every theme becomes a framework. "Interesting, not yet useful" is a valid final state.
Integration Points
- Vault: Reads
second-brain/inbox/, second-brain/captures/; writes second-brain/distillates/, second-brain/archive/, personal/<slug>/wisdom-vault.md, second-brain/genius-evolution/<slug>.md.
- Agents: Starlight Second Brain (primary). Genius (evolution proposals). Sage (cross-reference with institutional Wisdom).
- Commands:
/distill-insights invokes this skill directly; /orchestrate-brain runs it in the weekly 30-min ritual at lightweight depth.
- Skills: Composes with
memory/knowledge-synthesis (clustering), intelligence/pattern-recognition (threshold recognition), memory/vault-management (persistence), iterative-retrieval (progressive refinement across windows).
Quality Criteria
- Did every framework elevation meet the ≥3 threshold?
- Did the monthly distillation produce ≥1 elevation or honestly note "no signal yet"?
- Were raw captures archived after distillation, preserving the distillate?
- Was the Genius Profile cross-referenced before naming net-new frameworks?
- Did the distillate read as the person's voice, not generic template language?
- Would re-reading the distillate in 6 months still make sense without the raw captures?
Built on SIP — Starlight Intelligence Protocol
- Substrate: starlightintelligence.org/protocol v1.1.0
- Layers used: [file-contract, attestation, commands, sovereignty]
- Verticals: starlight-intelligence-system@v7.4 (SBIS alpha)
- Generated: 2026-04-24
- Attestation is compounding, not credit transfer: every composition strengthens every node.
