| name | web-capture |
| description | This skill should be used when a researcher wants to save web content to their vault. Triggers on URLs, 'save this article', 'clip this page', 'capture this website', or 'add this to my vault' with a URL. |
web-capture
Fetch web content, convert to clean markdown, add metadata, and save to the vault.
When to Use
- Researcher shares a URL
- Researcher says "save this article", "clip this", "capture this page"
- Any web content that should be preserved in the vault
Capture Flow
Step 1: Capture
carrel capture url <url>
The CLI uses defuddle (smart content extraction — strips navigation, ads, sidebars) with markitdown as fallback. It extracts metadata (title, author, published date) and adds YAML frontmatter automatically.
Step 2: Review and organize
The article lands in inbox/ by default. After capture, suggest:
"I've saved the article to inbox/. Want me to move it to papers/ or notes/?"
Use --dry-run if the researcher wants to preview where it will go first.
Step 3: Suggest connections
If the article relates to existing vault content, suggest links:
"This discusses identity construction — you have notes on that in [[notes/identity-theory-overview]]."
Judgment Calls
- Academic paper on a website (not PDF): Use
carrel capture url — defuddle extracts article content cleanly
- PDF hosted online: Download it first, then
carrel paper convert — the paper pipeline handles PDFs better
- YouTube video page: Use
carrel transcript create <youtube-url> instead — the transcript pipeline is purpose-built for this
- Google Docs/Sheets/Slides URL (
docs.google.com, sheets.google.com, slides.google.com): Route to carrel google export <url> instead — the Google Workspace pipeline handles authenticated export with proper formatting
Alternative: Web Clipper
Remind researchers they can clip directly from their browser:
"You can also use the Obsidian Web Clipper extension to save pages directly to your vault — just click the clipper icon in your browser toolbar."
Related
- CLI:
carrel capture url, with --force, --dry-run, --format flags
- Skills:
vault-ops for file placement
- Commands:
/carrel-capture triggers this skill
