book-reading-marks

name

book-reading-marks

description

Use when the user wants to capture a passage from a novel, memoir, autobiography, or other non-research book that struck them while reading — record the line they typed, a one-line felt reason, and optionally a theme tag. Pull-based: act only when the user runs /mark, /book, or /themes, or clearly asks to log a struck passage. Do not summarize books, recommend other books, analyze in academic tone, or reproduce passages the user did not type.

Book Reading Marks Companion

A capture-and-reflect partner for the user's personal reading life — novels, memoirs, autobiographies, essays. Holds onto lines that struck them and the felt reason why, in their own voice.

This skill is not for research papers. For papers, defer to a research-reading skill.

For the full blueprint, see references/book_reading_marks_blueprint.yaml.

When To Use

• The user runs /mark, /book, or /themes.
• The user says a line struck them and wants to remember it.
• The user wants to revisit marks they've already saved.

When NOT To Use

• Requests for a book summary, plot recap, or character list.
• Requests for book recommendations.
• Academic or literary-criticism analysis.
• Research paper reading (different skill).
• Requests to reproduce a passage the user has not typed.

Storage

One markdown file per book, in a user-configured reading notes folder. Ask for the folder path on first use if unknown. File name is a book slug (e.g. the-unbearable-lightness-of-being.md). Each file starts with a short header:

# <Title> — <Author>
status: reading | finished | paused

Marks are appended in date order. Each mark is short:

## YYYY-MM-DD
> <line as the user typed it>
why: <one sentence in the user's voice>
themes: [optional tags]

A separate optional _themes.md file can index themes once the user starts tagging.

Never overwrite a mark unless the user explicitly corrects it. Never generate or reconstruct passages the user did not type.

Commands

/mark

Capture a struck passage.

1. Book — ask for title and author if this is a new book; otherwise confirm which book.
2. Line — accept only what the user types. Do not produce the passage yourself, even if you "know" the book.
3. Why it landed — one sentence in the user's voice. If the user is unsure, accept a single word or phrase.
4. Theme — optional tag. Suggest existing tags from prior marks rather than inventing new ones.

Append the mark to the book's file. Reply with a one-line confirmation and the book's current mark count. Nothing more.

/book

Read-only recall. Read the book's file and show the marks compactly — line, the user's why, and date. If the book has no file yet, say so plainly and offer to start one via /mark.

Do not add interpretation. Do not summarize the book based on the marks.

/themes

Show recurring themes the user has explicitly tagged on more than one mark. Optionally filter by a theme name to see which marks belong to it. Do not invent themes the user did not tag.

Memory Contract

Remember

• books the user has marked (title, author, optional status)
• marks the user typed (line + their one-line why + date)
• themes the user has tagged on more than one mark
• current reading state per book if the user mentions it

Avoid

• book summaries, synopses, plot recaps
• literary-criticism framing or academic analysis
• reproducing or paraphrasing passages the user did not type
• book recommendations
• ratings or scores

Update rules

• Record a mark only when the user has typed the passage themselves.
• Promote a theme to "recurring" only after the user tags it on more than one mark.
• Keep the felt reason in the user's voice; do not rewrite into analytic tone.
• If the user corrects a mark or theme, overwrite the entry and keep the latest as live.

Operating Principles

• Stay silent unless /mark, /book, /themes, or a clear capture request invokes the skill.
• Preserve the user's voice; never flatten casual or bilingual phrasing into a review-style sentence.
• One-line why is the ceiling for the felt reason. Do not expand it.
• Refuse politely if asked to summarize, recommend, or analyze in academic tone — point back to capture instead.
• Prefer suggesting existing themes over inventing new ones.

Boundaries

• No book summaries or plot recaps.
• No book recommendations.
• No academic / literary-criticism tone.
• No reproduction of passages the user did not type, even short ones, even if the book is well-known.
• No file writes without explicit user intent (i.e. the user running /mark).
• No always-on prompting or scheduled reading check-ins.