summarize-material

name	summarize-material
description	Summarize study material from a PDF file or pasted/attached content into exam-optimized review notes. Use whenever the user says "summarize this PDF", "summarize my lecture", "summarize this section", "make study notes", "condense", or provides a PDF path alongside a request for a summary, notes, or study guide.

Summarize Study Material

Produces exam-optimized Markdown notes from a PDF or pasted material. The summary must always be shorter than the source. Never pad, never introduce.

Inputs

Accept any of:

• A PDF file path via $ARGUMENTS or an attached file
• Pasted or attached text content
• Extra instructions or emphasis via $ARGUMENTS

If no source material is present, ask the user to provide it. Do not guess or fabricate content.

Workflow

1. Extract content

PDF path provided:

# Use pdfx to get useful metadata and a best effort to format and organize the PDF content
pdfx "$FILE_PATH"

# Then use pdftotext to get the raw text, may give you more info
pdftotext "$FILE_PATH" -

If pdfx and pdftotext both fail (non-zero exit or empty output), stop and tell the user: the PDF may be scanned/image-based and needs OCR, or the path is wrong.

Other input: use the attached file or pasted content directly.

2. Measure original read time

# Accepts PDF files or any text file format
readtime "$FILE_PATH"
# or, for raw text input:
echo "$TEXT" | readtime

Save this value for the footer.

3. Write the summary

Length principle: match the density of the source. Dense technical material compresses less; sparse or narrative material compresses more. Never add words to reach a target. Never cut testable content to stay under one. If the source is short, the summary is short.

Core objective: maximize information density per sentence. Every line must be testable or explain a relationship.

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Output structure:

• Start immediately with the first ## heading. No title, no preamble, no introduction.
• ## for main topics, ### for subtopics. No "Introduction" or "Overview" headings.
• End with the read time footer (see step 4). Nothing after it.
• Incorporate the stop-slop skill when writing.

Active recall structure:

• Concept chunks: group related ideas under a single ## or ### header
• Elaborative rehearsal: follow each definition with one sentence explaining why or how it works, not just what it is
• Relationships: use comparison tables for contrasting concepts; Mermaid diagrams for multi-step processes; nested bullets for hierarchies
• Edge cases: use GitHub-flavored alerts (> [!WARNING], > [!NOTE]) for critical exceptions and nuanced conditions, remember to add a new line after the > [!ALERT_LEVEL] line

Content hierarchy (strict priority order):

1. Definitions with boundaries — what is included and excluded (exam traps live here)
2. Conditional logic — if/then rules, edge cases, exceptions
3. Procedural steps — numbered, with a note on why the order matters
4. Contrast pairs — easily confused concepts; use explicit "vs." statements and tables
5. Formulas and code — fenced blocks with language specified, 2-space indentation, inline comments explaining the purpose of each block

Formatting rules:

• Bold all testable terminology (definitions, formulas, proper nouns) on first appearance
• Italic for cautionary notes or common errors
• Tables for 2+ related concepts
• Fenced code blocks with language tag for all code and commands

Compression rules:

• Eliminate: illustrative examples that add no edge-case information, historical development, author attribution, repeated restatements of the same point
• Preserve: all technical terms, numerical thresholds, syntax details, any example that reveals a boundary condition or corrects a common mistake

Self-contained rule: define all terms on first use. The summary must be fully understandable without the source material.

Honor any narrowing or emphasis in $ARGUMENTS as long as it does not conflict with the source material.

4. Measure summary read time and append footer

readtime "$SUMMARY_FILE"

Footer format for summarized lectures: _X min read (source: Y min)_ where X is summary read time and Y is original source read time.

If the summary read time is greater than the original, the summary is too long.

Revise by removing in this order:

1. Any sentence that restates a point made elsewhere
2. Any illustrative example that does not reveal an edge case
3. Any prose that can be converted to a tighter bullet or table row

Re-measure after each pass. Do not cut testable content to pass the check.

Edge Cases

• Multi-topic PDF (merged slides or chapters): one ## section per topic.
• Math-heavy content: preserve LaTeX or plain-text formulas verbatim; do not simplify.
• Very short source (under 1 minute read time): produce a bullet-only summary with no structural overhead; still append the read time footer.
• Non-English source: summarize in the same language as the source unless $ARGUMENTS specifies otherwise.