Turn a long article, email thread, document, or transcript into a tight summary you can act on — the gist, the key points, and what it means for you. Use when asked for a TL;DR, to summarize this, give me the gist, or the key takeaways. Produces a one-line TL;DR, the key points as scannable bullets, any decisions/action items with owners, and open questions — faithful to the source, with nothing invented and important caveats kept.
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Use summarize-anything to produce a [length] summary of [source text], with a one-line TL;DR, key points, decisions and owned action items where present, plus unresolved caveats.
Required inputs
[length]
[source text]
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SKILL.md
name: summarize-anythingdescription: "Turn a long article, email thread, document, or transcript into a tight summary you can act on — the gist, the key points, and what it means for you. Use when asked for a TL;DR, to summarize this, give me the gist, or the key takeaways. Produces a one-line TL;DR, the key points as scannable bullets, any decisions/action items with owners, and open questions — faithful to the source, with nothing invented and important caveats kept."
Summarize Anything
A summary is only useful if you can trust it — which means it can't quietly drop the caveat that changes everything or invent a takeaway that wasn't there. This compresses hard while staying faithful: the one-line gist for the busy, the key points for the skimmer, and — for threads and meetings — the decisions and who-owes-what, so a summary becomes something you can act on, not just a shorter read.
What This Skill Produces
TL;DR — one line, the single most important thing
Key points — the 3–7 that carry the meaning, as scannable bullets
Decisions & action items — for threads/meetings: what was decided, who owns what, by when
Open questions / caveats — what's unresolved or conditional (kept, not smoothed away)
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
The source — paste the text (article, thread, doc, transcript)
What you need from it — just the gist, or the decisions, or "should I read the whole thing?"
Length — one-liner, a paragraph, or the fuller structured version
Framework: Compress Without Distorting
Faithful first. Every point traces to the source; nothing is added, sharpened, or invented.
Lead with the answer. The TL;DR is the conclusion, not "this document discusses…".
Keep the load-bearing caveat. The "but only if…" is often the whole point — never drop it for brevity.
Separate fact from opinion. Note when a "point" is the author's claim vs. established fact.
Make threads actionable. Who decided what, who's on the hook, what's still open.
Output Format
TL;DR
One sentence.
Key points
…
Decisions & actions (threads/meetings)
Decision / action
Owner
By
Open / caveats
…
Quality Checks
Every point is supported by the source — nothing invented or overstated
The TL;DR is the actual conclusion, not a topic label
Load-bearing caveats/conditions are preserved
For threads/meetings, decisions and owners are pulled out
The author's claims are distinguished from established facts where it matters
Anti-Patterns
Inventing a takeaway that sounds good but isn't in the source.
Dropping the caveat that flips the meaning, in the name of brevity.
"This article discusses…" throat-clearing instead of the actual point.
Presenting opinion as fact by stripping the hedges the author used.
Example Trigger Phrases
"TL;DR this article: [paste]"
"Summarize this email thread and tell me what I need to do."
"Give me the key takeaways from this transcript."
"What's the gist of this doc — is it worth reading fully?"
"Pull the decisions and action items out of these meeting notes."