generate-book-summary

Generate a comprehensive long-form summary article for a book in this vault.

The user can specify a book by its ID (e.g. pbig, 7pw) or by title.

---

Inputs

• BOOK_ID — the short folder name used across sources/, content/summaries/, content/concepts/, and content/examples/

---

Step 1 — Resolve BOOK_ID

If not provided, infer from context or ask.

Confirm the directories exist:

• sources/<book-id>/
• content/summaries/<book-id>/
• content/concepts/<book-id>/
• content/examples/<book-id>/

---

Step 2 — Read all content in parallel

Read all files from these four directories simultaneously:

1. content/summaries/<book-id>/ — chapter summary files (skip any existing SUMMARY.md)
2. content/concepts/<book-id>/ — all concept files
3. content/examples/<book-id>/ — all example files (filenames only, for inline linking)

Do not read raw source chapters — the processed summaries and concept/example files are sufficient.

---

Step 3 — Draft the article

Write a long-form article in HBR article style:

• Audience: intelligent non-specialist reader — someone who has not read the book
• Tone: authoritative, clear, narrative-driven; no bullet lists in the main body
• Length: thorough enough to convey the book's full argument, but every sentence earns its place
• Structure: use ## section headers as thematic breaks, not chapter-by-chapter recaps

Article structure

## [Opening section — core thesis and why it matters]

## [Central framework / key insight]

## [Part I: first major theme — walk through the argument with examples]

## [Part II: second major theme]

...

## [Practical takeaway / closing]

Writing rules

1. Lead with the argument, not the table of contents. Open with the book's central claim and its stakes.
2. Integrate examples inline. Don't isolate examples in separate sections — weave them into the argument as evidence.
3. Name concepts as they appear. Introduce concept names when first used; don't front-load a glossary.
4. Different, not better. Capture the book's own reasoning rather than summarizing chapter titles.
5. No bullet lists in the body. Prose only.

---

Step 4 — Add inline wiki links

Every mention of a concept or example that has a corresponding file in content/concepts/<book-id>/ or content/examples/<book-id>/ should become an Obsidian wiki link.

Link format:

• [[content/concepts/<book-id>/Concept Name|Concept Name]]
• [[content/examples/<book-id>/Example Name|Example Name]]

Rules:

• Link the first meaningful mention of each concept/example; don't repeat the link on every occurrence
• Use display text that reads naturally in the sentence
• Do not link generic words that happen to match a filename

---

Step 5 — Write frontmatter and output

Create content/summaries/<book-id>/SUMMARY.md.

Frontmatter:

---
type: summary
book-id: <book-id>
title: "<Full Book Title>"
authors: "<Author Names>"
---

If SUMMARY.md already exists, confirm with the user before overwriting.

---

Conventions

• Prefer parallel reads when loading many files
• Check for existing SUMMARY.md before writing
• Keep filenames and wiki links stable — use exact concept/example filenames