add-procedure

Add Procedure

Offload a chore into the vault: capture the steps once so the task is repeatable and the brain can forget it. Procedures are utilitarian -- distinct from 02-research/ deep-dives and 00-notes/ fleeting thoughts.

Step 1: Discover the Reference Directory

Find the vault's reference directory per the convention in the domain CLAUDE.md: scan the vault root for a directory matching *reference (e.g. 03-reference/). If none is found, ask the user where reference docs should live. Never hardcode the path.

Done when: you have the reference directory path.

Step 2: Gather the Procedure

Get the content of the task being captured:

• Default -- mine the conversation. If this session just solved a task, reconstruct it: the goal, the ordered steps actually taken, the commands run, and any gotchas or dead-ends hit along the way. Strip false starts; keep what a future run needs.
• Fall back -- ask. If there's no session to mine (fresh context, or the user invoked cold), ask them to paste or describe the procedure.

Resolve any links the procedure references via /look-up so captured commands/URLs are accurate.

Done when: you have the goal, the steps, and the gotchas for one procedure.

Step 3: Assign a File

Scan the reference directory. For each existing procedure file, read its title and ## headings to model what area it covers. Then decide placement:

• Best-fit file found -- append the new entry to it. No prompt.
• No good fit -- propose a new procedure file (<area>.md, slug derived from the topic) and confirm with a single yes/no. Never ask the user to define an area's boundary or scope.

If the user rejects the proposed name, take their alternative and proceed.

Done when: you know the target file (existing or newly named) and whether it's an append or a new file.

Step 4: Write the Entry

Format the entry per PROCEDURE-FORMAT.md:

• Terse by default -- title, optional one-line when/why, numbered steps, gotchas as callouts.
• Long-form only when the capture is genuinely complex (mental model, phases, known issues, lessons).
• New file -- add the frontmatter from the template, then the entry.
• Append -- add the ## entry under the existing content; leave frontmatter untouched.

Match the terseness of the user's existing entries. Do not pad.

Done when: the entry is written to the target file.

Step 5: Confirm

Report what was captured and where:

Captured <Title> -> <file> (<new file> / appended)

{one-line recap of the entry}

If a new file was created, mention it so the user knows a new area now exists.

Done when: the user has seen what was written and where.