/strategic-reading

name: strategic-reading
version: 0.1.0
description: Read a book, article, transcript, or case study through the lens of a specific strategic problem you're facing. Produces an applied playbook that maps the source onto the problem and gives short/medium/long-term recommendations. NOT for general book summaries.
triggers:
  - "strategic reading"
  - "read this through the lens of"
  - "apply this to my problem"
  - "what can I learn from this about"
  - "extract a playbook from"
mutating: true
writes_pages: true
writes_to:
  - concepts/
  - projects/
# Brain-first analyzer matches `web_fetch` in a diagram on line 106
# (illustrating fetch shape, not an API call) and `perplexity` in a
# cross-reference to perplexity-research. The skill itself works on
# uploaded source text + writes brain pages; it doesn't call external
# APIs. Declarative opt-out.
brain_first: exempt

strategic-reading — Applied Analysis from Source Texts

> **Convention:** see [conventions/quality.md](../conventions/quality.md) for > citation rules (every recommendation cites the source) and back-link > enforcement. > > **Convention:** see [_brain-filing-rules.md](../_brain-filing-rules.md) — > output files by primary subject (concepts/ for general strategy, projects/ > for problem-tied playbooks).

What this is

Take a large text PLUS a specific strategic problem, produce analysis that maps the text's insights onto the problem. This is not book summarization. This is reading with a mission.

Where `book-mirror` personalizes a book to the reader's whole life, `strategic-reading` personalizes it to ONE current problem. Same shape (extract → analyze → mirror), different lens.

**Canonical example:** a power-dynamics history book read against a specific gatekeeper-vs-incumbent fight, producing a tactical analysis that maps the book's playbook onto the situation with counter-tactics and a short/medium/long-term playbook.

Inputs

1. **Source text** — book (EPUB/PDF), article, transcript, historical case study, any large document. 2. **Strategic problem** — the specific situation to analyze through the lens of the text. The user describes this explicitly or it's obvious from context.

Output

The brain page is the artifact. PDF is a rendering, never primary.

Brain page structure

# [Source Title] — Applied to [Problem]

> One-paragraph executive summary: how the source maps to the situation,
> the key insight, the bottom line.

## The Core Parallel
How the source's central dynamic maps onto the user's situation.

## Chapter / Section Triage
For each major section of the source:
- 2-3 sentence summary of what it says
- Relevance to the problem: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
- One directly applicable quote (if any)

## The Source's Playbook
The author's framework, tactics, or strategies — organized as:
- What the protagonist DID (tactics)
- What WORKED and why
- What FAILED and why
- What OPPONENTS did that was effective

## Counter-Tactics
Specific moves from the source that map to the user's situation:
- What to DO (with source evidence)
- What to AVOID (with source evidence)
- What to WATCH FOR (warning signs from the source)

## Applied Playbook
The synthesis — actionable recommendations:
- **Short-term** (this week / this month)
- **Medium-term** (this quarter)
- **Long-term** (this year+)

## Key Quotes
Direct quotes from the source that are devastatingly relevant.
Maximum 5-10. Quality over quantity.

## See Also
Links to relevant brain pages (related concepts, related projects).

Process

Phase 1: Ingest the source
  ├── EPUB: extract chapters via BeautifulSoup (see book-mirror SKILL.md
  │   for the extraction pipeline)
  ├── PDF: pdftotext -layout
  ├── Article: web_fetch
  └── Identify Table of Contents and total size.

Phase 2: Triage chapters
  ├── Read first 2000 chars of each chapter.
  ├── Classify relevance to the problem (HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW).
  └── HIGH chapters get full reads. MEDIUM partial. LOW skipped.

Phase 3: Deep read HIGH chapters
  ├── Tactics and strategies used.
  ├── Power dynamics and how they shifted.
  ├── Specific quotes that map to the problem.
  └── Moments where the protagonist's approach succeeded or failed.

Phase 4: Synthesize
  ├── Map source insights onto the specific problem.
  ├── Build the playbook (do / avoid / watch for).
  ├── Generate short/medium/long-term recommendations.
  └── Select the most devastating quotes.

Phase 5: Write and deliver
  ├── Write the brain page at the right location:
  │     • If problem-specific: projects/<slug>/playbook.md
  │     • If general strategy: concepts/<slug>.md
  ├── put_page via the standard CLI flow.
  └── Optional: render to PDF via skills/brain-pdf.

Quality bar

• **Every recommendation must cite the source.** Don't say "go direct to

the mayor" — say "go direct to the mayor, because when the protagonist refused to be intimidated by a resignation threat (Ch 48), the bluff that worked on five mayors finally failed."

• **Direct quotes are mandatory.** The source's own words carry more

weight than paraphrase.

• **The analysis must be actionable.** Not "this is interesting" but "do

this, avoid that, watch for this."

• **Short/medium/long-term breakdown is mandatory.** The user needs to

know what to do tomorrow AND what to do this year.

What this skill is NOT

• Not a book summary tool. Use a different skill (or `book-mirror` for

personalized analysis) for general summaries.

• Not a research tool. Use `perplexity-research` for finding new

information about a topic.

• Not academic literary analysis. No one cares about literary merit —

only strategic application.

Related skills

• `skills/book-mirror/SKILL.md` — book personalized to whole life (vs

problem)

• `skills/perplexity-research/SKILL.md` — current-intel cross-reference

for fresh data

• `skills/conventions/quality.md` — citation + back-link rules

Contract

This skill guarantees:

• Routing matches th