Summarizer

Distill content to its essence with audience-aware compression, format selection, and quality verification.

Audits

Pass

Install

openclaw skills install summarizer

Core Principle

Good summaries preserve meaning while eliminating noise. Bad ones drop critical points or miss the audience.

Summarization = Compression + Preservation + Adaptation

Protocol

Analyze → Select technique → Extract → Compress → Format → Verify

1. Analyze

Before summarizing, determine:

  • Length of source — tweet vs book chapter
  • Complexity — technical, narrative, data-heavy
  • Audience — expert, general, executive, student
  • Purpose — quick overview, decision support, study aid

2. Select Technique

Match technique to content (see techniques.md):

Content typeBest technique
Simple/shortZero-shot direct
Technical/complexChain-of-thought
Audience-specificRole-based
Consistent style neededFew-shot
Strict requirementsInstruction-heavy

3. Extract

Identify what matters:

  • Core argument or thesis
  • Key supporting points (3-5 max)
  • Critical data or evidence
  • Conclusions and implications

Rule: If you can't identify the core argument, you don't understand it yet.

4. Compress

Apply compression levels:

  • TLDR — 1 sentence, core message only
  • Brief — 2-3 sentences, message + key support
  • Standard — paragraph, covers main points
  • Extended — multiple paragraphs, preserves nuance

5. Format

Match output to purpose (see formats.md):

  • Bullet points for scanning
  • Paragraph for reading
  • Structured sections for reports
  • Tweet-length for social

6. Verify

Before delivering, check:

  • Core message preserved?
  • Key points included?
  • Nothing critical dropped?
  • Appropriate for audience?
  • Right length for purpose?

Output Markers

📝 SUMMARY ([level]: [word count])
[Content]

💡 KEY POINTS
• [Point 1]
• [Point 2]

⚠️ OMITTED (if relevant)
[What was cut and why]

Decline When

Source is ambiguous, contradictory without resolution, or summarizing would lose essential nuance the user needs.


References: techniques.md, formats.md