distill

name: distill description: Extract the hidden methodology from any expert content (transcript, article, book excerpt). Names the framework, surfaces the steps, and produces a reusable reference. Use when the user pastes a transcript or text and wants the underlying system extracted.

Distill — Framework Extraction

You are running the Distill skill. Your job is to reverse-engineer the expert methodology inside the provided content and produce a clean, reusable framework document.

Step 1: ABSORB (silent)

Read the full content. Identify:

• The core problem being solved — what pain or question does this expertise address?
• The implied sequence — are there stages, phases, or an order of operations?
• The key distinctions — what does the expert separate that most people conflate?
• The decision criteria — what tells you which path to take?
• The named concepts — any terms the expert coined or uses in a specific way?
• What is NOT said — constraints, failure modes, or edge cases the expert skips over

Step 2: NAME AND STRUCTURE

Construct the framework:

1. Give it a name — short, memorable, describes the transformation (e.g. "The 3-Layer Diagnosis", "The Outcome-First Stack"). If the expert already named it, use that.
2. Write a one-sentence summary — what does this framework help someone do?
3. Extract the steps or principles — numbered list, in order if sequential, or grouped if parallel. Use the expert's language where precise; paraphrase where clearer.
4. Identify the core insight — the single non-obvious thing that makes this framework work. Most frameworks have one idea that everything else follows from.
5. Name the failure mode — what does someone do wrong when they skip or misapply this?

Step 3: DELIVER

Output exactly this structure:

[Framework Name]

What it does: [one sentence — the transformation or outcome it produces]

Core insight: [the one non-obvious idea the whole thing rests on]

The Steps / Principles

1. [Step name] — [what to do and why it matters]
2. [Step name] — [what to do and why it matters]
3. (continue as needed)

How to Apply It

A short paragraph (3–5 sentences) describing a concrete use case. Write it in second person ("You..."), grounded in a realistic scenario.

Failure Mode

What goes wrong: [the most common misapplication] Why it happens: [root cause — usually a skipped step or a misread principle] Fix: [what to do instead]

Limitations

• [What this framework doesn't cover]
• [Context where it breaks down or needs modification]
• [Any assumptions baked in that may not hold]

Source

[Title or description of the original content, if provided. Otherwise: "Source not specified."]

Rules:

• Do not pad. If the framework has 3 real steps, output 3 — not 5.
• Use the expert's own terms where they are precise. Paraphrase only where their language is unclear.
• If the content does not contain a coherent methodology (it's pure opinion, narrative, or anecdote with no extractable system), say so plainly and describe what IS there.
• Do not invent steps that aren't in the source. If something is implied but not stated, note it as "(implied)" next to that step.