You are helping the user create a properly formatted note.

Template Resolution

All templates are stored in .claude/templates/ in the user's project.

•
Determine template name:
- •User says "experiment" or type == 'experiment' → look for "experiment-template.md"
- •User says "decision" or type == 'decision' → look for "decision-template.md"
- •User says "custom-type" → look for "custom-type-template.md"
•
Load template:
- •Read from .claude/templates/{type}-template.md
- •If not found, show error: "Template '{type}-template.md' not found in .claude/templates/"
- •List available templates by reading all files matching .claude/templates/*-template.md
•
Built-in templates:
- •/setup-notes copies built-in templates to .claude/templates/ during initialization
- •Users can customize these templates directly
- •Users can create new templates with /create-note-type

Task

Guide the user through creating a note using the appropriate template.

Arguments

If the user provided a type argument (e.g., /create-note experiment), use that type directly instead of asking.

Valid types: experiment, decision, troubleshooting, meeting, research, or any custom template name.

Steps

•
Determine note type
- •If type was provided as argument: Use it directly
- •Otherwise ask: "What type of note would you like to create?"
- •experiment: For documenting what you tried
- •decision: For recording why you made a choice
- •troubleshooting: For capturing how you fixed an error
- •meeting: For recording meeting notes and action items
- •research: For external references
•
Get note details

For experiment:
- •Ask for brief description
- •Suggest filename: notes/experiments/YYYY-MM-DD-{description}.md
For decision:
- •Ask for topic name
- •Suggest filename: notes/decisions/YYYY-MM-{topic}.md
For troubleshooting:
- •Ask for error/issue name
- •Suggest filename: notes/troubleshooting/{issue}-errors.md
For meeting:
- •Ask for meeting topic/name
- •Suggest filename: notes/meetings/YYYY-MM-DD-{topic}.md
For research:
- •Ask for topic
- •Suggest filename: notes/research/{topic}.md
•
Load appropriate template

Read the template:
- •Use Read tool to load .claude/templates/{type}-template.md
- •If file doesn't exist, list available templates with Glob: .claude/templates/*-template.md
- •Show error: "Template not found. Run /setup-notes to initialize templates or /create-note-type {type} to create a custom template."
Pre-fill template:
- •Fill in today's date automatically (YYYY-MM-DD format)
- •Pre-fill what you can from conversation context
- •Keep placeholder text for sections you don't have info for
•
Create the note
- •Use create_file to write the note
- •Place in correct directory
- •Use proper filename format
•
Gather INDEX metadata

Every note MUST be added to INDEX.md. Ask the user:

a. "What tags describe this? (comma-separated, e.g., 'optimizer, adamw, training')" b. "One-line key finding or summary?"

These make the INDEX searchable without opening individual notes.
•
Update INDEX.md (always)

Add entry to the appropriate section with this format:
markdown
```
**YYYY-MM-DD: [Note Title]**
- Tags: tag1, tag2, tag3
- Finding: One-line summary of key insight
- File: [relative/path/to/note.md](relative/path/to/note.md)
```
Section mapping:
- •experiment → "## All Experiments"
- •decision → "## All Decisions"
- •troubleshooting → "## All Troubleshooting Guides"
- •meeting → "## All Meetings"
- •research → "## All Research"
Also add to "## Recent Activity" with today's date and title.
•
Optionally update quick-reference.md

Ask: "Did this change current best practices? Should I update quick-reference.md?"

If yes:
- •Add to "What Works" if successful approach
- •Add to "Don't Do These" if failed approach
- •Update "Last Updated" section

Template References

Experiment Template Structure

markdown

# YYYY-MM-DD: Title

## Goal
## What I Tried
## Key Findings
## Failed Approaches (table)
## Configuration Used
## Next Steps
## References

Decision Template Structure

markdown

# Decision: Title

Date: YYYY-MM-DD

## Context
## Options Considered
## Decision
## Rationale
## Trade-offs
## When to Revisit
## References

Troubleshooting Template Structure

markdown

# Troubleshooting: Error Name

Last updated: YYYY-MM-DD

## Symptom
## Cause
## Solution
## Prevention
## Related Issues
## Example Occurrences

Meeting Template Structure

markdown

# Meeting: Title

Date: YYYY-MM-DD
Attendees: [Names]

## Agenda
## Discussion
## Decisions Made (table)
## Action Items
## Key Takeaways
## Follow-up
## References

Smart Pre-filling

Based on the conversation history:

•Extract what the user was trying to do (→ Goal)
•Extract what they tried (→ What I Tried)
•Extract any errors mentioned (→ Failed Approaches)
•Extract successful config (→ Configuration Used)
•Note any related past experiments

Figure Embedding

IMPORTANT: When adding figures to notes, always use inline markdown image syntax to make them viewable:

✅ Correct - Embeds image inline:

markdown

![Figure description](figures/filename.png)

❌ Incorrect - Just a text link:
[Figure description](figures/filename.png)

Guidelines:
- Use ![alt text](path) syntax so images render directly in markdown viewers
- Alt text should briefly describe what the figure shows
- Relative paths from the note location (e.g., figures/ subdirectory)
- After the embedded image, add a bullet list with key observations from the figure

Example:
## Figures

**Performance Comparison**
![Chart showing performance metrics over time](figures/performance-comparison.png)
- Metrics improved after configuration change
- Need further investigation on edge cases

## References and Backlinks

**IMPORTANT**: All references to other notes, files, or documentation should be
clickable backlinks:

✅ **Correct** - Clickable backlink:
```markdown
- Related experiment: [2026-01-22-linear-decoder.md](../experiments/2026-01-22-linear-decoder.md)

❌ Incorrect - Plain text or code blocks:
- Related experiment: experiments/2026-01-22-linear-decoder.md
- Dataset implementation: `path/to/example/dataset.py`

Guidelines:
- Use [display text](relative/path) syntax for all file and note references
- Use relative paths from the current note location
- Link display text should be descriptive (filename or human-readable description)
- Code files, config files, notebooks, and other notes should all be backlinks
- This makes notes navigable and allows clicking through to related content

Example References Section:
## References
- Related experiment: [2026-01-15-initial-approach.md](../experiments/2026-01-15-initial-approach.md)
- Implementation: [data_processor.py](../../src/data_processor.py)
- Configuration: [config.yaml](../../config/config.yaml)
- Documentation: [API Design](../research/api-design.md)

## Filename Formatting

Always use:
- Lowercase
- Hyphens instead of spaces
- YYYY-MM-DD format for dates
- Brief but descriptive

Good: `2025-01-13-learning-rate-sweep.md`
Bad: `Learning Rate Sweep.md`

## After Creation

Confirm to user:

"✅ Created {filename}

📝 Note type: {type}
📍 Location: notes/{subdirectory}/{filename}
🏷️ Tags: {tags}
📋 Finding: {one-line finding}

✅ Added to INDEX.md under '{section}'

Next steps:
- [ ] Fill in remaining details in the note
- [ ] Link related notes in References section

💡 This note is now searchable via INDEX.md. I'll reference it in future sessions when relevant."

## Error Handling

- If `.claude/templates/` directory doesn't exist: "Run `/setup-notes` first to initialize the system"
- If template file doesn't exist: "Template not found. Available templates: [list from .claude/templates/]. Use `/create-note-type {type}` to create a custom template."
- If note file already exists: Ask if they want to overwrite or create with different name
- If INDEX.md doesn't exist: Warn but create note anyway