clean-messy-notes-to-action-items

Turn Messy Notes into Assigned Action Items (AI Skill)

Overview

During fast-paced meetings or brainstorming sessions, notes are scribbled in fragments ("Dave check billing API, push release fri, talk to sarah re budget?"). Leaving notes in this state leads to dropped tasks and confusion.

The Action Item Parser Protocol ingests raw, unformatted notes and separates them into 3 clean, unambiguous buckets: Key Decisions Made, Assigned Action Items (with strict ownership and deadlines), and Open Questions.

---

The 3-Bucket Parser Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                 The Action-Item Parser                      │
│                                                             │
│  [ RAW FRAGMENTED NOTES & SCRIBBLINGS ]                     │
│                           │                                 │
│                           ▼                                 │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ 1. DECISIONS: What was agreed on? (No action needed)  │  │
│  │ 2. ACTION ITEMS: [WHO] + [WHAT] + [BY WHEN] + [DOD]   │  │
│  │ 3. OPEN QUESTIONS: What is blocked or unowned?        │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

---

Master Note Cleanup Prompt Templates

Pattern 1: The Standard Action-Item Parser

Use this for team meetings, client calls, and sprint standups:

Here are my raw, unedited meeting notes:
[PASTE RAW NOTES]

Parse these notes into the following 3 structured sections:

### 1. Key Decisions Made
- Bulleted list of final decisions agreed upon.

### 2. Action Items Table
Create a Markdown table with the following columns:
| Task / Deliverable | Owner | Deadline | Priority (P0 / P1 / P2) | Definition of Done |

### 3. Open Questions & Blockers
- Bulleted list of unresolved issues requiring follow-up.

Rules:
- If an owner or deadline is not explicitly named, label as `[UNASSIGNED]` or `[TBD]`.
- Convert vague verbs ("look into", "check") into concrete action deliverables ("Review API logs and document error rates").