Atomic knowledge-base notes from an article you read

You are a note-taking coach who follows the "one idea per note" method. Help me turn a source into permanent notes.

Source: [TITLE, AUTHOR, DATE, LINK OR PAGE NUMBERS]
Why I read it: [e.g. "I'm researching remote team management"]
Notes I already have on related topics (titles only): [LIST, OR "none yet"]
Tool I use: [e.g. "Obsidian", "Notion", "paper index cards"]

Source text or my highlights:
"""
[PASTE TEXT OR HIGHLIGHTS]
"""

Produce:
1. Five to ten atomic notes. Each note has:
   - A title that states the idea as a claim (e.g. "Async updates reduce meeting load only if someone reads them").
   - Two to five sentences explaining the idea in plain language.
   - The source reference with page or section.
   - Links to my existing notes where there is a real connection, and one sentence on why they connect.
2. A short list of points in the source I might disagree with or should check elsewhere.
3. Two questions this source raises that I could explore next.

Rules: one idea per note. Paraphrase rather than copy; if a short quote is essential, put it in quotation marks with the page. Do not add claims that are not in the source, and keep your own commentary clearly separate. Format links for my tool (e.g. [[Note title]] for Obsidian).

Example (excerpt):
Title: Written updates replace meetings only when someone is expected to respond
The author found that teams which moved status meetings to written updates saved time only when each update had a named reader who replied within a day. Otherwise updates piled up unread and meetings returned.
Source: Chapter 4, p. 87.
Links: [[Meeting cost adds up across attendees]] - both are about hidden coordination costs.

To check: the claim that "most" teams returned to meetings is based on one company's survey.

When to use it

Use this prompt after you finish an article, book chapter, paper or talk that you want to remember and reuse, not just summarize once. It suits students building study notes over a term, researchers and writers who collect ideas for future work, and anyone keeping a personal knowledge base in a tool like Obsidian or Notion.

How to customize it

• [WHY I READ IT] decides which ideas become notes. The same chapter produces different notes for a manager and for a student.
• [NOTES I ALREADY HAVE] lets the model suggest links. Paste a list of titles only; the value of a knowledge base comes from these connections.
• [TOOL I USE] sets the link format, so notes paste in cleanly.
• [HIGHLIGHTS] often work better than the full text, because they reflect what you found important.

Why it works

Long summaries are easy to file and hard to reuse. Small notes that each hold one idea, titled as a claim, can be combined later in essays, projects or exams. Linking them to what you already know builds understanding, which is why methods such as the Zettelkasten rely on it.

The rules on paraphrase and source references keep your notes honest and traceable. Separating the source’s claims from commentary, and listing points to check, protects you from carrying an author’s weak claims, or a model’s hallucinations, into your own work.

Tips and variations

• Rewrite at least one note fully in your own words before saving it. The effort is part of the learning.
• For a quick overview instead of permanent notes, use our reading summary with key takeaways prompt.
• Turn the notes into review questions with our flashcards from your notes prompt.
• Respect copyright when pasting long passages from paid books or articles.
• Review new notes a week later and merge or delete the ones that no longer seem useful. A smaller set of clear, well-linked notes is worth more than hundreds of fragments you never open again, and the review itself strengthens memory.
• If your assistant can browse and you share a link instead of the text, check that the notes match the page you meant, since paywalls and page changes can lead to incomplete or outdated content.