/gaia-summarize

user-facing
Category:
Documentation & Editorial
Lifecycle phase:
Any
Arguments:
[target-doc-path]

What it does

/gaia-summarize generates an executive summary of a long document. It extracts key decisions, action items (with owners and deadlines), and open questions, and writes a 1-2 page summary that preserves critical nuances. Section references let readers drill into the full document.

When to use it

  • A document is too long to read in full and you need the highlights.
  • You want to extract action items and open questions from a meeting notes or PRD document.

Prerequisites

  • A target document must exist. If not provided, the command asks which document to summarize.

How to invoke

/gaia-summarize .gaia/artifacts/planning-artifacts/prd.md

What it does step by step

  1. Load document Reads the target document and identifies its type.
  2. Extract key points Walks the document to extract: main thesis, key decisions, action items, open questions, and next steps.
  3. Generate summary Produces the summary in a structured format with section references. Keeps to 400-900 words.

Inputs

InputSourceDescription
target-doc-pathCommand argumentPath to the document to summarize. If omitted, asks.

Outputs

OutputLocationDescription
SummaryConsole output1-2 page executive summary with decisions, action items, and open questions.

Example session

> /gaia-summarize .gaia/artifacts/planning-artifacts/architecture.md

# Executive Summary -- Architecture Document

> Source: .gaia/artifacts/planning-artifacts/architecture.md | Summarized: 2026-05-07

## Purpose
Defines the system architecture for the user authentication service.

## Key Findings
- JWT-based session management with refresh tokens (see S4.1)
- PostgreSQL as primary data store with Redis caching (see S5.2)

## Decisions Made
- Use bcrypt for password hashing (see S4.3)

## Action Items
- None

## Open Questions
- Rate limiting strategy undecided (see S6.1)

What to run next

  • Address any open questions flagged in the summary.

Troubleshooting

Document is very short

Summaries of documents under 200 words may be longer than the source. The command still produces a valid summary.