Summarize

Use the summarize CLI as the canonical interface. Prefer a released binary on PATH; inside this repository, use pnpm -s summarize for the current checkout.

Start

1. Confirm the command and current contract:

   summarize --version
   summarize --help

2. Inspect model/provider readiness when a summary needs an LLM:

   summarize status
   summarize status --json

3. Run the narrowest workflow below. Quote URLs and paths. Add --timeout 2m for slow remote or media inputs.

Never print, request, or copy API-key values. summarize status reports availability without exposing secrets.

Summarize

Web page or remote document:

summarize "https://example.com/article"
summarize "https://example.com/report.pdf" --length short

Local file or stdin:

summarize "./report.pdf"
summarize "./recording.m4a"
printf '%s\n' "Long text to summarize" | summarize -

Use --plain for unrendered Markdown/text. Use --language, --length, --prompt, or --prompt-file only when the task requires an override. Use --cli codex, --cli claude, or another installed CLI provider when the user requests that provider or no direct API provider is configured.

Extract without a summary

Use --extract to stop after extraction or transcription:

summarize "https://example.com/article" --extract --format md
summarize "./report.pdf" --extract --format md
summarize "https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID" --extract --format md

--extract does not support stdin. Extraction can still call configured transcription, OCR, Firecrawl, or Markdown services; it only skips the final summary call. --markdown-mode llm also invokes an LLM to reshape extracted text.

YouTube, audio, and video

Default transcript selection:

summarize "https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID"
summarize "https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID" --extract --format md --timestamps

Use --youtube web to require web captions or --youtube yt-dlp to require the download/transcription path. Keep auto unless the user needs a specific source.

Local or remote audio/video:

summarize "./interview.mp3" --extract
summarize "./interview.mp4" --extract --timestamps
summarize "./interview.mp3" --extract --diarize

--transcriber auto is the default. Use an explicit transcriber only when requested or diagnosing a provider. Diarization may require configured ElevenLabs or OpenAI access. Speaker identification is a separate opt-in step; do not infer identities without evidence.

For slides:

summarize "https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID" --slides
summarize "./talk.mp4" --slides --extract

Slide extraction may require yt-dlp; OCR requires tesseract.

JSON for automation

Use JSON when another command or agent will parse the result:

summarize "https://example.com" --json --metrics off > result.json
jq -r '.summary // .extracted.content // empty' result.json

The stable top-level envelope contains input, env, extracted, prompt, llm, metrics, and summary. summary or llm can be null when extraction or a no-model path handles the input. In --extract --json mode, read extracted text from .extracted.content.

JSON stays on stdout. Progress, warnings, and finish metrics stay on stderr. Do not merge stderr into stdout before parsing. Use --metrics detailed only when the task needs usage details.

Configuration and dependencies

Precedence: CLI flags, process environment, ~/.summarize/config.json, built-in defaults. Prefer flags for one run; change config only when the user asks for a persistent default.

Useful diagnostics:

summarize status --verbose
summarize status --probe
summarize "INPUT" --verbose

Plain web summaries need no media tools. Media paths may use ffmpeg, yt-dlp, local Whisper/ONNX, or configured cloud transcription. Website fallback may use Firecrawl. Confirm the exact missing capability from the error before installing tools or changing config.

Inputs may be sent to the selected model, extraction, OCR, or transcription provider. For confidential material, confirm the approved provider or use an approved local path before running the command.

Verify

After every run:

• Require exit status 0.
• Require non-empty summary or extracted content.
• For JSON, parse stdout with jq or another JSON parser.
• For source-sensitive work, inspect extracted, llm, and stderr diagnostics rather than assuming the selected path.
• Re-run the exact final command after changing provider, config, or flags.

For current option details, run summarize --help and read the repository documentation:

• Quickstart
• Main command
• Configuration
• YouTube
• Media
• Extraction

Ownership

This file is the canonical agent workflow for the Summarize product. Keep generic agent workflows in openclaw/agent-skills; keep Summarize CLI behavior here. Downstream integrations should link to this file at a released tag or pinned commit and retain only their packaging or integration-specific notes. Do not maintain a second broad command guide downstream.