---
name: Cache Notes
slug: cache-notes
category: Automation
description: Cache Notes fetches Google Docs and Otter.ai transcripts from meeting note URLs and embeds them as collapsible Obsidian callouts. Use it to backfill or refresh cached AI notes in a file.
github: "https://github.com/benoror/obsidianos_work/tree/main/.agents/skills/cache-notes"
language: JavaScript
stars: 165
forks: 13
install: "npx degit https://github.com/benoror/obsidianos_work/tree/main/.agents/skills/cache-notes ~/.claude/skills/cache-notes"
installs_to: ~/.claude/skills/cache-notes
source_path: .agents/skills/cache-notes/SKILL.md
collection_size: 24
category_size: 2226
collection_url: "https://dirskills.com/collections/benoror/obsidianos_work"
added: 2026-09-08T05:35:03.015Z
last_synced: 2026-09-08T05:35:03.015Z
canonical_url: "https://dirskills.com/skills/cache-notes"
---

# Cache Notes

Cache Notes fetches Google Docs and Otter.ai transcripts from meeting note URLs and embeds them as collapsible Obsidian callouts. Use it to backfill or refresh cached AI notes in a file.

**Install:**

```bash
npx degit https://github.com/benoror/obsidianos_work/tree/main/.agents/skills/cache-notes ~/.claude/skills/cache-notes
```

## README

# Cache Notes

## Usage

- `/cache-notes all` — Scan all meetings with `Notes:` links that haven't been cached yet, fetch and embed them.
- `/cache-notes <path>` — Cache notes for a specific meeting file.
- `/cache-notes refresh <path>` — Re-fetch and overwrite existing cached content for a file.

If the target file has an **empty `Notes:` property** (no URLs yet), run **`/mail-transcripts`** first when doing a full wrap (see [meeting](../meeting/SKILL.md) Mode C) — it may populate `Notes:` from the Gemini inbox mail. If still empty, prompt the user to paste the external resource URLs (Google Docs, Otter.ai, etc.). Add them to the `Notes:` frontmatter, then proceed with fetching and caching as normal.

## How It Works

Supported **external transcript providers** are **Google Docs** (Gemini notes) and **Otter.ai**. When a URL from either provider appears in frontmatter `Notes:`, the agent fetches the transcript using that provider's instructions and embeds it as **collapsible Obsidian callouts** in the meeting note. A `NotesCached:` frontmatter timestamp marks the file as cached.

## Frontmatter Convention

Before caching:

```yaml
Notes:
  - https://docs.google.com/document/d/{id}/edit?tab=t.{tab}
  - https://otter.ai/u/{id}
```

After caching:

```yaml
Notes:
  - https://docs.google.com/document/d/{id}/edit?tab=t.{tab}
  - https://otter.ai/u/{id}
NotesCached: 2026-02-25T15:00:00+00:00
```

## Provider: Gemini (Google Docs)

### Fetching

1. Extract document ID from the Google Docs URL in `Notes:`.
2. Run **`gws`** in the terminal to fetch the document (read-only). See [google-workspace-cli](../_shared/google-workspace-cli.md) for exact commands.
3. Prefer `gws docs documents get` with `includeTabsContent: true` and parse the JSON into text (optionally inserting `--- TAB: … ---` separators from tab titles), **or** `gws drive files export` with `mimeType: text/plain` for a simpler single stream. Parsed content should mirror the old tab layout where needed: `--- TAB: Notes ---`, `--- TAB: Transcript ---`.

### Parsing the Notes Tab

Gemini notes have a consistent structure. Parse into three sections:

| Section | Starts after | Ends before | Callout |
|---------|-------------|-------------|---------|
| Summary + Details | `Summary` heading | `Suggested next steps` heading | `[!gemini_notes]` |
| Suggested next steps | `Suggested next steps` heading | Gemini disclaimer footer | `[!gemini_todos]` |
| Transcript | `--- TAB: Transcript ---` | End of content | `[!gemini_transcript]` |

**Strip the Gemini disclaimer footer** — lines starting with "You should review Gemini's" or "Please provide feedback" are noise. Do not include them.

### Output Format

All cached content goes under a top-level `## 🤖 AI Notes` section appended after frontmatter. Each provider gets its own `### {Provider}` subsection. Callouts are nested under the provider heading.

```markdown
## 🤖 AI Notes

### Gemini

> [!gemini_notes]- Summary & Details
> ### Summary
> {summary text}
>
> ### Details
> {details as bullet points}

> [!gemini_todos]- Suggested Next Steps
> - {next step 1}
> - {next step 2}

> [!gemini_transcript]- Transcript
> {transcript content, if available}

### Otter

> [!otter_notes]- Summary & Details
> ...
```

**Formatting rules for callout content:**
- Every line inside a callout must start with `> `.
- Preserve markdown formatting (bold, bullet points, headings) inside callouts.
- Keep the `-` after the callout type (e.g. `[!gemini_notes]-`) — this makes it collapsed by default in Obsidian.
- Blank lines between callouts (no `>` prefix) to separate them.
- If transcript tab is not available, omit the `[!gemini_transcript]` callout entirely.
- The `## 🤖 AI Notes` heading is created once. Provider subsections are added beneath it.
- If the file already has user-written content between frontmatter `---` and `## 🤖 AI Notes`, preserve it. Always append `## 🤖 AI Notes` at the end of the file.

## Provider: Otter.ai

Otter.ai is a supported **external transcript provider** (same as Google Docs). Whenever an Otter.ai URL is present in `Notes:`, follow this provider's instructions to fetch the transcript and embed it. The cached output uses the same structure as other providers: a **subsection** under `## 🤖 AI Notes` with collapsible callouts. Expected callout types:

- `[!otter_notes]-` — Summary and details
- `[!otter_todos]-` — Suggested next steps / key topics
- `[!otter_transcript]-` — Full transcript (if available)

**Implementation**: Use the [otter-fetch](../otter-fetch/SKILL.md) skill — ask the user to paste the JSON from `GET .../speech?otid=...`, then run `parse_otter.js` (or parse inline) to produce the callouts above and append them.

## Workflow

### Mode: Specific file (`/cache-notes <path>`)

1. **Read frontmatter only**. Check `Notes:` and `NotesCached:` via `obsidian property:read` (see [frontmatter-mutations](../_shared/frontmatter-mutations.md)). To check whether the body already has an `## 🤖 AI Notes` section without reading the whole file, run `obsidian outline path="<file>" format=json` and look for that heading — much cheaper than a full `Read` on large transcript files.
2. If `Notes:` is empty or absent, **prompt the user** to paste the external resource URL(s). Set them via `obsidian property:set name=Notes value='["<url1>","<url2>"]' type=list path="<file>"`, then continue.
3. If `NotesCached:` exists and this is not a `refresh`, inform the user and stop.
4. **Verify each URL** before caching (see URL Verification below).
5. **For each URL in `Notes:`**, fetch and parse by provider:
   - **Google Docs**: Extract document ID, fetch via **`gws`** (see [google-workspace-cli](../_shared/google-workspace-cli.md)), parse into sections per [Provider: Gemini](#provider-gemini-google-docs).
   - **Otter.ai**: Use [otter-fetch](../otter-fetch/SKILL.md) (user pastes JSON from `GET .../speech?otid=...`; run `otter-fetch/parse_otter.js` or parse inline), then append the resulting callout block.
6. Build the callout blocks from all fetched content.
7. If the file already has callout blocks (refresh mode), replace them. Otherwise append under `## 🤖 AI Notes` after frontmatter `---` (see [Output Format](#output-format)).
8. Set `NotesCached:` timestamp: `obsidian property:set name=NotesCached value="$(date +%FT%T%z)" type=datetime path="<file>"`. See [frontmatter-mutations](../_shared/frontmatter-mutations.md).

### Mode: All (`/cache-notes all`)

1. Discover uncached files via the live Base view: `obsidian base:query path=Meetings.base view=CachePending format=paths`. Returns only files with `Notes` populated but no `NotesCached:` — exactly the work queue. (The `/note-status pending --step=cache` delegation in [Detecting Uncached Files](#detecting-uncached-files) is the fallback when `Meetings.base` is unavailable.)
2. Present the list to the user with count. Ask for confirmation before proceeding.
3. Process each file per the specific-file workflow above.
4. Report results: successes, failures, and any skipped (e.g. provider not yet implemented).

## URL Verification

Before caching, verify that each external resource actually corresponds to the meeting note. This prevents accidentally caching the wrong document when a user pastes an incorrect URL.

### How it works

1. **Extract the meeting date** from the note. Try these sources in order until one yields a date:
   - Filename date pattern (any format — see Date Parsing below)
   - `created:` frontmatter timestamp
2. **Fetch the document title** from Drive metadata via `gws drive files get` (`name` field), e.g. `"Daily Standup - 2026/02/24 09:43 EST - Notes by Gemini"` — same string you would have seen in older MCP `File:` lines.
3. **Extract the date from the doc title** (any format — see Date Parsing below).
4. **Compare**: normalize both dates to `YYYY-MM-DD` and check equality.
   - If the dates match, proceed silently.
   - If the dates **don't match**, warn the user:

```
⚠️ Date mismatch for Meetings/Engineering/Scrum/2026-02-24.md:
   Note date:     2026-02-24
   Doc title:     "Daily Standup - 2026/02/26 09:41 EST - Notes by Gemini"
   Doc date:      2026-02-26

Wrong document? [Continue anyway / Skip this URL / Replace URL]
```

4. **If no date is found** in the doc title, fall back to a title similarity check — warn if the doc title has no obvious overlap with the meeting note's title (e.g. a "Sprint Retro" doc linked to a "Daily Standup" note).
5. **In batch mode** (`/cache-notes all` or `/meeting wrap pending`), collect all mismatches and present them together before proceeding, rather than interrupting one by one.

### Date Parsing

See [date-filter](../_shared/date-filter.md) § "Date Parsing" for the full list of recognized formats and ambiguity rules.

### Skip verification

Verification is skipped for:
- `refresh` mode (the URL was already verified on first cache)
- Non-Google Docs URLs (Otter.ai, etc.)

## Detecting Uncached Files

Delegate to [/note-status pending --step=cache](../note-status/SKILL.md#pending-mode). That skill handles discovery, frontmatter checks, and the dependency chain (only notes with `Notes:` containing a supported provider URL are considered actionable for caching). See [/note-status § Dependency Chain](../note-status/SKILL.md#dependency-chain) for the full rules.

## Refresh Mode

`/cache-notes refresh <path>`:
- Delete the entire `## 🤖 AI Notes` section and everything below it.
- Re-fetch all providers and re-build the section.
- Update `NotesCached:` timestamp.

## Offer to Commit

See [/commit](../commit/SKILL.md). Skip when called as part of a sequence (e.g. `/meeting wrap`).

## Important Notes

- Use `obsidian property:set` for frontmatter writes (`Notes:`, `NotesCached:`) — see [frontmatter-mutations](../_shared/frontmatter-mutations.md); never hand-roll `StrReplace` against frontmatter anchors. Body content (the callout blocks) is still appended/replaced with `Edit`/`Write`.
- The `Notes:` URLs should NOT be modified — they remain as the canonical source links.
- `NotesCached:` is the single indicator that caching was done. No other markers.
- For `all` mode, process in batches and report progress to the user.
- Gemini anonymizes some speakers as "someone in [location]" — this is expected; `/fill-participants` handles name resolution separately.