Talk Stage 3: Concepts

Builds an exhaustive catalogue of all identifiable concepts in the source material. Each concept is numbered, categorized, and scored for its talk potential.

When to Use This Skill

After Stage 1 (and Stage 2 if REX mode)
Before Stage 4 (Position needs the concept catalogue)
When you want a structured inventory of what's available before choosing an angle

What This Skill Does

Reads the summary: loads {slug}-summary.md
Reads the timeline (if available): enriches scoring with verified dates
Extracts concepts: full scan of the source material
Categorizes: assigns each concept to a domain category
Scores: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW for talk potential
Optional repo enrichment: if repo_path is provided, analyzes AI config concepts
Writes output files

Input

talks/{YYYY}-{slug}-summary.md (required)
talks/{YYYY}-{slug}-timeline.md (optional, enriches REX concepts)
repo_path (optional, for config/infrastructure concept extraction)

Output

talks/{YYYY}-{slug}-concepts.md (main catalogue)
talks/{YYYY}-{slug}-concepts-enriched.md (if repo_path provided)

Scoring Criteria

HIGH: Strong potential

Demonstrable live or with a screenshot
Counter-intuitive or surprising (triggers a reaction)
Associated with verifiable numbers
Concrete and actionable (explainable in 30 seconds)
Differentiator vs other talks on the same topic

MEDIUM: Moderate potential

Useful but expected (not surprising)
Missing concrete proof or numbers
Too specific to one particular context
Needs too much explanation for a 30-min talk

LOW: Weak potential

Too abstract or philosophical without concrete grounding
Already heavily covered by other speakers
Requires specific technical background
Hard to illustrate in a slide

Scoring discipline: Max 30% HIGH. If everything is HIGH, nothing is.

Standard Categories

| Category | Description | |----------|-------------| | Architecture | Technical decisions, stack, structural patterns | | Tooling | Tools, workflows, automations | | Philosophy | Principles, mindsets, approaches | | Workflow | Work processes, habits | | Knowledge Transfer | Onboarding, team, knowledge sharing | | Problems | Obstacles encountered, trade-offs | | Open Source | Contributions, sharing, community | | AI Config | AI configuration, profiles, knowledge feeding | | AI Infrastructure | Agents, skills, hooks, commands | | AI Quality | Review, tests, anti-patterns | | AI Security | Security hooks, guardrails | | Optimization | Performance, cost/token reduction |

Adapt or create categories if the talk has domain-specific areas.

Output Format

concepts.md

# Key Concepts: {provisional title}

**Date**: {date}
**Source**: {source path} x Summary x Timeline (if available)

---

## Concept table

| # | Concept | Category | Short description | Talk potential |
|---|---------|----------|------------------|----------------|
| 1 | **{Concept name}** | {Category} | {1-2 concrete sentences} | HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW |
...

---

## Category breakdown

| Category | Count | HIGH concepts | Examples |
|----------|-------|---------------|---------|
| {category} | {n} | {n} | {examples} |
...
| **TOTAL** | **{N}** | **{N HIGH}** | |

---

## Recommendations for positioning

{3-5 sentences on concept clusters that could form the talk's acts.
Which HIGH concepts reinforce each other? What narrative arc is emerging?}

concepts-enriched.md (if repo available)

Same structure but focused on what the repo analysis reveals:

Specialized agents (count, size, roles)
Invocable skills (catalogue, domains covered)
System hooks (events, logic)
Modular config (profiles, modules, pipeline)
Project-specific code patterns

For each enriched concept, include:

Exact source: file and approximate line
Demo-able: yes/no (can it be shown in a slide or live?)

Anti-patterns

Creating overly granular concepts (one feature = one concept max)
Scoring HIGH by default (be selective)
Omitting LOW concepts (they're useful in positioning as "angles to avoid")
Duplicating very similar concepts (merge them instead)
Analyzing repo code if the repo isn't accessible

Validation Checklist

[ ] Minimum 15 concepts identified (20+ for REX with repo)
[ ] Each concept has a 1-2 sentence concrete description
[ ] Scores are calibrated (not all HIGH, not all LOW)
[ ] Categories cover the summary's themes
[ ] Positioning recommendations present
[ ] Files saved to correct paths

Tips

The concept catalogue is what Stage 4 (Position) draws from; the richer it is, the better the angle choices
LOW concepts are valuable: they define the boundaries of what NOT to put in the talk
If two concepts feel very similar, merge them (a smaller, sharper list beats a long diluted one)

Stage 1: Extract: prerequisite
Stage 2: Research: provides timeline (REX)
Stage 4: Position: reads this catalogue
Orchestrator

talk-stage3-concepts