Summary

Scope: $ARGUMENTS

| Argument | Files to summarize | |----------|-------------------| | (none) or branch | Branch diff: git diff main...HEAD --name-only | | staged | Staged changes: git diff --cached --name-only |

---

Workflow

| Phase | Purpose | |-------|---------| | 1. Analyze | Get changed files and diffs | | 2. Read | Read changed files and their diffs | | 3. Synthesize | Create semantic narrative from code and diffs | | 4. Generate | Convert to HTML, open in browser |

1. Analyze Changes

Get changed files using scope command. If no changes found, report: "No changes to summarize."

git diff main...HEAD --name-only

2. Read Changes

For each changed file, read the file content and diff:

git diff main...HEAD -- 

Read the full file for context when the diff alone isn't sufficient to understand the change.

3. Synthesize Summary

Get repo info for links:

git remote get-url origin

Parse to get {org}/{repo} for GitHub links.

Generate semantic summary following this format:

# {Branch Name}

## Overview

{2-3 sentences: what this branch accomplishes from a business/feature perspective}

### Technical Implementation
{Integration points, architecture decisions, key patterns used}

### Key Review Areas
{What reviewers should focus on, potential risks, areas needing careful attention}

### What Changed
{High-level summary of functionality changes and why they matter}

## Semantic Changes by Component

### [src/auth/users.ts](https://github.com/{org}/{repo}/blob/{branch}/src/auth/users.ts)

- **Purpose of changes:** What problem does this solve or what feature does it add?
- **Behavioral changes:** How does the behavior differ from before?
- **Data flow impact:** How do these changes affect data flow through the system?
- **Performance considerations:** Changes to scan frequency, read/write patterns, potential bottlenecks
- **Subtle bug risks:** Race conditions, stale data, cache invalidation, timing issues introduced
- **Dependencies affected:** What other parts of the codebase might be impacted?

### [src/api/routes.ts](https://github.com/{org}/{repo}/blob/{branch}/src/api/routes.ts)

- **Purpose of changes:** ...
- **Behavioral changes:** ...
- **Data flow impact:** ...
- **Performance considerations:** ...
- **Subtle bug risks:** ...
- **Dependencies affected:** ...

## Breaking Changes

{If any exist - before/after comparison, migration path. Omit section entirely if none.}

## Files Changed

{count} files

| File | Summary |
|------|---------|
| [src/auth/users.ts](https://github.com/{org}/{repo}/blob/{branch}/src/auth/users.ts) | Added profile CRUD |
| [src/api/routes.ts](https://github.com/{org}/{repo}/blob/{branch}/src/api/routes.ts) | New profile endpoints |

**List every file individually — no wildcards.** Count must match table rows.

Key principles:

• Focus on "why" and "what it means" not just "what changed"
• Explain semantic meaning and implications
• Link to code in branch for easy navigation
• Per-component sections with consistent 6-field structure
• Highlight performance impacts: scan frequency changes, read/write pattern modifications
• Flag subtle bug sources: race conditions, stale data, cache issues, timing problems
• Breaking changes prominent if they exist
• Omit Breaking Changes section entirely if none exist

4. Generate HTML

Create directories:

mkdir -p .otto/summaries

Save markdown to .otto/summaries/{branch}-{date}.md

Convert to HTML using the md-to-html script:

node skills/summary/scripts/md-to-html.js .otto/summaries/{branch}-{date}.md .otto/summaries/{branch}-{date}.html

Open in browser:

open .otto/summaries/{branch}-{date}.html

Report:

Summary generated: .otto/summaries/{branch}-{date}.html

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: brsbl
• Source: brsbl/ottonomous
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.