Brew

SkillDev tools

Brew — sync papers, process highlights, refresh the library

Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.

Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.

Then ask your AI: use the Brew skill

What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by rlacombe/distillate in .claude/skills/brew/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.

The apothecary's daily work — process raw ingredients into refined materials. Sync papers from Zotero, extract highlights, refresh metadata, update the library.

Steps

  1. Sync: Call mcp__distillate__run_sync to pull papers from Zotero/reMarkable, extract highlights, generate notes

    • This is the core pipeline: Zotero → highlights → Obsidian notes → AI summaries
  2. Refresh stale metadata: Call mcp__distillate__get_reading_stats to check library health, then mcp__distillate__refresh_metadata for any papers missing citations or venue data

  3. Check for awaiting papers: Call mcp__distillate__get_queue to see if any papers are stuck in "awaiting_pdf" or need attention

  4. Promote standouts: Review recently processed papers. If any have high engagement (>75%), offer to mcp__distillate__promote_papers

  5. Report: Summarize what was brewed:

    • Papers synced and processed
    • Metadata refreshed
    • Papers promoted
    • Any issues encountered

Signals

GitHub stars
75
Forks
2
Last commit
Apr 2026
Advanced
Catalog kind
skill
Gateway key
brew-rlacombe
Source
github.com/rlacombe/distillate