capture

If the pad CLI is missing (command not found), say so and point at https://getpad.dev/install — don't retry or guess at alternate paths. If no .pad.toml is found in the directory tree, first run pad auth whoami (fast, safe, never blocks): if it shows a real user, this machine is already set up — run pad workspace init to link and create the workspace non-interactively, then continue capturing. If it reports anything else (not configured, session expired), this machine hasn't finished setup — don't run pad init/pad workspace init yourself. Both now fail fast when stdin/stdout aren't terminals instead of hanging (BUG-2538/BUG-2577/ BUG-2592) — though on a harness whose stdin AND stdout look like a real terminal they still drop into the browser flow — and either way the outcome just means a human needs an interactive terminal, which doesn't help you. Tell the user to run pad init themselves in an interactive terminal (in Claude Code, suggest ! pad init) and stop.

Before creating, run pad item list conventions --field trigger=always --field status=active --format json --full and apply whatever it returns — always-on conventions are project rules the workspace has made mandatory (privacy, sizing, format, etc.), and low-ceremony capture means skipping the full bootstrap weight (dashboard, playbooks, roles), not skipping mandatory rules. This is the only context load this skill does; it's deliberately narrower than the main skill's full bootstrap.

Capture $ARGUMENTS into the Pad workspace as the item type it most resembles (idea, task, bug, note), following any conventions just loaded. Run pad collection list --format json to see the workspace's collections, pick the best fit, then show what you're about to create (collection, title, content) and confirm before running pad item create <collection> "<title>" --content "...". Keep the title short; put nuance in the content.

Exception: if any loaded convention explicitly opts into autonomous capture, skip the confirmation — create immediately and confirm with the new issue ID in one line, no ceremony. Confirm-first is the default for everyone else.