---
title: "Stop Saving Everything: An AI Filter That Keeps What's Worth Remembering"
author: "Ecem Karaman"
source: "https://aiwithecem.com/guides/ai-information-filter"
published: 2026-09-18
tools: ["Multi-Tool"]
topics: ["Second Brain","Workflows","Skills"]
---

# Stop Saving Everything: An AI Filter That Keeps What's Worth Remembering

You hear a sharp point on a podcast or read an article that changes how you think. Then it goes into Apple Notes with a dozen other half-thoughts, or nowhere. The problem isn't capturing more. It's deciding what's worth keeping for you, and finding it again later. Here's a workflow that does both, and how to turn it into a skill.

**Details checked against [Claude Code's skills docs](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/skills), [YouTube Help](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/15930243), [SpotScribe](https://spotscribe.io) and [Spotify support](https://support.spotify.com/us/creators/article/viewing-episode-transcripts/) on September 18, 2026.**

> **In this guide**
>
> 1. [The workflow](#the-workflow)
> 2. [Set your lens once](#set-your-lens-once)
> 3. [Get the full text in](#get-the-full-text-in)
> 4. [Filter it into a keep card](#filter-it-into-a-keep-card)
> 5. [Store it where you'll find it](#store-it-where-youll-find-it)
> 6. [Make it stick](#make-it-stick)
> 7. [Turn it into a skill](#turn-it-into-a-skill)
> 8. [Where it fails](#where-it-fails)
> 9. [Start with the next three](#start-with-the-next-three)

## The workflow

| Step | What happens | Time |
| ---- | ------------ | ---- |
| **Lens** | You write down what you care about, once | 10 min, once |
| **Capture** | The full text goes in, not a vague memory of it | 1 min |
| **Filter** | AI keeps only what's new and useful to you | 1 min |
| **Store** | One card per source, in a place you already search | Automatic |
| **Resurface** | A weekly review turns cards into ideas and actions | 10 min a week |

## Set your lens once

The lens turns a generic summary into your filter. Keep it short, and update it when your priorities change.

```text
MY LENS
Goals right now: [2-3 things you're working toward]
Questions I'm chasing: [open questions you'd love an answer to]
Projects this could feed: [current work, content, decisions]
Already know well, skip it: [topics you don't need explained]
Always flag: [a claim that challenges my view, a tool worth testing, a number worth checking]
```

## Get the full text in

AI filters what you give it. A title or a link it can't open leads to a confident summary of nothing.

| Source | How to get the text |
| ------ | ------------------- |
| **Article** | Paste the text, or share the link if your assistant can open it |
| **YouTube** | Under the video: **More → Show transcript**, then copy it (only for videos with captions) |
| **Podcast** | Spotify shows transcripts in the mobile app for many episodes. For a full copy you can paste, use a transcript tool (see below) |
| **PDF or report** | Upload the file |
| **Your own voice note** | Dictate your reaction right after. It's often the most valuable part |

**What I use for podcasts.** I'm still looking for an MCP server that pulls a full Spotify transcript directly. For now I use [SpotScribe](https://spotscribe.io) and paste the transcript in myself. The free tier transcribes up to 60 minutes per episode and has a built-in AI chat on top, and so far I'm loving it.

On a separate note, [Audioscrape](https://www.audioscrape.com) is a cool MCP server I came across. Its core job is a little different: it lets your assistant search a large catalog of already-transcribed podcasts and pull speaker-labeled transcripts with timestamps. It's become a staple in my stack.

## Filter it into a keep card

The core prompt. It forces a verdict and caps the output, so you get a card, not a second article.

```text
Using my lens below, filter this source.

1. Verdict: KEEP, SKIM or SKIP, with one line on why.
2. If KEEP: at most 3 insights that are new to me. For each, give:
   - the insight in one sentence
   - why it matters for my goals or projects
   - a quote or timestamp from the source as evidence
3. One thing that challenges what I currently think, if there is one.
4. One action: something to try, test, use or look up.
5. Tags from my lens.

Leave out anything I already know or that doesn't connect to my lens.

[lens]
[source text]
```

**SKIP is a good result.** It means you can stop thinking about that source.

## Store it where you'll find it

Save one card per source in the tool you already search, like Obsidian, Notion or a markdown folder. Use the same header every time:

```text
---
source: [title + link]
type: article | video | podcast | pdf
date: [today]
tags: [from the lens]
status: new
---
```

If you keep topic notes, add a one-line link from each insight to the matching note. That's what turns a pile into connected notes.

## Make it stick

Saving isn't remembering. Once a week, give your new cards back to the AI:

```text
Here are this week's keep cards. Group them by theme, show me which ones connect to each other or to my current projects, and pick the 3 most useful. Quiz me with one question on each. Then list any card that led to nothing, so I can archive it.
```

The quiz matters most. Having to recall an idea does more for memory than rereading it, and archiving keeps the collection worth searching.

## Turn it into a skill

In Claude Code or Codex, save it as a skill so one command filters and files. Both read the same `SKILL.md` format.

```text
---
name: keep
description: Filter an article, transcript or PDF through my lens and save a keep card to my notes.
---

1. Read my lens from notes/lens.md.
2. Get the full source text. If you can't access it, ask me to paste it. Never summarize from the title.
3. Apply the keep-card filter: verdict, max 3 new insights with quotes, one challenge, one action, tags.
4. If KEEP, save to notes/inbox/YYYY-MM-DD_<slug>.md with the standard header. If SKIP, save nothing and tell me why.
5. Link each insight to a matching topic note if one exists.
```

In ChatGPT or the Claude apps, put the lens and the filter prompt in a Project's instructions instead. Then paste each source into a new chat in that Project.

## Where it fails

- **Invented quotes.** Summaries can misquote a source. Requiring a quote or timestamp makes that easy to spot-check.
- **Lost nuance.** A filter drops caveats. Go back to the source before you repeat a claim, publish it or act on it.
- **An echo chamber.** A tight lens only keeps what you already agree with. The "challenges what I think" line is there on purpose.
- **Hoarding again.** If everything comes back KEEP, your lens is too loose. Tighten it.

## Start with the next three

- [ ] Write your lens (10 minutes)
- [ ] Run the filter on the next 3 things you'd normally save or forget
- [ ] Store the KEEP cards with the header above
- [ ] Put a 10-minute weekly review on your calendar
- [ ] After two weeks, turn it into a skill or Project if you're still using it

**Go deeper:** [How I Use AI to Index My Brain](/guides/ai-brain-warehouse) · [The 10-Minute Weekly Context Audit](/guides/weekly-context-audit) · [Stop Building Your AI System Inside One Tool](/guides/tool-agnostic-ai-system) · [Follow-Up Prompts That Fix Weak AI Answers](/guides/follow-up-prompts)