Using the workflow
This section describes how to use the research workflow day to day, assuming everything has been installed (see the Installation and Extensions sections).
The workflow has three phases. Phase 3 is handled by tooling; phases 1 and 2 involve you.
| Phase | What happens | Your role |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Cast wide | Items flow into Zotero _inbox from three sources | Forward items from the feedreader or share directly from iOS |
| 2 — Filter | Claude Code presents each _inbox item with a relevance score and summary; you decide | Go / No-go per item |
| 3 — Process | Claude Code writes a structured literature note to the Obsidian vault | Review the generated note |
Three sources into Zotero _inbox (Phase 1)
All items that enter the workflow pass through Zotero _inbox first. They arrive from three distinct sources:
| Source | What it is | Filtering before _inbox | Phase 2 treatment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Feedreader | Aggregated RSS/YouTube/podcast feeds scored daily by feedreader-score.py; you browse the HTML reader or NetNewsWire and forward interesting items | Partly autonomous (scoring algorithm), partly manual (your click) | Standard Go/No-go |
| 2. iOS share sheet | Items you share directly from YouTube, Overcast, Safari, or NetNewsWire | Done by you — you consumed or deliberately selected the item | Lighter: you already pre-filtered |
| 3. Desktop / email / notes | Manual additions from any other source | None — comparable to source 1 | Standard Go/No-go |
Key distinction: items from source 2 arrive after you have already read, watched, or listened to them (or deliberately chosen them in NetNewsWire). The Phase 2 Go/No-go step is therefore lighter for these items. Items from sources 1 and 3 still need a full Phase 2 review.
One nuance for source 2: if you click an item in the feedreader HTML reader and then share it to Zotero via iOS — without having read it fully — it still needs proper reading before a Go in Phase 2. The share action is not always a signal that the content has been consumed.
Current state: calibration mode
The feedreader is in calibration mode until its scoring threshold is stable. During this phase:
- The feedreader runs automatically but does not yet route items to Zotero
_inboxon its own. - You browse the HTML reader daily and give feedback signals: click on interesting items (and add them to Zotero) for positive signals, press 👎 on irrelevant items for explicit negative signals.
feedreader-learn.pyprocesses these signals every morning at 06:15.- Once ≥30 positive signals have accumulated,
feedreader-learn.pywill recommend an initial threshold.
Future state: autonomous mode
Once the threshold is set, the feedreader will route items above the threshold automatically to Zotero _inbox without any action from you. The HTML reader stays available as a transparency window and as an ongoing calibration channel — occasional browsing in NetNewsWire and sharing items to Zotero continues to refine the threshold over time.
See Roadmap for the remaining steps.