How to use the Summarize Customer Interview agent skill

What an agent skill is and what this one makes the agent do

An agent skill is a set of instructions packaged as a folder with a SKILL.md file. When it is installed, the agent can load these instructions and follow them for matching tasks. This skill, from the phuryn/pm-skills repository (pm-product-discovery/skills/summarize-interview, MIT licence), tells the agent to summarize a customer interview using a fixed template.

The agent reads the full transcript, whether it is pasted or attached as text, PDF or an audio transcription, and fills in the template. The summary covers the customer's background, their current solution, the jobs they are trying to get done, problems and likes with that solution, key insights or quotes, and action items with a date, owner and action. The result is saved as a markdown document in your workspace.

Install the summarize-interview skill

You can install the skill in one of two ways. Download the ZIP of the skill from this page and unzip it into one of these locations: ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use across projects, or .claude/skills/ inside a specific project folder if you want it available only there.

Alternatively, in the Claude apps, go to Settings, then Capabilities, then Skills, and upload the skill there.

• Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
• Project install: unzip into .claude/skills/ in your project
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload

Trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need a special command. The skill's description says it applies when you are processing interview recordings or transcripts, synthesizing discovery interviews, or creating interview summaries, so ask for that work in ordinary language. Attach the transcript file or paste the text, and name the product or study so the context is clear, since the skill uses the topic you give it.

• Summarize this customer interview transcript for our onboarding discovery.
• Create an interview summary from the attached file for the pricing research.
• Process these discovery interviews and list the action items with owners.

Example: what the output looks like

The skill follows a fixed template, so every summary has the same headings. Missing information is shown as "-" rather than guessed. Action items use the pattern date, owner, action. The example below is the format from the skill itself.

• Date and time of the interview
• Participants with full names and roles
• Current solution, likes and problems with job, desired outcome, importance and satisfaction
• Key insights and notable quotes
• Action items as date, owner, action

What the skill needs and safety notes

The skill lists no required tools or dependencies. It does not run scripts and does not use the network, according to its assessment. The skill sends the transcript content to the model you are using, so treat it like any text you share with that model.

The skill does not describe any redaction of personal data. For legal, medical or compliance-sensitive recordings, remove identifying details yourself before sharing, or choose a different process.

• No listed requirements
• Runs no scripts
• Uses no network access by the skill itself
• Transcript content is sent to the model; no redaction is described

Tips for better summaries

The summary can only reflect what is in the transcript. Poor transcription or an incomplete interview leads to more "-" entries, so clean up obvious errors first if you can. Review quotes against the original, because the skill asks for notable quotes and you should confirm they are accurate before sharing.

When you process a batch, summarize one interview at a time so each markdown file stays tied to one customer. Then compare the action items across files yourself.

• Start with a clean, complete transcript
• Check quotes and names against the source
• Summarize one interview per request for clean files