Desk research project synthesize

/desk-research-project-synthesize

The synthesis phase of a research project. It reads the digest and emits two artifacts: the project's own typed verdict (for the project's own readers) and a single-file governance brief that can travel out of the folder into an RFC, ADR, or spec.

When to invoke

Inside an existing project folder with a populated digest, on phrasing like "synthesize the project", "write up the findings", "produce the brief". The project should be in (or moving into) the synthesize phase.

Inputs

• Reads: synthesis-matrix.md (the constructed-column concept matrix) and memos.md (the analytic memos, where the working hypothesis was formed and revised). Both from /desk-research-project-digest.

Empty-matrix guard. If synthesis-matrix.md is empty or absent — the digest phase was skipped — surface a warning and recommend running /desk-research-project-digest first. Synthesising with no digest produces an ungrounded verdict; do not silently proceed.

Outputs — two files

1. The typed synthesis <type>.md

The project's own verdict, named by the project's shape (from overview.md), using the /research type vocabulary (§ Typed, topic-named artifacts): a survey shape writes survey.md, a comparison/decision shape writes comparison-matrix.md, an adjudication shape writes hypotheses.md, a structural shape writes blueprint.md, a methodology shape writes methodology.md (authored from ../research/references/methodology-shape-template.md — here the shape-name equals the type-stem, so methodology → methodology.md follows the ordinary <shape-name>.md rule, not the adjudication → hypotheses.md exception). Bare-named inside the folder (the folder namespaces the topic). Every material claim carries GRADE confidence and is backed by ≥3-source triangulation per the /research confidence schema; the optional reliability/credibility provenance axes inform the rating.

2. The governance brief <topic-slug>-brief.md

The one exception to the bare-name rule — topic-named because it travels out of the folder. It is the distillation a code repo commits (the decision, not the corpus). It MUST be:

• Answer-first (BLUF). The recommendation / answer is the top line, before any supporting detail — bottom-line-up-front.
• Self-contained. No cross-links to other project files (memos.md, synthesis-matrix.md, sources/). The brief is safe to copy whole out of the folder; a reader needs nothing else. Inline what matters; cite external sources by URL.
• Cited and per-finding confidence-tagged. Every load-bearing claim carries a citation and a GRADE confidence tag, exactly as a /research survey would.
• Carrying a ## Known unknowns section — the questions a complete answer still needs, split into known-unknowns (answerable in principle; name the evidence that would close them) and unknowables (no evidence settles them). This section maps 1:1 onto an RFC's Evidence & prior art so the brief drops straight into governance.

# <topic> — brief

**Bottom line:** <the answer / recommendation, one or two sentences>.

## What the evidence shows
- <finding> [high] — <citation>
- <finding> [moderate] — <citation>; downgrade: <factor>

## Known unknowns
- **Known-unknown:** <open question>. Would be closed by: <evidence>.
- **Unknowable:** <question no evidence settles>. Why not: <reason>.

Reused skills in this phase

• /compare-hypotheses is the hypotheses.md synthesis for an adjudication shape — invoke it rather than re-deriving the matrix.
• /devils-advocate runs at synthesis against the typed verdict, producing the per-finding counter-pass that hardens the brief's confidence tags before it ships.

What this skill is not

• Not a corpus dump — the brief is a distillation, self-contained and answer-first, not a tour of sources/.
• Not an engine — it writes Markdown the agent reasons into; nothing computes a verdict or advances phase.

Next

The typed verdict and the brief are the project's durable output. Promote <topic-slug>-brief.md into governance (an RFC's NNNN-notes/ companion, an ADR, or a spec). Phase advance to feedback is human-driven — this skill never advances phase on its own.