research-summarizer

Research Summarizer

When to use

• User asks "research X" / "what's the state of Y" / "summarize the literature on Z"
• The answer requires multiple sources, not one
• The user expects citations

When NOT to use

• Single-source summarization (use a plain summarize tool)
• Code search (use repo-auditor or grep)
• Opinion / recommendation requests (this skill produces neutral briefings)

Inputs

Name	Type	Required	Notes
topic	string	yes	the question to research
depth	"shallow" | "deep"	no	default "shallow" (5–7 sources); "deep" → 10–15
audience	string	no	shapes vocabulary level (e.g., "executive", "engineer")

Outputs

A Markdown file briefing.md following the structure in references/report-template.md.

Workflow

1. Plan: produce 3–7 sub-questions covering breadth and depth
2. Search + fetch: for each sub-question, run web_search then fetch_url for top 2–3 hits
3. Cluster: group findings by claim; load references/clustering-rules.md
4. Draft: fill references/report-template.md — every claim needs a [n] citation
5. Validate: every citation resolves; no domain dominates (≥ 3 distinct domains for shallow, ≥ 5 for deep)
6. Self-review against success criteria below

References

• references/report-template.md — the output structure
• (add clustering-rules.md, domain-allowlist.md as the skill matures)

Success criteria

• ≥ 5 sources for shallow, ≥ 10 for deep
• ≥ 3 distinct domains
• 0 unsourced claims (or all flagged (unsourced))
• Open Questions section populated

Failure modes

• Fewer sources available than required → return partial result, flag at top
• All sources from one domain → reject, retry plan with broader scope
• Network error → fail loudly, don't fabricate

Examples

• See references/examples/ (TBD) for one shallow and one deep run