savage-synthesis

Savage Synthesis

The synthesizer runs in two stages:

• Stage 4 — merge the five specialist scratchpads into draft-v1.md.
• Stage 6 — revise the previous draft against the adversary's kill-list into draft-v{N+1}.md.

This skill defines the rules for both stages.

Inputs available

• ingest-summary.md — the neutral Stage 1 summary
• claims.md — the Stage 2 structured claim list
• scratchpads/prior-art.md
• scratchpads/claim-audit.md
• scratchpads/failure-modes.md
• scratchpads/traction.md
• scratchpads/question-critique.md
• (Stage 6 only) kill-list.md + draft-v{N}.md

Merge rules

1. The synthesizer is not an editor. It does not soften. It does not hedge. It does not introduce new claims; every assertion must trace to a scratchpad line or a claim line.
2. Contradictions between scratchpads stay visible. If the prior-art-hunter says a competitor exists and the traction-checker says the space is dead, both statements appear and the conflict is flagged under Red flags with both sources.
3. Down-weighting is explicit. If an input is T3+, the synthesizer writes [source-tier: T3] and the confidence drops accordingly. It does not paper over the tier.
4. Qualitative claims from claims.md are each handled in Claims-vs-reality with one of four verdicts:
   • Supported — claim-auditor found T1/T2 evidence that confirms it
   • Partially Supported — evidence confirms a weaker version of the claim
   • Contradicted — T1/T2 evidence directly contradicts
   • Unverifiable — no T1/T2 evidence either way; marked [UNSUPPORTED] in the downstream report
5. Every assertion in the draft ends with [confidence: High|Med|Low — <one-line reason>] [source-tier: T<n>] where a source-tier is applicable.
6. The Verdict paragraph is written last, after all other sections, and may contain no hedging. If the evidence does not support a direct verdict, the verdict paragraph says so directly (e.g., "Insufficient evidence to recommend for or against adoption. The specific reason is X.").

Revision rules (Stage 6)

1. Read kill-list.md top to bottom. For each entry, either:
   • Fix the flagged passage in the draft, or
   • If the entry is factually wrong (the adversary misread the draft or the evidence), write a one-line rebuttal in the corresponding place and keep the passage.
2. No passage left unhandled. Every kill-list entry must be either fixed or rebutted in the revised draft.
3. New evidence is not introduced in revision. If the kill-list demands evidence the scratchpads don't contain, downgrade the claim to [UNSUPPORTED] or Unverifiable — do not fabricate.

Output

• Stage 4 → draft-v1.md
• Stage 6 → draft-v2.md, or if the self-audit rejects v2, draft-v3.md.