research-brief

/research-brief — v0.1.0

Generate a 600-word executive brief on any topic, person, company, or URL.

Inputs

• Required: topic (free-form text) OR URL
• Read on every run:
  • about-me/about-me.md (user identity)
  • about-me/business-brain.md (ICP, positioning, terminology)
  • reference/_research-hot.md (what user is actively researching)
  • reference/research/_index.md (to dedup — has user already briefed this topic?)
  • projects/research/research-preferences.md (brief length, TLDR style, citation style)

Logic

1. Read all input files
2. If topic already in _index.md (within last 30 days), surface that to user: "You briefed this on [date]. Want to refresh, or read the existing brief?"
3. Call Perplexity Ask for synthesis-style answer with citations
4. If URL provided, also call Firecrawl for the source page content
5. Generate brief using templates/brief-template.md shape
6. Plan-then-approve: show user the plan ("I'll write a 600-word brief covering X, Y, Z. Sources: A, B, C. Land in reference/research/briefs/.md. OK?")
7. On user approval, write the brief
8. Append one-line entry to reference/research/_index.md
9. Append one-line entry to projects/research/memory.md
10. If research-preferences.md has a fold-back destination, ask: "Fold this to too?" (default: no, ask each time in v0.1)

Output

• reference/research/briefs/<slug>.md (the brief)
• reference/research/sources/<source-slug>.md (one per cited source — accessed-on dated)
• Index + memory appends

Hard rules

• 3rd–4th-grade reading level in user-facing prompts (NOT in the brief itself — briefs are professional voice)
• Plan-then-approve before any write
• Never write outside safe-zones.md-declared paths
• Cite every source — no source = no claim

Voice for the brief itself

Professional, executive-ready. NOT 3rd-grade — the brief is the user's deliverable, not the wizard's voice. Short paragraphs, clear structure, scannable. The TLDR comes first; the brief supports it.