research-audit-consistency

Research Audit — Consistency

You are auditing research content for cross-topic contradictions. You produce structured AUDIT comments that the refine phase will resolve.

Arguments: $ARGUMENTS

• First argument (optional): topic path relative to research/content/ — a file or directory. Omit to audit all topics.

Prerequisites

1. Read research/INDEX.md to identify which topics are in scope.
   • Topics with status stub or inquiry are skipped (not yet ready for audit).
   • Topics with status draft, audited, or done are eligible.
   • If a specific file is targeted and its status is stub or inquiry, abort with an error.
2. Read research/CLAUDE.md for project conventions.
3. Read all in-scope topic files.
4. Read research/DECISIONS.md for prior decisions.
5. Read research/glossary.md for term definitions.

Priority: CONFIDENCE Markers

Before running the audit, resolve outstanding <!-- CONFIDENCE: low --> and <!-- CONFIDENCE: medium --> markers in the in-scope files. These are the highest priority items.

Step P1 — collect markers

Scan the in-scope files (use Grep for <!-- CONFIDENCE:) and build a marker list. For each match capture:

• file, line, level (low/medium), and the marker's existing reason: text.
• The 1–3 sentences of claim text the marker qualifies (typically the lines immediately above the marker, within the same paragraph).
• Any [citation-key] slugs already cited in that claim, plus the matching entries from the relevant <topic>_references.yaml (URL, title, authors, published, verified).

If the list is empty, skip to the cross-topic audit.

Step P2 — delegate verification

Spawn the confidence-verifier subagent via the Agent tool with the marker list as input. Pass it the research/CLAUDE.md path and the relevant <topic>_references.yaml paths so it can reuse existing citation keys.

For very large batches (>30 markers spread across many topics), split by topic file and spawn multiple confidence-verifier subagents in parallel — one per topic, each receiving only that file's markers.

Step P3 — apply decisions

Apply the subagent's recommended-action per marker:

• remove marker; set verified: true on <key> — delete the marker; update references.yaml (verified: true, last-checked: <today>); ensure the key is in the section's ### References list.
• remove marker; add new citation <key> + section reference — delete the marker; add the new entry to references.yaml; add the in-text [citation-key] and the ### References line.
• keep marker; downgrade low→medium or update reason: — edit the marker in place.
• convert marker to AUDIT type: contradiction; ref: <URL> — leave the CONFIDENCE marker; insert an AUDIT comment immediately after the claim. Severity is the audit skill's call (see this skill's severity guide).
• convert marker to AUDIT type: weak-source — leave the CONFIDENCE marker; insert an AUDIT comment.
• skipped — leave as-is and note in the user-facing summary.

Spot-check with WebFetch only when a recommended-action carries unusually high weight (e.g., a contradiction that would force a DECISIONS.md entry).

Audit Operation: Cross-topic Contradictions

Compare claims across all in-scope topics. Look for:

• Direct contradictions (Topic A says X, Topic B says not-X)
• Inconsistent terminology (same concept, different names)
• Conflicting recommendations or best practices
• Inconsistent use of glossary terms

For each finding:

<!-- AUDIT:
  type: contradiction
  severity: minor | major
  detail: "This section claims X, but <other-topic>#<section> states Y"
  ref: "<other-topic-path>#<section-slug>"
-->

Output

1. Insert AUDIT comments directly into the topic files at the relevant locations (immediately after the problematic content).
2. Remove resolved CONFIDENCE markers (those that were verified).
3. Update research/INDEX.md: change status to audited only if the file's audit frontmatter field now contains all four types (consistency, coverage, quality, coherence). Otherwise leave the status unchanged.
4. Update the updated date in frontmatter for each modified file.
5. Track audit progress in frontmatter: add or update an audit field in each audited file's YAML frontmatter listing completed audit types — e.g. audit: [consistency]. If the field already exists, append consistency to the list (avoid duplicates).
6. Present a summary to the user:
   • Number of findings by type and severity
   • List of major findings requiring attention
   • Which topics had their status advanced
   • Any CONFIDENCE markers that could not be resolved

Git

Do NOT commit. The user will review and use /commit when ready. The expected commit message format: research(audit): <scope> consistency

Rules

• Do NOT modify content — only insert/remove comments and update status/dates.
• Do NOT resolve AUDIT findings — that is the refine phase's job.
• Severity guide: major = factual errors, direct contradictions. minor = inconsistent terminology, style issues.
• If an AUDIT comment already exists at a location, do not duplicate it. Update the existing one if new information changes the assessment.
• A topic can only reach audited status in INDEX.md when its frontmatter audit field contains all four types: consistency, coverage, quality, coherence.