Skill: Research a Theme

Trigger

User provides a theme for research, or research is needed before generation.

Process

Step 1: Load references

• Always load: references/research-protocol.md
• Load for gap map: data/brain/pmm_brain.json (pmm_value_landscape section)

Step 2: Web Research (Stage 1)

Use WebSearch tool to research the theme from 5-8 angles:

• Statistics and hard data
• Contrarian perspectives and criticisms
• Real company case studies
• Recent developments (last 90 days)
• Adjacent domain insights
• Practitioner takes

Synthesize into a Research Brief with:

• Key claims (with source URLs)
• Evidence anchors (stats, case studies, analogies)
• Contrarian angles
• Saturation report

Step 3: Gap Map (Stage 2)

Cross-reference research against:

• User's past posts (read from data/user/my_posts.docx context or ChromaDB)
• Reference writers' content (from brain's writer DNA profiles)
• PMM value landscape (from brain)

Identify: already said, white space, user unique angles, recommended angles.

Step 4: Insight Novelty Scoring (Stage 3)

Score every candidate insight on the 1-5 Insight Novelty Scale (see references/research-protocol.md).

• Only insights scoring 4+ ("Opinionated" or "Earned") proceed
• If all insights score below 4, dig deeper — the research hasn't found the real angle yet

Step 5: Anchor Assignment (Stage 4)

Assign evidence anchors to 3 recommended angles:

• 1 opinionated reframe, 1 framework, 1 story-led
• Each must have at least 1 evidence anchor AND Insight Novelty Score 4+
• Suggest hooks matching Sourav's voice

Step 6: Present to user

Show the Research Brief summary:

• Top evidence anchors
• Saturation level
• 3 recommended angles with rationale and Insight Novelty Scores
• Ask user to confirm angles or adjust before generation

Output Format

━━━━ RESEARCH BRIEF: "{theme}" ━━━━

SATURATION: [Low/Medium/High] — [what's been covered vs. what hasn't]

EVIDENCE ANCHORS:
1. [type] [content] — [source]
2. ...

RECOMMENDED ANGLES:
1. OPINIONATED REFRAME: [angle] — Novelty: [4-5]/5 — Evidence: [anchors]
2. FRAMEWORK: [angle] — Novelty: [4-5]/5 — Evidence: [anchors]
3. STORY: [angle] — Novelty: [4-5]/5 — Evidence: [anchors]

Proceed with these angles? (yes / adjust)

See also: skills/generate/ (consumes research output) | skills/suggest-themes/ (alternative entry point for theme discovery)

See also: skills/generate/ (consumes research output) | skills/suggest-themes/ (Brain-informed alternatives) | skills/_index.md for full data flow