Research Gathering

Purpose

Assemble relevant research context for strategic sessions:

• Collect sources by topic (competitive-analysis, pricing-strategy, etc.)
• Filter by recency and expiry dates
• Extract key insights and quotes
• Prepare citation-ready references
• Flag stale data requiring refresh

When to Use This Skill

Activate automatically when:

• strategy-session workflow needs context for decision-making
• content-drafting workflow requires research backing
• User explicitly requests research on a topic
• Building strategic memos requiring evidence
• Planning features based on market insights

Research Topics

Supported strategic categories:

• competitive-analysis - Competitor capabilities, positioning, pricing
• pricing-strategy - Pricing models, packaging, value perception
• market-positioning - Market trends, customer segments, messaging
• product-strategy - Feature prioritization, roadmap direction
• customer-segmentation - Audience targeting, persona development
• growth-strategy - Acquisition, retention, expansion tactics

Research Source Schema

Expected structure (from datasets/research/{topic}/{filename}.md):

---
title: "Source Title"
kind: "file" | "url" | "note"
topic: "strategic-category"
url: "https://..." (if applicable)
checksum: "sha256:..."
added_utc: "YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ"
expiry_date: "YYYY-MM-DD"
author: "Author Name" (optional)
published_date: "YYYY-MM-DD" (optional)
tags: ["keyword1", "keyword2"]
---

# Source Title

## Key Insights
- Insight 1
- Insight 2

## Strategic Applications
- How this informs decisions
- Relevant use cases

## Citations / Quotes
> "Verbatim quote for future citation"
> — Author, Publication (Date)

## Related Internal Links
- [Meeting notes](datasets/meetings/...)
- [Epic](datasets/product/epics/...)

Gathering Process

1. Determine Topic and Filters

Inputs:

• topic: Strategic category (required)
• max_age_days: Maximum age of sources (optional, default: varies by type)
• include_expired: Whether to include expired sources (default: false)
• keywords: Additional keyword filter (optional)

Expiry guidelines: | Source Type | Default Max Age | Rationale | |-------------|-----------------|-----------| | Frameworks | 365-730 days (1-2 years) | Conceptual models change slowly | | Market data | 90-180 days (3-6 months) | Markets evolve quickly | | Competitor intel | 180-365 days (6-12 months) | Products change, pricing shifts | | Customer insights | 180-365 days (6-12 months) | Needs evolve over time |

2. Collect Research Files

Scan path:

datasets/research/{topic}/**/*.md

Use Glob to find sources:

Glob pattern: datasets/research/{topic}/**/*.md

Example:

Topic: competitive-analysis
→ Glob: datasets/research/competitive-analysis/**/*.md

3. Filter by Recency and Expiry

For each source file:

A. Read frontmatter:

added_utc: "YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ"
expiry_date: "YYYY-MM-DD"

B. Calculate age:

age_days = current_date - added_utc.date

C. Check expiry:

If expiry_date exists:
  is_expired = current_date > expiry_date
Else:
  Use default expiry based on source type

D. Apply filters:

Keep source if:
  (max_age_days not set OR age_days <= max_age_days) AND
  (include_expired=true OR not is_expired)

E. Flag expired sources: If source is expired but included (because include_expired=true):

• Mark source as "[EXPIRED]" in output
• Recommend refresh in gathering report

4. Extract Key Information

For each qualifying source:

A. Read content sections:

• ## Key Insights → Primary takeaways
• ## Strategic Applications → How to use this research
• ## Citations / Quotes → Verbatim quotes for citation
• ## Related Internal Links → Connected context

B. Extract insights: Parse bullet points from "Key Insights" section:

- Insight 1: Full text
- Insight 2: Full text

C. Extract quotes: Parse blockquotes from "Citations / Quotes" section:

> "Verbatim quote text"
> — Author, Source (Date)

D. Record metadata:

{
  "title": "Source Title",
  "path": "/absolute/path/to/source.md",
  "url": "https://..." (if applicable),
  "topic": "strategic-category",
  "added_date": "YYYY-MM-DD",
  "expiry_date": "YYYY-MM-DD",
  "is_expired": true|false,
  "age_days": N,
  "insights": [array of insight strings],
  "quotes": [array of quote objects],
  "related_links": [array of internal link paths]
}

5. Apply Keyword Filters (Optional)

If keywords provided:

Search across:

• Source title
• Key insights text
• Strategic applications text
• Quote text
• Tags

Method:

Use Grep to search for keywords (case-insensitive):
grep -i "keyword" source.md

Keep source if: Any keyword match found in source content.

6. Organize Output

Group sources by sub-category (if applicable):

Example for "competitive-analysis" topic:

• Competitor capabilities
• Pricing comparisons
• Market positioning
• Feature gaps

Sort sources by:

1. Recency (most recent first)
2. Relevance (if keyword search applied)
3. Expiry status (non-expired before expired)

7. Generate Gathering Report

Output structure:

# Research Gathering Report

**Topic**: {topic}
**Sources Found**: {N total}
**Active Sources**: {N non-expired}
**Expired Sources**: {N expired}
**Date Range**: {earliest added} to {most recent added}

## Active Sources

### Source 1: {Title}
- **Added**: {YYYY-MM-DD} ({age_days} days ago)
- **Expires**: {YYYY-MM-DD} ({days_until_expiry} days remaining)
- **Path**: {file_path}
- **URL**: {url} (if applicable)

**Key Insights:**
- Insight 1
- Insight 2

**Strategic Applications:**
- Application 1
- Application 2

**Notable Quotes:**
> "Quote text"
> — Author, Source (Date)

---

### Source 2: {Title}
[... same structure ...]

## Expired Sources (Require Refresh)

### Source 3: {Title} [EXPIRED]
- **Added**: {YYYY-MM-DD}
- **Expired**: {YYYY-MM-DD} ({days_expired} days ago)
- **Recommendation**: Refresh or archive

---

## Summary

**Citation-Ready Quotes**: {N quotes extracted}
**Internal Links**: {N related meetings/epics found}
**Recommended Actions**:
1. Refresh {N} expired sources
2. Consider adding research on {identified gaps}

Integration with Workflows

Strategy Session Integration

Invoked by:

• strategy-session workflow (context assembly phase)

Inputs:

• Topic matching session focus
• Default expiry filtering (exclude expired sources)

Outputs:

• Gathered research context for decision-making
• Citation-ready quotes
• Source recommendations

Usage:

Strategy session on "competitive-analysis"
→ Gather active competitive intel
→ Present insights for discussion
→ Reference in strategy memo

Content Creation Integration

Invoked by:

• content-drafting workflow (when research backing needed)

Inputs:

• Topic matching content subject
• Keyword filters for specificity

Outputs:

• Research-backed claims
• Citation sources
• Expert insights for quotes

Manual Research Queries

Direct usage: User can query research library:

"Gather research on pricing-strategy from last 6 months"
"Show competitive-analysis sources with keyword 'segmentation'"

Refresh Recommendations

When gathering detects expired sources:

Auto-generate refresh tasks:

Expired sources requiring refresh:
1. [Source Title] - Expired 45 days ago
   - Original URL: {url}
   - Suggested action: Re-fetch and update

2. [Source Title] - Expired 120 days ago
   - No URL (manual notes)
   - Suggested action: Review and archive or manually update

Offer to:

• Re-fetch URL-based sources automatically
• Schedule manual review for note-based sources
• Archive sources that are no longer relevant

Success Criteria

Research gathering complete when:

• All sources in topic directory scanned
• Recency and expiry filters applied
• Key insights and quotes extracted
• Sources organized and sorted
• Expired sources flagged for refresh
• Output structured for consuming workflows

Common Mistakes

| Mistake | Fix | |---------|-----| | Including expired sources without flagging | Mark clearly as [EXPIRED] | | Not extracting verbatim quotes | Preserve exact quote text for citations | | Missing internal link extraction | Parse and include related links | | Skipping expiry recommendations | Suggest refresh for expired sources | | Not respecting topic boundaries | Only gather from specified topic directory |

Related Skills

• source-integrity: Validates source checksums and metadata
• strategy-session: Primary consumer of gathered research
• content-drafting: Uses gathered research for citations
• research-processing: Adds new sources to research library

Anti-Rationalization Blocks

Common excuses that are explicitly rejected:

| Rationalization | Reality | |----------------|---------| | "Expired source is still relevant" | Flag as expired, recommend refresh. | | "Close enough" on quote extraction | Preserve verbatim text exactly. | | "Skip keyword filtering" | Apply filters as requested. | | "One source is enough" | Gather all relevant sources. |