research — deep multi-note study, written back into the vault

research vs query: query answers one question concisely from the top notes. research deliberately sweeps broadly and produces a persisted, structured analysis note. Vault conventions live in CLAUDE.md.

Folder paths in this skill are the template defaults — the authoritative paths live in the "Folder roles" table in CLAUDE.md's Vault structure section. Look folders up there by role — never trust the literal defaults on a renamed or non-English vault.

Steps

1. Scope & confirm. Restate the research question, the angle, the intended sections/depth, and where the analysis note will land (usually 04-Resources/<Topic>/; the relevant project file's folder when it's project-scoped; ask if there's no obvious home). Because this sweeps wide and writes a file, confirm before the heavy retrieval — this is the same gate the brainstorming skill uses.
2. Broad retrieval. Decompose the question into sub-questions and run several searches — never rely on one query. Probe command -v qmd once:
   • qmd installed: qmd query "<sub-question>" -n 15 per sub-question.
   • No qmd: Grep key terms and synonyms across **/*.md; Glob the relevant topic folders; scan the ## Index sections of the topic starter notes. Then widen beyond direct hits: follow [[wikilinks]] outward AND backlinks (Grep for the central notes' names inside [[…]]) so related material isn't missed.
3. Read in full. Fetch the gathered notes whole — snippets are only leads; synthesize from full text, including cited source notes.
4. Synthesize a structured analysis:
   • A clear question/thesis up front.
   • Sections by sub-topic, every claim carrying a [[wikilink]] citation. Separate what a source claims from established fact.
   • An explicit Open questions / gaps subsection and a Contradictions subsection (lint-minded: note where notes disagree or evidence is thin).
   • A Sources list of the notes drawn on.
5. Write the note to 04-Resources/<Topic>/Analysis - <Readable Name>.md with frontmatter (tags: [resource, analysis], created). Analysis notes are the allowed exception to one-note-one-thought atomicity — they are synthetic and longer by design.
6. Cross-link & index. Link the analysis to the notes it draws on (they gain a backlink automatically), add it to the ## Index section of the topic starter note, and log one line in today's daily note. Follow-up todos obey the two-place todo rule.
7. Re-embed if qmd is installed; skip silently otherwise.

Quality bar

• Cite every claim; never assert un-sourced statements as established. Label model knowledge added on top of vault content as such.
• Surface gaps and contradictions rather than papering over them — where the vault is thin on a sub-topic, say so and recommend an ingest to fill it.