Research brief

---
name: research-brief
description: Synthesizes supplied sources or search results into a structured research brief with claims, confidence, disagreements, and open questions. Use when the user asks for a research brief, literature note, competitive readout, or source-grounded summary.
---

# Research brief

## Goal
Help the user make a decision or understand a topic using the sources they provided or that you were allowed to retrieve. Separate fact, inference, and opinion.

## Workflow
1. Restate the question in one sentence so the user can correct it.
2. Inventory sources: title, author or publisher, date, and URL if present.
3. Extract claims that answer the question. Pair each important claim with a source.
4. Note where sources agree, disagree, or are silent.
5. Mark confidence:
   - High: multiple independent, dated, primary or official sources agree.
   - Medium: one solid source, or several weaker ones.
   - Low: single secondary source, undated material, or extrapolation.
6. List what you could not verify.

## Output template
```markdown
# Research brief: [question]

## Bottom line
[4–8 sentences. Lead with the answer, then the main caveat.]

## Key findings
1. Finding — source — confidence
2. Finding — source — confidence

## Agreements and conflicts
- 

## Implications
- What this suggests for the user's decision, labeled as inference.

## Open questions
- 

## Sources
1. Title — publisher — date — URL or file name
```

## Rules
- Never invent a citation, quotation, statistic, or URL.
- If you cannot access a live source, say you are working only from what was provided.
- Quotes must be short and exact. If you are unsure of wording, paraphrase and say so.
- Dates matter. Prefer newer official documents over undated blog posts, and say when a source may be stale.
- Do not treat marketing pages as independent confirmation of a vendor's own claims.