| name | rf-doc-summarize |
| description | Generate a structured academic summary of a document — executive summary, section-by-section breakdown, key arguments, methodology, findings, limitations, and relevance to the user's research. Works on chunks for 200+ page documents. Trigger phrases: "summarize this document", "give me the key points", "what does this paper say", "summarize my document", "/rf-doc-summarize". |
Document Summary
Generate a structured, academically rigorous summary of a document that researchers can use as a reference artifact throughout their work.
Before You Begin
Load the ingest report from _rf-output/doc-analysis/ for this document. If no ingest report exists, run /rf-doc-ingest first.
Also load _rf/research-context.md — the summary must highlight relevance to the user's specific research topic.
Step 1 — Summary Depth
Ask the user:
"What depth of summary do you need?"
- Quick overview — 1-page executive summary only (fastest)
- Structured summary — section-by-section breakdown (standard)
- Deep analysis — full breakdown including methodology critique and alignment to your research (most thorough)
For documents over 50 pages, process chunk by chunk (from the chunking plan in the ingest report), then synthesize.
Step 2 — Executive Summary
Write a 200–400 word executive summary that covers:
- What problem the document addresses
- What approach or methodology it uses
- What the key findings or contributions are
- What the limitations are
- Why this is (or is not) relevant to the user's research
Write this for an academic audience — concise, precise, no filler.
Step 3 — Section-by-Section Breakdown (for Structured and Deep)
For each major section in the TOC:
### [Section Title]
**Purpose:** [What this section does in the document's argument]
**Key content:** [2–4 bullet points of the most important content]
**Relevance to your research:** [High / Medium / Low — one sentence why]
For very long sections (10+ pages), break into sub-sections.
Step 4 — Key Arguments and Claims (for Deep)
Extract the 3–7 central claims or arguments the document makes. For each:
- State the claim precisely
- Note the evidence or reasoning used to support it
- Flag if the claim is contested, well-supported, or speculative
Step 5 — Methodology Notes (if applicable)
If the document reports original research, capture:
- Research design (experimental / observational / survey / review / theoretical)
- Sample or dataset description
- Key instruments or tools used
- Statistical or analytical approach
- Reproducibility indicators (code available? data public?)
Step 6 — Quotable Passages
Extract 3–5 direct quotations that are particularly precise, frequently cited, or directly relevant to the user's topic. Format with page numbers.
Step 7 — Output
Save _rf-output/doc-analysis/{date}_{run}_{doc-name}_summary.md:
# Summary — [Document Title]
## Executive Summary
[200–400 words]
## Section Breakdown
[Per-section analysis]
## Key Arguments
1. [Claim] — [Evidence] — [Strength: strong/moderate/weak]
...
## Methodology
[If applicable]
## Quotable Passages
> "[Quote]" — p.[N]
...
## Relevance to Your Research
**Overall relevance:** [High / Medium / Low]
[2–3 sentences explaining fit to the user's research topic]
## Citation
[Auto-format using the project's citation style from research-context.md]
After saving, recommend: "Run /rf-lit-synthesize to combine this with other papers, or /rf-doc-extract to pull specific data or concepts."