| name | consult |
| description | Use when the user asks a substantive question the wiki should be the primary source for — reads the index, pulls relevant pages, synthesizes an answer with wikilinks back to sources, and offers to save reusable answers as reports. |
consult
Rewritten from real run (2026-04-15): "what do I have about CryptoPunks?" — pulled entity + concept + verified cross-layer links.
Steps
1. Start from the index
Read scrolls/index.md. Scan for pages relevant to the question — entity pages, concept pages, and source pages that match the topic. The index is organized by category (Art > Digital Art, Art > NFT Provenance, Entities, Concepts, Sources, Synthesis) — use the structure to narrow quickly.
1.5. Frontmatter filter (token saver)
For each candidate page from the index, read only the YAML frontmatter block (from the first --- to the second ---, typically the first ~10 lines). Check description, title, and tags against the query. Only read the full page content for pages that look relevant based on frontmatter. Pages missing the description field fall back to full-page reads (older pages will lack it — this is expected and will resolve over time as bind adds descriptions).
2. Read the hub page(s)
Read the most relevant entity or concept page in full. These are the load-bearing pages — they aggregate multiple sources and carry cross-references to both Scrolls pages (via [[wikilinks]]) and Shelves catalog entries (via ../../shelves/wiki/books/<slug>.md relative links).
3. Follow one hop where load-bearing
If the hub page's ## See also or body links reference a concept or entity that looks essential to the answer, read that page too. In the real run, [[cryptopunks]] (entity) led to [[nft-provenance-and-value]] (concept) — the concept page carried additional framing the entity didn't duplicate.
One hop is usually enough. Don't spider the whole wiki.
4. Verify cross-layer links
If the answer cites Shelves books via ../../shelves/wiki/books/ paths, spot-check that the targets exist (ls shelves/wiki/books/ | grep <slug>). Broken cross-layer links undermine the answer's credibility.
5. Synthesize the answer
Structure the answer around what the wiki actually contains:
- Hub summary — what the entity/concept page says
- Source inventory — list the source pages with dates and one-line descriptions, using
[[wikilinks]]
- Shelves cross-layer — any books in the library that connect, with resolution status
- Gaps — what the wiki doesn't cover yet, if relevant to the question
Use [[wikilinks]] throughout so the user can click through in Obsidian. Cite specific source filenames where a claim depends on a single source.
6. Flag uncertainty
If two sources conflict, say so. If the answer rests on a single source, say so. If a source page is metadata-only (clipper captured no body text), note that limitation. Don't fill gaps with plausible-sounding content.
7. Offer to save (only if substantive)
If the answer is genuinely reusable — not a one-off lookup — offer to save as scrolls/reports/<slug>.md. Reports are Q&A outputs, distinct from scrolls/synthesis/ (cross-cutting essays drafted by divine). Most consult answers stay in the conversation and don't need saving.
Logging
Consult logs only when it produces a report under scrolls/reports/. Plain Q&A answers in the conversation are not logged.
When a report is saved, append an entry to scrolls/log.md:
## YYYY-MM-DD consult — report <slug> created
Body: the question asked, and a one-line summary of the answer.
