| name | divine |
| description | Use when the user asks for a synthesis, deeper analysis, or picks up a candidate flagged by bind — drafts a synthesis essay under scrolls/synthesis/ that connects concepts, entities, and sources into a single cross-cutting argument. Propose-before-doing. |
Divine — synthesis on request
Divine writes synthesis essays. It is the only operation that drafts pages under scrolls/synthesis/. It runs on demand, never automatically.
When to invoke
- User asks: "draft a synthesis on X", "write up the pattern between Y and Z", "can you divine a synthesis from the Apr 14 bind candidates".
- Bind flagged a candidate and the user wants to act on it.
Inputs
- A topic, working title, or candidate flag reference.
- The concept/entity/source pages the synthesis should draw from (either specified by the user or identified by divine from the wiki index).
- Shelves context via
shelves/CONTEXT_COMPACT.md (loaded lazily, only if the topic plausibly touches the library).
Procedure
1. Propose first
Before drafting, tell the user:
- The working title
- The 3–8 pages you plan to pull from
- A one-paragraph sketch of the argument shape
- Whether you'll load Shelves context (and which tier)
Wait for approval. If the user redirects, adjust and re-propose. Synthesis drafts are the most expensive operation; propose-before-doing is non-negotiable.
2. Draft
Write to scrolls/synthesis/<kebab-slug>.md:
---
title: <full title>
created: YYYY-MM-DD
kind: synthesis
drawn_from:
- "[[concepts/<name>]]"
- "[[entities/<name>]]"
- "[[sources/<name>]]"
tags: []
---
# <title>
<body with [[wikilinks]] into the drawn_from pages, relative markdown links to ../shelves/wiki/books/<slug>.md where Shelves is cited>
## What this synthesis does NOT claim
<brief honesty section: limits of the argument, what it doesn't address, what would falsify it>
## See also
- [[page-a]]
- [[page-b]]
3. Log
Append an entry to scrolls/log.md using the canonical header format:
## YYYY-MM-DD divine — <summary>
Include: the title, the drawn-from list, a one-line summary.
4. Update scrolls/index.md
Add the new synthesis page to the Synthesis section.
Prepend the synthesis to the Recently added & updated section at the top (newest first). Format: - YYYY-MM-DD · synthesis · [[page-slug]] — <one-line summary>. Keep the section capped at ~12 entries — drop the oldest as new ones come in. Update the updated: date in frontmatter.
5. Update Home.md
Set the Last divine line under "What's new this cycle" to today's date + the new synthesis title (wikilinked) + a brief parenthetical (~1 sentence) on the argument shape and word count. Bump the updated: date in frontmatter. Leave all other Home sections alone.
Boundary
Divine does NOT:
- Update concept/entity pages (that's
bind)
- Answer quick questions (that's
consult)
- Invent sources. Every citation must correspond to a real page in scrolls or a real catalog entry in shelves.
Tone
Synthesis essays should read like a serious argument, not like a summary. Include disagreements and tensions within the drawn-from material, not just agreements. The user's intellectual_profile from grimoire.json is the frame — match it.
