| name | deck-research |
| description | Research an account into a structured, reusable deck dossier that build-deck consumes to fill the account-specific slots of any persona template. Trigger when the user says "research [company] for a deck", "build a deck dossier for [company]", "get me deck research on [company]", "deep research [company] for slides", "prep deck research for [persona] at [company]", or asks for account intelligence specifically to feed a presentation. Produces a two-layer dossier (persona-agnostic account intel + per-persona slot-fills) saved to the account folder (`content/<active>/accounts/<account-slug>/`). Free web paths by default; metered tools (Firecrawl / Vibe) only on explicit opt-in within PROFILE budget. Read-only research; never sends anything. |
| metadata | {"version":"0.1.0","phase":"4","capability_tier":"core"} |
Deck Research
Turn an account into a dossier structured for deck assembly. Research the account once
(persona-agnostic), then frame it for one or more personas by filling the slot manifests. The output
is the input to build-deck — it makes deck generation assembly, not improvisation.
Two layers (see references/slot-manifests.md for the full schema):
- Layer 1 — Account Intelligence. Eleven persona-agnostic, sourced fields. Reusable across
personas, decks, call-prep, and outreach.
- Layer 2 — Persona Slot-Fills. For each requested persona, the named slots that persona's
template needs, filled from Layer 1 and keyed to
slot-manifests.md.
Read-only. This skill never sends, posts, or contacts anyone.
Step 1 — Load context
Resolve the active profile (the agent provides it; everything loads from profiles/<active>/, never plugin/).
Pull company brand from the profile (company, brand_name) — never hardcode a company name.
- PROFILE —
profiles/<active>/PROFILE.md. Pull: name, target_markets,
emphasize_personas/verticals, monthly_tool_budget_usd, per_run_cap_usd, tools_metered,
firecrawl/vibe_prospecting status, output_folder, language. If no PROFILE, run setup
first (or ask the 3 essentials: markets, segment focus, budget).
references/slot-manifests.md — the slot contract. Defines the Layer-1 field IDs (L1-1…L1-11),
the footnote convention, and which slots each template needs.
Knowledge resolution (product-aware). Wherever this skill loads a per-product knowledge file —
icp-personas.md or market-scan-config.md — resolve its path with
python -m gtm_core.resolve_knowledge <file> --profile <active> [--product <slug>] and read whatever
path it prints, instead of opening knowledge/<file> directly. The helper returns the product-level
file (products/<slug>/<file>) when present and falls back to the profile-level knowledge/<file>
otherwise. Pass --product when the run is bound to one product (the lead default_product from
PROFILE.md, or a product the operator named); omit it for profile-wide work — a profile that keeps one
shared knowledge pack always falls back to the profile level, so nothing changes for it.
- Knowledge pack —
profiles/<active>/knowledge/icp-personas.md (segments, persona cards, scoring
rubric, why-now triggers), profiles/<active>/knowledge/case-studies.md (four shapes + selection
map), profiles/<active>/knowledge/product.md (suite, five themes, discovery questions),
profiles/<active>/knowledge/company.md (narrative, positioning).
- Reuse prior research (do NOT re-research from zero). Look in the account folder
content/<active>/accounts/<account-slug>/ for a fresh
(≤30 days) deck-research-*[company]*.md, call-prep-*[company]*.md, or prospects-* /
outreach-*[company]*.md. If found, load it and extend into the dossier — keep its dated
signals, scores, and persona detail. Only research the gaps.
Step 2 — Gather inputs
Ask in one short message (skip anything already provided):
- Company / account (required).
- Persona(s) to build slot-fills for — name + title if known, or the role. Map to a template via
the routing table in
slot-manifests.md. Multiple personas are fine (one Layer-2 block each).
- Depth —
standard (free web sweep, default) or deep (opt-in metered crawl, see Step 3).
- Known context — any pain, signal, incumbent, or prior thread the user already has.
- Language — defaults to PROFILE language.
If the user already gave all of this, proceed without asking.
Step 3 — Budget pre-check (only if deep / metered opt-in)
Default is free paths (web search + browser) — skip this step. If the user opted into deep:
- Confirm the tool is in
tools_metered and connected. If not, fall back to the free path and
say so.
- Call
estimate-cost / check balance before any metered fetch. Show the estimate. If the run
would breach per_run_cap_usd or the remaining monthly budget, trim depth or switch to the free
path — never silently overspend, never auto-buy credits.
Step 4 — Research sweep → Layer 1
Fill the eleven Layer-1 fields. Free web paths by default; stop each field when the top signals are
clear (extend call-prep's 5-minute discipline — this is deeper, but still bounded). Prioritise
L1-2 and L1-6 (most-referenced across templates), then L1-8 and L1-10 (in every template).
| Field | Hunt for |
|---|
| L1-1 firmographics_icp | size, revenue, segment (Ent/Startup), industry, HQ/markets, funding, headcount; compute ICP score via the rubric in icp-personas.md (show number + top factors) |
| L1-2 agentic_maturity ★ | named evidence they build/run production agents — product launches, named agents, eng blogs, conference talks, job posts citing frameworks. The "agentic moment." |
| L1-3 tech_stack | agent frameworks (LangGraph/CrewAI/AutoGen/LlamaIndex/MCP/A2A), cloud(s), IAM (Okta/Entra/Ping), data model |
| L1-4 regulatory_posture | jurisdiction + industry → regulators (MAS/HKMA/SEC/FINRA/HIPAA/EU AI Act/PDPA…); certifications held or pursued (ISO 42001, SOC 2) |
| L1-5 threat_hypotheses | the live threats specific to their deployment/industry — shadow agents, cross-org handoffs, incident/CVE exposure |
| L1-6 use_case_scenarios | 3+ concrete agent scenarios from their portfolio (gap → product fix → outcome) |
| L1-7 incumbent_competitive | their hyperscaler/IAM; build-vs-buy posture; lock-in exposure |
| L1-8 proof_story | closest case study by shape first, then industry, + one-line "why this maps" |
| L1-9 why_now | the single dated trigger making this timely (never invented) |
| L1-10 buying_committee | named people → persona → primary pain → what they must prove |
| L1-11 sources | every external claim numbered for footnoting |
Sourcing rule: every external fact gets an inline [^n] marker tied to a numbered L1-11 entry.
Internal knowledge-pack / active-company product facts are not footnoted. An empty field = null + a
one-line "no strong signal found"; never fabricate. If L1-2 (★) is empty, flag the account as
possibly not deck-ready.
Step 5 — Fill Layer 2 (per persona)
For each requested persona:
- Route to a template via
slot-manifests.md. Confirm the match against the persona signals.
- Read that template's manifest. For each
slot_id, pull from the named Layer-1 field(s) and write
the fill, carrying [^n] markers through.
- Empty slot →
null + the "no signal" note. Never invent to fill a slot.
Step 6 — HITL review gate (always)
Present the dossier for review before saving as final and before any deck is built:
## Deck research — [Company] · ICP [score] · personas: [list]
LAYER 1 (account intel)
- agentic moment: [2–3 line summary]
- regulatory posture: …
- why-now: …
- proof story: …
[+ any field with no signal, flagged]
LAYER 2 (slot-fills)
- [Persona / template]: [N of M slots filled; any nulls listed]
→ Reply "save" to write the dossier, or tell me what to fix.
(Or "save and build the [persona] deck" to chain into build-deck.)
Exception: if the user said "just do it" / "go" / any bypass phrase, skip the gate.
Step 7 — Save
Write deck-research-[company]-[YYYY-MM-DD].md to the account folder
content/<active>/accounts/<account-slug>/ (see CLAUDE.md "Per-account outputs"). Structure:
# Deck Research — [Company] · [date]
> Reusable account dossier. Layer 1 = account intel (persona-agnostic).
> Layer 2 = per-persona slot-fills consumed by build-deck. External facts footnoted.
## Layer 1 — Account Intelligence
### Firmographics & ICP (score N/12 or N/10 — [segment])
### Agentic maturity ★
### Tech & framework stack
### Regulatory posture
### Threat hypotheses
### Use-case scenarios
### Incumbent / competitive
### Matched proof story
### Why-now
### Buying committee
## Sources
[^1]: …
## Layer 2 — Persona Slot-Fills
### [Persona name] — [template]
```yaml
persona: [template id]
slots:
[slot_id]: [fill, with [^n] markers] # null + note if no signal
---
## Step 8 — Output & optional chain
Tell the colleague: "Dossier saved as `deck-research-[company]-[date].md` — Layer 1 is reusable
account intel; Layer 2 has slot-fills for [persona(s)]." Then:
- **Discrete (default):** offer the next step — "Run `build-deck` for [company] and it'll consume
this dossier automatically." Do not auto-build.
- **Opt-in chain:** only if the user said "and build it" / "save and build" — hand off to `build-deck`
for the named persona, which reads this dossier per its Step 1.5.
To add another persona later, re-run and the skill fills just the new Layer-2 block from existing
Layer 1 — no re-research.
---
## Guardrails
- **Never fabricate** — empty fields/slots are `null` with a note. No invented signals, quotes, or stats.
- **Footnotes travel** — every external claim carries `[^n]` into Layer 1 and through to the slots.
- **Free paths by default** — metered tools only on explicit `deep` opt-in, and budget is a hard stop
(estimate first, trim or fall back, never auto-buy).
- **Reuse, don't duplicate** — extend a fresh prospect/call-prep/dossier file rather than re-research.
- **Read-only** — never send, post, or contact anyone.
- **Discrete by default** — produce the reviewable dossier; only chain into build-deck on explicit
opt-in.
- **Manifest is the contract** — slot IDs and template routing come from `references/slot-manifests.md`;
if it changes, this skill follows.
