| name | wiki-research |
| description | Autonomously research a topic via multi-round web search, synthesize findings, and file structured results into the Obsidian wiki. Use this skill when the user says "/wiki-research [topic]", "research X into my wiki", "file a deep dive on Z in the wiki", "autonomous wiki research on X", or wants comprehensive, web-sourced knowledge on a topic filed directly into their wiki.
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Wiki Research — Autonomous Multi-Round Research
You are running an autonomous research loop on a topic, synthesizing what you find, and filing the results into the Obsidian wiki as permanent knowledge.
Routing Boundary
Use this skill only when the research output should be written into the Obsidian wiki. For ordinary codebase research, use fic-research. For library/API documentation lookup without wiki filing, use documentation-lookup.
Before You Start
- Read
~/.obsidian-wiki/config (preferred) or .env (fallback) to get OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH
- Read
$OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/index.md to understand what's already in the wiki — don't re-research things the wiki covers well
- Read
$OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/hot.md if it exists — it surfaces recent context
- Check
$OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/references/research-config.md if it exists — it may define source preferences, domains to skip, or confidence rules for this vault
Confirm the research topic with the user if it's ambiguous. Then proceed.
Research Configuration (optional)
If references/research-config.md exists in the vault, read it and apply any rules it defines:
- Source preferences (e.g., prefer academic sources, avoid certain domains)
- Domains to skip
- Confidence scoring adjustments
- Topic-specific constraints
If the file doesn't exist, proceed with defaults.
Round 1 — Broad Survey
Goal: Get a wide map of the topic.
- Decompose the topic into 3-5 distinct angles (e.g., for "vector databases": what they are, when to use them, leading implementations, trade-offs, production gotchas)
- For each angle, run 2-3
WebSearch queries using varied phrasing
- For the top 2-3 results per angle, use
WebFetch (or defuddle <url> if available — cleaner extraction) to get content
- From each fetched page, extract:
- Key claims — what the source explicitly states
- Concepts — ideas, terms, frameworks introduced
- Entities — tools, people, organizations mentioned
- Contradictions — places where sources disagree with each other
Track what's covered and what's missing as you go.
Round 2 — Gap Fill
Goal: Close the holes left by Round 1.
Review what Round 1 produced:
- What questions did sources raise but not answer?
- Where do sources contradict each other?
- Which angles got thin coverage?
Run up to 5 targeted searches specifically addressing these gaps. Prefer primary sources, official documentation, and authoritative analyses over link aggregators.
Add findings to your working set. Update the contradiction list.
Round 3 — Synthesis Check
Goal: Resolve contradictions; confirm depth is sufficient.
If major contradictions remain unresolved:
- Run one final targeted pass (2-3 searches) to find authoritative resolution
- If resolution is impossible, flag the contradiction explicitly in the synthesis page
If contradictions are minor or the topic feels well-covered after Round 2, skip additional searching and proceed to filing.
Halt condition: Stop when depth is achieved or 3 rounds are complete — do not loop indefinitely.
Filing — Write Wiki Pages
Organize all findings into wiki pages across four output areas:
1. references/ — One page per major reference
For each significant source (typically 4-8 pages total):
---
title: >-
<Source title>
category: references
tags: [<2-4 domain tags>]
sources:
- "<URL>"
source_url: "<URL>"
created: <ISO-8601 timestamp>
updated: <ISO-8601 timestamp>
summary: >-
<1-2 sentences describing what this source covers, ≤200 chars>
provenance:
extracted: 0.X
inferred: 0.X
ambiguous: 0.X
---
Body: title, URL, what it covers, key claims (with provenance markers), limitations.
2. concepts/ — One page per substantive concept
For each significant concept surfaced across sources:
Standard concept frontmatter + body. Link concepts to each other and to source pages.
3. entities/ — Tools, organizations, people
For each significant entity encountered (tools, libraries, companies, key authors):
Standard entity frontmatter. Link back to concepts that use the entity and sources where it appears.
4. synthesis/Research: [Topic].md — Master synthesis
The primary output: a structured synthesis of everything found.
---
title: >-
Research: <Topic>
category: synthesis
tags: [<3-5 domain tags>, research]
sources: [<list of source URLs or page paths>]
created: <ISO-8601 timestamp>
updated: <ISO-8601 timestamp>
summary: >-
Synthesis of <N>-round research on <topic>. Covers <core findings in ≤200 chars>.
provenance:
extracted: 0.X
inferred: 0.X
ambiguous: 0.X
---
<2-4 sentence executive summary of what the research found>
<Bulleted list of the most important claims, each with a [[source page]] citation>
<Links to concept pages created, with one-line descriptions>
<Links to entity pages, with one-line descriptions>
<Where sources disagree or where the research hit limits>
<Linked list of all source pages>
Cross-linking
After filing all pages:
- Every concept page should link to at least 2 source pages
- Every source page should link to the concept pages it informed
- The synthesis page should link to all concept, entity, and source pages produced
Check index.md for existing pages on the same topics — merge into existing pages rather than creating duplicates.
Update Tracking Files
.manifest.json — Add a research entry:
{
"type": "research",
"topic": "<topic>",
"researched_at": "TIMESTAMP",
"rounds_completed": 3,
"sources_fetched": N,
"pages_created": ["..."],
"pages_updated": ["..."]
}
index.md — Add all new pages under their respective sections.
log.md — Append:
- [TIMESTAMP] WIKI_RESEARCH topic="<topic>" rounds=N sources_fetched=N pages_created=M
hot.md — Update Recent Activity with the research topic and core finding. Update Active Threads if this is ongoing. Update updated timestamp.
Quality Checklist
