synthesize

name	synthesize
description	Review recent additions, identify patterns, update building-block assessments, organize entries
user-invocable	true

Synthesize Insights

Review recent additions, identify patterns, update building-block assessments, and organize entries.

Usage

/synthesize

Instructions

When this command is invoked:

1. Review recent additions:

   • Read research/publications.md "Recent Additions" section
   • Identify papers added in last 30 days (check dates)
   • Scan research/ecosystem.md for recently added players/solutions
   • Scan research/projects.md for recently added projects

2. Identify patterns and themes:

   • Common methods across papers
   • Emerging trends (new architectures, convergent approaches)
   • Technical innovations
   • Connections between concepts
   • Open problems or debates
   • Surprising results or contradictions

3. Update building-block assessments (research/building-blocks.md):

   • New solutions identified → add to Solution landscape tables
   • Maturity changes → update maturity ratings (e.g., project moved from Early OSS to Production-ready)
   • New ecosystem players → add to Key ecosystem players
   • Use-case demand shifts → update demand ratings if evidence supports
   • Platform fit reassessment → flag if new evidence suggests reclassification

4. Surface competitive shifts in ecosystem:

   • New entrants to a building block space
   • Positioning changes (player pivoted, acquired, launched new product)
   • Lock-in vector changes (license change, new hardware requirement)
   • Partnership/acquisition signals

5. Flag stale assessments:

   • Openness assessments older than 6 months → flag for /oss-health re-evaluation
   • Ecosystem entries with no solution updates in 3+ months → flag for review
   • Building block solution landscapes not updated in 3+ months → flag

6. Update concepts.md:

   • Read current state of research/concepts.md
   • Add new technical details learned from recent papers
   • Update "Current State" sections with latest developments
   • Add connections in "Related Concepts"
   • Preserve existing content (don't delete, only add/update)

7. Move entries from "Recent Additions":

   • Move entries from "Recent Additions" in publications.md to appropriate topic sections
   • Update "Recent Additions" to note: "Last synthesized: YYYY-MM-DD"

8. Generate synthesis summary

Synthesis Focus Areas

Technical Patterns:

• Common architectural components across papers
• Shared training techniques
• Convergent vs. divergent approaches

Platform Intelligence:

• Which building blocks have increasing demand
• Where OSS alternatives are gaining on proprietary solutions
• New Build/Partner/Integrate opportunities
• Vendor lock-in changes

Ecosystem Dynamics:

• Startup funding and growth signals
• Big Tech strategic moves (acquisitions, open-sourcing, product launches)
• OSS community health trends
• Partnership announcements

Open Questions:

• Explicitly stated limitations in papers
• Gaps between research and production deployment
• Unmet building-block needs

Output Format

Synthesis Complete (YYYY-MM-DD)

Papers Reviewed: 12 recent additions

Key Themes Identified:
1. Robot foundation models converging on VLA architecture
2. Sim-to-real transfer improving via video generation (Cosmos-Transfer)
3. ROS2 ecosystem maturing — OSRA governance strengthening

Building Block Updates:
- Robot Foundation Models: Added OpenPI 0.7 to solution landscape, maturity → Early OSS
- Simulation Engines: Genesis World now Production-ready (v0.8 release)
- Model Serving: vLLM-Omni added DiT serving support

Competitive Shifts:
- Physical Intelligence open-sourced pi0.7 — challenges NVIDIA GR00T on openness
- Foxglove acquired by [company] — fleet management consolidating

Stale Assessments Flagged:
- 3 projects need /oss-health re-evaluation (last assessed >6 months ago)
- Sensor Data Ingestion block still unpopulated — needs research

Updated concepts.md:
- Added VLA vs. WAM comparison
- Updated JEPA section with V-JEPA 2.1 temporal coherence improvements

Organized publications.md:
- Moved 12 entries from "Recent Additions" to topic sections

Style Guide Compliance

All synthesis must follow style guide:

• Sober, factual language (cite specific papers)
• Concise summaries
• Pattern-oriented (highlight connections)
• Technical precision
• Use controlled vocabulary for any updated structured fields

When to Synthesize

Recommend running /synthesize:

• After adding 10+ new items across any document
• Bi-weekly (per maintenance schedule in PLAN.md)
• Before creating a deliverable (to ensure all files are current)
• When competitive landscape shifts are suspected

Error Handling

• If no recent additions found: "No new content to synthesize"
• If concepts.md is empty: Create initial structure with placeholders
• If patterns unclear: Note in summary: "Limited patterns (only N items reviewed)"