merge

name	merge
description	Combine multiple pipe-format blocks from context into one unified output. Handles dedup, source attribution, and confidence upgrade. Keywords: merge, combine, unify, join, consolidate, union.
argument-hint	[optional: topic filter]
disable-model-invocation	false
user-invocable	true
allowed-tools	Read, Grep, Glob, TaskList

Merge: Combine Multiple Pipe-Format Outputs

You are running the merge primitive — combining multiple pipe-format blocks from conversation context into one unified output. Filter: $ARGUMENTS

When to Use

• After running /gather multiple times on different topics
• After running parallel primitives and wanting to combine results
• When you have scattered findings across conversation and want one unified view
• During consolidate or fractal workflows to merge parallel investigation results

Process

0. Detect Input Sources (default: conversation context)

Scan conversation context for ALL pipe-format blocks matching the **Source**: /... marker. Collect every one, not just the most recent. Note the source skill and **Pipeline** field for each block.

In team context (.claude/team.yaml exists or TaskList returns results): additionally collect pipe-format blocks from two supplementary sources before proceeding:

1. TaskList completed outputs — call TaskList to retrieve completed background agent results. For each completed task, extract any pipe-format blocks embedded in the task output. Label each block's source as task:<task-id> to distinguish it from conversation-context blocks.
2. SendMessage history — scan SendMessage history for agent messages containing pipe-format blocks. Agents that communicated results via messages (rather than TaskList output) may have additional findings. Label each block's source as message:<agent-id>.

After collecting from all supplementary sources, merge them with the conversation-context blocks into a unified input set before proceeding to Step 1. If no pipe-format blocks are found in any source, emit an error and stop.

1. Detect All Pipe-Format Blocks

Use the unified input set assembled in Step 0. If running in team context, this set already combines conversation, task, and message blocks — no additional scanning needed.

2. Parse Items

Extract items from each block into a unified working list. Preserve all attributes: title, detail, source, confidence (if present).

3. Deduplicate

• Items with the same title are duplicates
• Items with substantially the same content (>80% overlap in detail) are duplicates
• When merging duplicates:
  • Keep the item with richer detail
  • Combine source attributions (preserve all sources)
  • Upgrade confidence: if 2+ sources confirm the same finding → CONFIRMED, if mixed → highest confidence level present

4. Filter (Optional)

If $ARGUMENTS specifies a topic filter, keep only items matching that topic. If no filter provided, keep all deduplicated items.

5. Renumber

Reset item numbering to sequential (1, 2, 3...) for the final output.

6. Add Merge Summary Section

Between Items and Summary, add a Merge Details section showing:

• Number of input blocks merged (list source skills)
• Item count before dedup
• Item count after dedup
• Number of confidence upgrades applied
• Topic filter used (if any)

7. Construct Pipeline Provenance

Build the **Pipeline** field by combining the pipeline chains from all input blocks. Use + to show merged branches (e.g., /gather (8 items) + /gather (6 items) -> /merge (10 items)).

8. Emit Unified Output

Output in pipe format with header, metadata (including **Pipeline**), deduplicated items as numbered list, Merge Details section, and final summary.

Modes

This primitive operates in two modes depending on $ARGUMENTS:

Mode	Trigger	Behavior
Merge all	$ARGUMENTS is empty	Deduplicates and unifies all pipe-format blocks in context. Pure merge — single operation.
Merge + filter	$ARGUMENTS specifies a topic (e.g., "auth")	Deduplicates, then filters to items matching the topic. Embeds /filter behavior after merging (Step 4).

In topic mode, merge silently performs a filter pass. If you are composing a pipeline and plan to call /filter downstream, omit the topic argument from merge to avoid double-filtering.

Guidelines

• If no pipe-format blocks are found in context, emit an error message and stop
• When combining sources, use format: source: file:line, file:line, URL (comma-separated)
• Confidence upgrade logic: CONFIRMED if 2+ sources confirm, LIKELY if sources mixed between LIKELY and POSSIBLE, POSSIBLE if all sources POSSIBLE
• Preserve original item detail when deduplicating — merge into the richer description
• If $ARGUMENTS is empty, merge ALL items from ALL blocks (no filtering)
• If merging results in zero items (all filtered out), emit empty Items section and explain in summary