| name | knowledge-synthesis |
| description | Synthesize information from multiple enterprise sources into a coherent, well-structured summary. Combines data from email, chat, docs, wikis, and tickets to produce unified knowledge artifacts that eliminate information silos and surface connections across tools. TRIGGER when: user asks to synthesize, combine, consolidate, or merge information from multiple sources, create a knowledge summary, build a briefing document, or asks "what do we know about X".
|
| argument-hint | <topic or question> [--sources SOURCE1,SOURCE2] [--depth shallow|deep] |
| user-invocable | true |
Knowledge Synthesis
Combine and reconcile information scattered across enterprise tools into a single, authoritative summary with proper attribution and confidence scoring.
Synthesis Process
Step 1: Understand the Knowledge Request
Classify the request type:
| Request Type | Description | Depth |
|---|
| Quick Answer | Simple factual question | Shallow |
| Topic Briefing | Overview of a subject or project | Medium |
| Decision Support | Comprehensive analysis for a decision | Deep |
| Onboarding Package | Everything a new person needs to know | Deep |
| Competitive Intel | Aggregated info about a competitor/market | Deep |
| Incident Postmortem | Timeline and facts about an event | Deep |
Extract from the user's request:
- Core topic or question being investigated
- Scope boundaries — what to include and exclude
- Target audience — who will consume this synthesis
- Desired format — narrative, bullet points, Q&A, timeline
Step 2: Multi-Source Information Gathering
Query each relevant source with topic-appropriate search terms:
- Wiki / Knowledge Base — Canonical documentation, policies, architecture docs
- Documents — Specs, proposals, meeting notes, design docs
- Email — Decisions, approvals, context from stakeholder threads
- Chat / Messaging — Informal decisions, real-time discussions, shared links
- Tickets / Issues — Implementation details, bugs, feature requests
- Code Repositories — READMEs, comments, commit messages (if connected)
For each source, capture:
- The specific information found
- The date of the information
- The author or contributor
- The confidence level (verified, likely, uncertain)
Step 3: Reconcile and Cross-Reference
| Situation | Resolution Strategy |
|---|
| Consistent across sources | High confidence; cite multiple sources |
| Info only in one source | Medium confidence; note single-source limitation |
| Conflicting information | Flag the conflict explicitly; show both versions + dates |
| Outdated in one, current in another | Prefer the most recent; note the evolution |
| Informal vs. formal sources | Prefer formal docs; note informal context if relevant |
Step 4: Structure the Synthesis
Output Format
# Knowledge Synthesis: [Topic]
Generated: [date] | Sources: [count] sources across [count] tools
Confidence: [High/Medium/Low] — [reason]
## Executive Summary
[2-4 sentence overview of key findings]
## Key Facts
| Fact | Source | Date | Confidence |
|--------------------------|-----------------|------------|------------|
| [Fact 1] | [Source + link] | [date] | High |
| [Fact 2] | [Source + link] | [date] | Medium |
## Detailed Findings
### [Subtopic 1]
[Narrative synthesis of what is known]
**Sources:**
- [Source 1]: [what it contributed]
- [Source 2]: [what it contributed]
### [Subtopic 2]
[Narrative synthesis of what is known]
**Sources:**
- [Source 1]: [what it contributed]
## Conflicts and Ambiguities
- **[Topic]**: [Source A] says X (as of [date]), but [Source B] says Y (as of [date]).
Recommended resolution: [suggestion]
## Knowledge Gaps
- [ ] [What is unknown or not found in any source]
- [ ] [Questions that remain unanswered]
- [ ] [Areas where information is stale and needs refresh]
## Timeline of Key Events
| Date | Event | Source |
|------------|---------------------------------|---------------|
| [date] | [Event description] | [Source] |
## Source Index
| # | Source | Type | Last Updated | Items Used |
|---|----------------------|--------|--------------|------------|
| 1 | [Document name/link] | Doc | [date] | [count] |
| 2 | [Channel name] | Chat | [date] | [count] |
| 3 | [Ticket ID] | Ticket | [date] | [count] |
Synthesis Depth Levels
Shallow (Quick Answer)
- Search top 5 results per source
- Return the most authoritative single answer
- Include 1-2 supporting citations
- Target: under 200 words
Medium (Topic Briefing)
- Search top 15 results per source
- Cross-reference across 2-3 sources minimum
- Identify key facts, people, and dates
- Target: 300-800 words
Deep (Comprehensive Analysis)
- Exhaustive search across all sources
- Full cross-referencing and conflict resolution
- Timeline construction and trend analysis
- Knowledge gap identification
- Target: 800-2000 words
Quality Standards
- Attribution: Every claim must cite at least one source
- Recency: Always note the date of information; flag anything older than 90 days
- Neutrality: Present conflicting viewpoints without bias
- Completeness: Explicitly state what was NOT found (knowledge gaps)
- Traceability: Reader should be able to verify any claim by following the source link
- No hallucination: Never infer or fabricate information not found in sources
Edge Cases
- No results found: Report clearly that no information was found; suggest alternative search terms or sources to check manually
- Single source only: Produce the synthesis but prominently note the single-source limitation
- Highly conflicting sources: Escalate to the user before choosing a "winner"; present both sides
- Sensitive or restricted content: If a source indicates restricted access, note the existence of the source without revealing restricted content
- Stale information: If all sources are older than 6 months, add a staleness warning to the synthesis
Follow-Up Options
After delivering the synthesis, offer:
- "Want me to go deeper on any subtopic?"
- "Should I search for additional sources to fill the knowledge gaps?"
- "Want me to turn this into a shareable document or wiki page?"
- "Should I set up alerts for new information on this topic?"
Quality Checklist
