| name | analyze-vault |
| version | 0.1.0 |
| description | Evaluate an existing topic branch in an Obsidian-style Markdown "thinking vault" and write a grounded, opinionated analysis — the QUERY phase: reason ACROSS the already-gathered corpus to answer a question, form a working thesis, weigh tradeoffs, and reach a recommendation. Use this whenever the user wants to make sense of, evaluate, compare, decide, or "get a take on" a topic that already exists in the vault, or says "analyze the X branch", "what should I pick given my notes on Y", "weigh the options in Z", "what does my research on … actually say", "synthesize this branch", or "give me a recommendation from the vault". This skill reads what's there and adds an analysis note; it does NOT gather new research (that's research-vault) or build charts / HTML pages (that's vault-artifact). It requires a branch that already has grounding + notes. |
Analyze Vault — the QUERY phase
Read an existing wiki branch and produce an opinionated analysis: reason across the gathered
knowledge to answer a specific question and take a position. This skill is deliberately blind to
how the branch was built — it only requires that a valid branch exists. It composes with the
rest of the pipeline through the vault's files and gates, not by calling any other skill.
Why this is a separate phase
Gathering facts and judging them are different acts, and mixing them corrupts both. The research
phase lays down what is known, neutrally. This phase is where opinion is allowed — a thesis, a
verdict, a recommendation — built openly on top of that corpus and citing it. Keeping them
apart means a reader can always separate the evidence from your call on it.
Step 1 — PRECONDITION GATE: a valid branch must exist
You can't analyze what isn't there. Before anything else, confirm the target branch is well-formed:
node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/gates/cli.mjs branch <vault> <Branch>
- If it passes, proceed.
- If it fails or the branch/grounding is missing, stop and tell the user the branch needs to be
researched first (that's the
research-vault skill's job) — don't gather the research yourself;
that's a different phase. Report exactly what the gate said.
- The gate is hosted in the research plugin (
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/gates/); if node can't
find it, the plugin is misinstalled — say so rather than trying to reconstruct it.
Read the branch's CLAUDE.md too, and follow its conventions where they differ from this skill.
Step 2 — Absorb the corpus
Read the MOC, _grounding.md, and every knowledge note. Build a picture of what the branch
actually establishes — and note where it's thin (a gap is a legitimate finding, and a reason the
analysis might be low-confidence). Don't re-derive facts; cite them.
Step 3 — Scope the question
Pin the exact question you're answering. If the user was vague ("analyze this"), infer the decision
that matters from the brief/MOC and state it explicitly at the top of the analysis so it can be
challenged. One analysis answers one question; a branch can hold several.
Step 4 — Write the analysis note
Create <Branch>/Analysis-<Slug>.md from _templates/analysis.md (type: analysis). Take a real
position:
- Verdict up front — the answer/recommendation, not hedged into mush.
- Reasoning — the argument, built by reasoning across the knowledge notes; reference them
with
[[wikilinks]].
- Tensions & tradeoffs — the honest counter-case and what the verdict gives up.
- Confidence & open questions — how sure you are and what would change your mind.
- Basis — cite
[[_grounding]] and the specific notes you leaned on.
Surface the counter-intuitive findings the corpus supports; a synthesis that just restates the
notes adds nothing. Every claim must trace to the branch — if you need a fact that isn't grounded,
say so as a gap rather than inventing it.
Step 5 — Wire it in
Add the analysis to the MOC's Analyses section; set related: (in-branch only); bump
updated: dates.
Step 6 — OUTPUT GATE: verify the analysis
node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/gates/cli.mjs analysis <vault> <Branch>
It confirms a grounded type: analysis note exists and its links stay in the branch. Fix anything
it flags. (If the script is missing, install this skill's bundled copy as in Step 1.)
Handing off
Give the user the verdict and the key tensions in prose. Mention they can render the analysis
as a visual page (the separate vault-artifact skill) if it's the kind of decision that benefits
from charts — but don't build it here.
Bundled resources
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/gates/cli.mjs branch — precondition gate (plugin-hosted, Node).${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/gates/cli.mjs analysis — output gate (plugin-hosted, Node).
