research-synthesis

Decision-grade workflow for synthesizing a source set into clear findings, contradictions, confidence markers, gaps, and next questions. Use for prompts like "synthesize these sources", "turn this research into a brief", "what are the key findings", or "where do these sources disagree". Best when you have a research question, a defined audience, and a set of source materials. Optional Open Brain search and capture can pull prior context and store the final synthesis.

Quality

93%

Does it follow best practices?

Run evals on this skill

Adds up to 20 points to the overall score

View guide

Securityby

Passed

No findings from the security scan

Quality

Content

86%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

The skill body is a tight, well-structured instruction skill that respects the token budget and gives a concrete sequenced workflow plus specific evidence-and-judgment rules. It would benefit from one worked example of a finished synthesis output to push actionability and workflow verification to the top anchor.

Suggestions

Add a short worked example under Output showing a sample synthesized brief (question, key finding, contradiction with confidence marker, gap, next question) so the expected deliverable shape is concrete.

Add an explicit final verification checkpoint in the Process (e.g., "Confirm each finding has a source and confidence label before delivering") to close the workflow-clarity gap.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The body is lean and assumes Claude's competence — no explanation of what synthesis or sources are, every section earns its place (Problem, When to Use, Process, Evidence Rules, Output, Notes).	5 / 5
Actionability	The 7-step Process gives concrete sub-instructions ("Separate facts, themes, contradictions, and gaps"; "reconcile with stronger evidence or document the conflict explicitly") and the Evidence Rules are specific directives, but there is no worked example of a finished synthesis output, leaving a minor gap versus the fully-covered common-cases anchor.	4 / 5
Workflow Clarity	A clearly sequenced 7-step process with sub-bullets per step is present; it is a judgment/synthesis task rather than a destructive or batch operation, so the missing-validation cap does not apply, but no explicit verification checkpoint confirms the output meets the decision-grade bar.	4 / 5
Progressive Disclosure	A single self-contained file (~80 lines) with well-organized sections and no external references; per the simple-skill guideline this is appropriately structured and fully navigable.	5 / 5
	Total	18 / 20 Passed

Description

100%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.

The description is concise yet comprehensive: it names concrete synthesis actions, surfaces natural trigger phrases a user would actually say, and clearly answers both what and when. It carves out a distinct niche with low overlap risk against related skills.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists multiple concrete actions — "synthesizing a source set into clear findings, contradictions, confidence markers, gaps, and next questions" — giving comprehensive coverage of what the skill does.	5 / 5
Completeness	Explicitly states both what it does (decision-grade synthesis workflow) and when to use it via concrete "Use for prompts like..." triggers plus a "Best when..." qualifier, fully answering both questions.	5 / 5
Trigger Term Quality	Includes natural user phrases ("synthesize these sources", "turn this research into a brief", "what are the key findings", "where do these sources disagree") plus synonym coverage, matching the comprehensive anchor.	5 / 5
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	Occupies a clear niche (research synthesis into decision-grade briefs) with distinct triggers and a "Best when" qualifier; the body's When Not to Use section further separates it from sibling skills, giving minimal conflict risk.	5 / 5
	Total	20 / 20 Passed

Validation

93%

Warnings & errors only

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation — 15 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

Criteria	Description	Result
frontmatter_unknown_keys	Unknown frontmatter key(s) found; consider removing or moving to metadata	Warning

	Total	15 / 16 Passed

Repository: NateBJones-Projects/OB1
Path: skills/research-synthesis/SKILL.md
Commit: e79e9cb

Reviewed: 11 days ago

Table of Contents

Discovery Implementation Validation

Is this your skill?

If you maintain this skill, you can claim it as your own. Once claimed, you can manage eval scenarios, bundle related skills, attach documentation or rules, and ensure cross-agent compatibility.