research

name: research description: > Search the wiki and synthesize an answer from existing knowledge — full-text search, type filtering, cross-wiki search, graph exploration, and gap identification. type: skill status: active last_updated: "2026-04-27" when_to_use: > Answering a question from wiki knowledge, exploring what the wiki knows about a topic, or identifying knowledge gaps. tags: [research, search, synthesis] owner: jguibert@gmail.com metadata: version: "0.3.0"

Search the wiki, read relevant pages, and synthesize an answer from existing knowledge. The wiki is the persistent knowledge base — use it before generating from scratch.

Orient

For broad questions ("what does the wiki know about X?") or coverage assessment, start with the full wiki map:

wiki_list(format: "llms")

This returns all pages grouped by type with summaries — one call instead of multiple searches. Use it when:

The question is wide ("what does the wiki cover on LLMs?")
You need to assess coverage before deciding whether to ingest new sources
You want to understand the wiki's knowledge shape before drilling in

For narrow, specific queries, skip this step and go straight to search.

Search

BM25 full-text search across title, summary, read_when, tldr, tags, and body text. Results always include facets (type, status, tags distributions):

wiki_search(query: "<topic>")

Filter by page type:

wiki_search(query: "<topic>", type: "concept")
wiki_search(query: "<topic>", type: "paper,article")

Search across all registered wikis:

wiki_search(query: "<topic>", cross_wiki: true)

Include section index pages (excluded by default):

wiki_search(query: "<topic>", include_sections: true)

Read results

Read the most relevant pages:

wiki_content_read(uri: "<slug>")

Follow sources and concepts links in frontmatter to find related pages that add context. A concept's sources field points to the source pages that contributed claims. A source's concepts field points to the concepts it informs.

Check page freshness with wiki_history to assess whether the knowledge is current:

wiki_history(slug: "<slug>", limit: 1)

Discover incoming links (backlinks)

To find what references a page — useful when tracing impact or finding dependent concepts — use backlinks: true:

wiki_content_read(uri: "<slug>", backlinks: true)

The response includes a backlinks array of { slug, title } for every page that links to this one. Use this when:

You need to understand what depends on or cites a concept
You want to find pages to update when a concept changes
You are tracing propagation of an idea through the wiki

Explore relationships

Use the graph to explore how pages connect:

wiki_graph(root: "<slug>", depth: 2)

Filter by relation to trace specific edge types:

wiki_graph(root: "<slug>", relation: "fed-by")
wiki_graph(root: "<slug>", relation: "depends-on")
wiki_graph(type: "concept", relation: "depends-on")

This is useful for:

Tracing which sources fed a concept (fed-by)
Finding prerequisite concepts (depends-on)
Seeing what a source informs (informs)

Synthesize

Compose an answer from the wiki's knowledge:

Use the type facet to suggest broadening or narrowing the search (e.g. "there are also 8 papers on this topic")
Cite sources with wiki:// URIs (e.g. wiki://concepts/moe)
Distinguish between what concept pages say (synthesized knowledge) and what source pages claim (provenance)
Note confidence levels where available — the confidence float (0.0–1.0) is returned directly in search results; a value below 0.5 signals the page is provisional or lightly corroborated and its claims should be treated accordingly

Identify gaps

Report what the wiki does not cover yet. This helps decide whether to ingest new sources or crystallize new knowledge.

If the wiki has no relevant pages, say so clearly rather than generating an answer from general knowledge.