Wiki Research — Autonomous Multi-Round Research

You are running an autonomous research loop on a topic, synthesizing what you find, and filing the results into the Obsidian wiki as permanent knowledge.

Before You Start

• Read ~/.obsidian-wiki/config (preferred) or .env (fallback) to get OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH

• Read $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/index.md to understand what's already in the wiki — don't re-research things the wiki covers well

• Read $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/hot.md if it exists — it surfaces recent context

• Check $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/references/research-config.md if it exists — it may define source preferences, domains to skip, or confidence rules for this vault

Confirm the research topic with the user if it's ambiguous. Then proceed.

Research Configuration (optional)

If references/research-config.md exists in the vault, read it and apply any rules it defines:

• Source preferences (e.g., prefer academic sources, avoid certain domains)

• Domains to skip

• Confidence scoring adjustments

• Topic-specific constraints

If the file doesn't exist, proceed with defaults.

Round 1 — Broad Survey

Goal: Get a wide map of the topic.

• Decompose the topic into 3-5 distinct angles (e.g., for "vector databases": what they are, when to use them, leading implementations, trade-offs, production gotchas)

• For each angle, run 2-3 WebSearch queries using varied phrasing

• For the top 2-3 results per angle, use WebFetch (or defuddle <url> if available — cleaner extraction) to get content

• From each fetched page, extract:

• Key claims — what the source explicitly states

• Concepts — ideas, terms, frameworks introduced

• Entities — tools, people, organizations mentioned

• Contradictions — places where sources disagree with each other

Track what's covered and what's missing as you go.

Round 2 — Gap Fill

Goal: Close the holes left by Round 1.

Review what Round 1 produced:

• What questions did sources raise but not answer?

• Where do sources contradict each other?

• Which angles got thin coverage?

Run up to 5 targeted searches specifically addressing these gaps. Prefer primary sources, official documentation, and authoritative analyses over link aggregators.

Add findings to your working set. Update the contradiction list.

Round 3 — Synthesis Check

Goal: Resolve contradictions; confirm depth is sufficient.

If major contradictions remain unresolved:

• Run one final targeted pass (2-3 searches) to find authoritative resolution

• If resolution is impossible, flag the contradiction explicitly in the synthesis page

If contradictions are minor or the topic feels well-covered after Round 2, skip additional searching and proceed to filing.

Halt condition: Stop when depth is achieved or 3 rounds are complete — do not loop indefinitely.

Filing — Write Wiki Pages

Organize all findings into wiki pages across four output areas:

1. sources/ — One page per major reference

For each significant source (typically 4-8 pages total):

title: >- <Source title> category: references tags: [<2-4 domain tags>] sources:

• "<URL>" source_url: "<URL>" created: <ISO-8601 timestamp> updated: <ISO-8601 timestamp> summary: >- <1-2 sentences describing what this source covers, ≤200 chars> provenance: extracted: 0.X inferred: 0.X ambiguous: 0.X

Body: title, URL, what it covers, key claims (with provenance markers), limitations.

2. concepts/ — One page per substantive concept

For each significant concept surfaced across sources:

Standard concept frontmatter + body. Link concepts to each other and to source pages.

3. entities/ — Tools, organizations, people

For each significant entity encountered (tools, libraries, companies, key authors):

Standard entity frontmatter. Link back to concepts that use the entity and sources where it appears.

4. synthesis/Research: [Topic].md — Master synthesis

The primary output: a structured synthesis of everything found.

title: >- Research: <Topic> category: synthesis tags: [<3-5 domain tags>, research] sources: [<list of source URLs or page paths>] created: <ISO-8601 timestamp> updated: <ISO-8601 timestamp> summary: >- Synthesis of <N>-round research on <topic>. Covers <core findings in ≤200 chars>. provenance: extracted: 0.X inferred: 0.X ambiguous: 0.X

Research: <Topic>

Overview

<2-4 sentence executive summary of what the research found>

Key Findings

<Bulleted list of the most important claims, each with a [[source page]] citation>

Core Concepts

<Links to concept pages created, with one-line descriptions>

Entities & Tools

<Links to entity pages, with one-line descriptions>

Contradictions & Open Questions

<Where sources disagree or where the research hit limits>

Sources Consulted

<Linked list of all source pages>

Cross-linking

After filing all pages:

• Every concept page should link to at least 2 source pages

• Every source page should link to the concept pages it informed

• The synthesis page should link to all concept, entity, and source pages produced

Check index.md for existing pages on the same topics — merge into existing pages rather than creating duplicates.

Update Tracking Files

.manifest.json — Add a research entry:

{ "type": "research", "topic": "<topic>", "researched_at": "TIMESTAMP", "rounds_completed": 3, "sources_fetched": N, "pages_created": ["..."], "pages_updated": ["..."] }

index.md — Add all new pages under their respective sections.

log.md — Append:

• [TIMESTAMP] WIKI_RESEARCH topic="<topic>" rounds=N sources_fetched=N pages_created=M

hot.md — Update Recent Activity with the research topic and core finding. Update Active Threads if this is ongoing. Update updated timestamp.

Quality Checklist

• 3 rounds completed (or halted at sufficient depth)

• Synthesis page exists at synthesis/Research: [Topic].md

• Source pages written for major references

• Concept and entity pages written for significant items

• Contradictions flagged in synthesis page

• All pages cross-linked

• index.md , log.md , hot.md , .manifest.json updated