research-and-summarize
This Claude Code skill transforms research tasks into structured, decision-focused summaries organized by headline insight, key findings, contextual nuance, knowledge gaps, and recommended next action. Use it when you need to distill complex technical documentation, evaluate technology choices, brief teams on topics, or extract actionable clarity from lengthy sources without information overload.
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/DevelopersGlobal/ai-agent-skills /tmp/research-and-summarize && cp -r /tmp/research-and-summarize/skills/research-and-summarize ~/.claude/skills/research-and-summarizeSKILL.md
## Overview Information overload is the default state. This skill transforms any research task into a structured summary: headline insight first, context second, detail third, action last. Designed for decision-makers who need clarity, not comprehensiveness. ## When to Use - Summarizing technical documentation or papers - Researching a technology choice - Briefing a team on a topic - Distilling a long document for a specific decision ## Process ### Step 1: Define the Research Question 1. State the specific question being answered: *"Should we use Kafka or RabbitMQ for our event pipeline?"* 2. State who the answer is for and what decision it enables. 3. This scopes the research — don't gather information beyond what the decision needs. **Verify:** Research question is specific enough to have a clear answer. ### Step 2: Gather and Evaluate Sources 4. Identify 3–5 high-quality, authoritative sources. 5. For each source, note: recency, authority, potential bias. 6. Cross-reference key claims across sources. 7. Flag conflicting information — don't silently pick one side. **Verify:** Key claims are supported by at least 2 independent sources. ### Step 3: Write the Layered Summary 8. **Headline (1 sentence)**: The single most important insight. 9. **Key findings (3–5 bullets)**: Supporting evidence for the headline. 10. **Context and nuance (1–2 paragraphs)**: Caveats, tradeoffs, conditions under which the headline doesn't hold. 11. **What we don't know**: Gaps in the available information. 12. **Recommended action**: Given the findings, what should the reader do next? **Deliver:** A structured summary with all 5 sections. ### Step 4: Cite Sources 13. Every factual claim is linked to a source. 14. Include the date of each source (recency matters in fast-moving fields). **Verify:** Every claim has a citation. ## Common Rationalizations (and Rebuttals) | Excuse | Rebuttal | |--------|----------| | "The topic is too complex to summarize" | The goal is to enable a decision, not to be comprehensive. Scope to the decision. | | "I'll just share the links" | Links are not summaries. Distillation is the value. | ## Verification - [ ] Research question defined before research begins - [ ] Key claims cross-referenced across 2+ sources - [ ] Summary has: headline, findings, context, unknowns, action - [ ] Every factual claim has a citation with date ## References - [think-before-coding skill](../think-before-coding/SKILL.md) - [idea-to-spec skill](../idea-to-spec/SKILL.md)
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