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
title :
- <Source title
category : references tags : [ <2 - 4 domain tags
] sources : - "
" source_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:
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" : "
" , "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=" " 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