evidence-synthesis

Evidence Synthesis

Synthesis Workflow

1. Gather — Read relevant YAML provenance records from docs/research/trail/findings/
2. Group — Cluster findings by topic, tool, or theme
3. Cross-reference — Identify agreements, contradictions, and gaps across sources
4. Synthesize — Write deep review combining insights
5. Score — Assess confidence level of synthesized conclusions

Progressive Disclosure Retrieval

Use 3-layer approach to avoid context bloat:

• Layer 1 (index): file paths, titles, confidence — ~100 tokens/result
• Layer 2 (context): finding summary, implication — ~500 tokens
• Layer 3 (full detail): complete provenance record — ~500-1000 tokens

Search index FIRST, load context for relevant hits, full detail only when needed.

Deep Review Format

Write to docs/research/trail/deep-reviews/<topic>.md:

# <Topic> Deep Review

## Summary
<1-3 sentence executive summary>

## Key Findings
- Finding 1 (source: finding-<slug>.yaml, confidence: confirmed)
- Finding 2 (source: finding-<slug>.yaml, confidence: probable)

## Contradictions
<Where sources disagree and why>

## Gaps
<What remains unknown>

## Recommendations
<Actionable next steps>

Rules

• Never load all findings into context at once — use progressive disclosure
• Always cite source provenance records by filename
• Flag contradictions explicitly — do not silently favor one source
• Write synthesis to disk immediately, not at session end