---
title: "7. Research Synthesizer"
description: "Literature-review style MOC from raw clips."
source: "Obsidian Academy"
source_url: https://obsidian-academy.pages.dev/workflows/07-research-synthesizer/
saved: 2026-05-16
tags: [obsidian-academy, saved-from-web, workflows]
---

**TL;DR** — Drop 5 articles as web clips in `00-Inbox/`. Say "synthesize [topic]". Claude reads them all, produces a literature-review style Map of Content (MOC) at `40-Resources/[topic].md` with claims attributed to specific sources. You go from a pile of tabs to a referenced synthesis in 10 minutes.

> [!NOTE]
> **Skill status: coming soon.** The `synthesize` skill isn't built yet — this page is the design sketch. Track it in your GitHub issues (or just ask me to build it).

## When to use it

- You're researching a topic across 5+ sources and don't want to lose track of who said what
- Pre-writing a strategy doc / proposal / pitch
- Catching up on a domain you've been ignoring (AI capabilities, market trend, regulation)
- Preparing a briefing for a colleague

> **Try it now:** `"synthesize this topic: agent memory architecture"`
>
> Variants planned: *"research synthesis on X"*, *"do a literature review on X"*.

What the output looks like:

```md
# Agent Memory Architecture — Synthesis

## Key claims

- **Working memory should be ephemeral** ([[Source: anthropic-blog-2026]])
- **Long-term memory benefits from structured retrieval** ([[Source: openai-research-paper]])
- ...

## Where sources agree
...

## Where sources disagree
...

## Open questions
...

## Sources
- [[clip-2026-05-anthropic-memory]]
- [[clip-2026-05-openai-retrieval]]
- ...
```

## Under the hood (design)

- **Skill location (planned):** `~/.claude/skills/synthesize/SKILL.md`
- **Reads:**
  - `00-Inbox/` web clips matching topic keywords
  - Existing `40-Resources/` notes on related topics (for prior knowledge)
- **Writes:**
  - `40-Resources/[topic].md` — the synthesis MOC
  - Optionally moves source clips into `40-Resources/[topic]/sources/`
- **Approach:** every claim gets a source link. No claim without attribution.

## Watch out for (anticipated)

- **Source quality** — synthesis only as good as inputs. Don't synthesize hot takes and expect rigor.
- **AI summarization risk** — the skill will be told to quote-and-attribute, not paraphrase. Watch for misattributed claims.
- **Topic scope** — too narrow (5 sources all making the same point) wastes effort; too broad (50 sources) wastes context.

## Make it yours (planned customizations)

- **Domain-specific templates** — separate styles for academic synthesis vs market research vs technical comparison.
- **Citation format** — choose APA / inline / footnotes depending on output destination.
- **Auto-fetch URLs** — if inbox items are bare URLs, the skill could fetch + clean them via the WebFetch tool first.

## Related workflows

- **[Content Engine](https://obsidian-academy.pages.dev/workflows/05-content-engine/)** — Once you have a synthesis, turn it into a post
- **[Inbox Zero](https://obsidian-academy.pages.dev/workflows/02-inbox-zero/)** — Web clips land here first