Truly getting to grips with a question isn't opening the first link and retelling it. One phrasing of a query finds one point of view, a snippet shows a claim ripped from context, and the most important part — where sources diverge and why — simply isn't visible in a quick search. Building a verified picture by hand means searching from different angles, picking primary sources, and reading them in full, cross-checking as you go.
The "Research a question with sources" skill does exactly that: it searches the topic from different angles, selects the most substantive primary sources, reads each in full, and pulls what it read into a digest where every fact leads to its own link. The principle is simple — a claim from a snippet doesn't count as a fact until its context is read, and the digest should contain no claims from thin air.
What it does
Given your question, the skill assembles a verified digest: a short answer, a point-by-point analysis with links to sources, a dedicated section on where the sources diverge, and a list of sources with dates. It saves the finished digest to the library.
How it works
- The skill runs several queries from DIFFERENT angles: the question itself, the question plus "criticism/problems", the question plus the current year, alternative phrasings. One phrasing finds one point of view — not enough for a full picture.
- From what it finds, it selects 3–5 of the most substantive sources, favoring primary ones: official sites, documents, research — rather than retellings of retellings.
- The skill reads each selected source in full: a claim from a snippet isn't yet a fact until the context around it has been read.
- It then pulls what it read together: where the sources agree (the foundation), where they diverge and why — different dates? different interests? — and what stays unverifiable.
- It saves the finished digest to the library in markdown: a short answer, a point-by-point analysis with a link on each claim, a dedicated "where the sources diverge" section, and a list of sources with dates.
What you get
A sourced digest appears in the library, and the chat returns a short answer: a conclusion in 2–4 sentences, the key facts as a list, and an honest line about what couldn't be verified. Every fact in the digest leads to a source, and the divergence section shows where the picture is less clear-cut than the first link suggests. If the question is too broad for a single digest, the skill first proposes 2–3 concrete angles and asks which you need.
When to use it
When you need to understand an unfamiliar topic more deeply than the first page of results allows — before a decision, a purchase, an argument, or a piece of your own writing. It's useful for questions with many conflicting opinions, where it matters to see who is relying on what. It also works as prep for a conversation or a text: a digest with links and a divergence section gives you not just the conclusion but a sense of where it's solid and where it's contested.