Conduct comprehensive, multi-source research and generate cited reports. Activate this skill when users want in-depth research on a topic, need synthesis across web and vault sources, or want a structured research report saved to their vault.
Conduct comprehensive, multi-round research using the deep_research tool. This produces structured markdown reports with citations by iteratively searching, reading, and synthesizing multiple sources.
Use deep_research when... | Use google_search when... |
|---|---|
| The topic requires synthesis across multiple sources | A quick factual answer is needed |
| The user wants a structured report or overview | The user asks for a single data point |
| Research should combine vault notes with web sources | The user wants current news or events |
| The question is broad or exploratory | The question is specific and narrow |
| The user explicitly asks for "deep research" or "a report" | The user asks "what is..." or "when did..." |
Default to google_search for simple questions. Only use deep_research when the scope genuinely warrants multi-source synthesis.
Call the deep_research tool with these parameters:
topic (required) — The research question or topic. Be specific and descriptive.scope (optional) — Where to search:
both (default) — Web sources + vault notes. Best for most research.web_only — Internet sources only. Use when the topic is outside the vault's scope.vault_only — Vault notes only. Use to synthesize the user's own notes. Requires Semantic Vault Search to be enabled.outputFile (optional) — Path to save the report (e.g., Research/topic-name.md). A .md extension is added automatically if missing.If both is requested but Semantic Vault Search isn't configured, the tool gracefully falls back to web-only research.
outputFile — Research reports are valuable artifacts. Suggest saving to a logical location like Research/ or a project folder.web_only or bothvault_onlybothThe tool generates a markdown report with:
When outputFile is specified, the report is saved to the vault and added to the session context for follow-up discussion.
both scope to combine external knowledge with their personal context.