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If unsure, suggest Quick Reference.

Phase 1: Collect

Gather primary sources only: papers that introduced key ideas, official lab/product blogs, posts from builders, canonical "build it from scratch" repositories. Not summaries. Not explainers.

Three ordered steps per source -- no shortcuts, no merging:

1. Discover -- use an installed search plugin (e.g., PipeLLM) to map the landscape, then deep-search the 2-3 most promising sub-topics. No plugin: use the environment's native web search. Output is a URL list; do not fetch content here.
2. Fetch -- every URL goes through /read. /read already owns the proxy cascade, paywall detection, and platform routing (WeChat, Feishu, PDF, GitHub). WebFetch and raw curl silently fail on JS-heavy or paywalled sites and skip all of that. If /read is missing (Pre-check warned), fall back to native fetch and accept reduced coverage.
3. File -- /read saves to ~/Downloads/{title}.md. Move each file into a sub-topic directory under the research project after the fetch returns. Move, don't refetch.

Target: 5-10 sources for a blog post, 15-20 for a deep technical survey.

Phase 2: Digest

Work through the materials. For each piece: read it fully, keep what is good, cut what is not. At the end of this phase, cut roughly half of what was collected.

For key claims, ask before including in the outline:

• Does this idea appear in at least two different contexts from the same source?
• Can this framework predict what the source would say about a new problem?
• Is this specific to this source, or would any expert in the field say the same thing?

Generic wisdom is not worth distilling. Passes two or three: belongs in the outline. Passes one: background material. Passes zero: cut it.

When two sources contradict on a factual claim, note both positions and the evidence each gives. Do not silently pick one.

Phase 3: Outline

Write the outline for the article. For each section: note the source materials it draws from. If a section has no sources, either it does not belong or a source needs to be found first.

Do not start Phase 4 until the outline is solid.

Phase 4: Fill In

Work through the outline section by section. If a section is hard to write, the mental model is still weak there: return to Phase 2 for that sub-topic. The outline may change, and that is fine.

Stall signals (any one means the mental model is incomplete for this section):

• You have rewritten the opening sentence three or more times without settling
• The section relies on a single source and you cannot cross-check the claim
• You need a new source that was not collected in Phase 1
• The paragraph makes a claim you could not explain to someone out loud

When stalled: return to Phase 2 for that sub-topic, not for the whole article.

Phase 5: Refine

Pass the draft with a specific brief:

• Remove redundant and verbose passages without changing meaning or voice
• Flag places where the argument does not flow
• Identify gaps: concepts used before they are explained, claims needing sources

Do not summarize sections the user has not written. Do not draft new sections from scratch. Edits only.

Then strip AI patterns from the draft. If /write is installed, invoke it. If not, do it manually: scan for filler phrases, binary contrasts, dramatic fragmentation, and overused adverbs. Cut them without changing meaning.

Phase 6: Self-review and Publish Readiness

The user reads the entire article linearly before publishing. Not with AI. Mark everything that feels off, fix it, read again. Two passes minimum.

When it reads clean from start to finish, the draft is ready for the user to publish.

After the user confirms the article is ready to publish, stop. Do not upload, post, distribute, or perform any publish action unless explicitly asked.

Gotchas