Wiki Query

Use #tool:search/codebase to find wiki pages that mention key terms from the question. Then use #tool:read/readFile to load the most relevant pages.

Load in priority order:

1. Existing synthesis pages on this topic
2. Concept pages for core ideas in the question
3. Source pages that directly address the topic
4. Entity pages for key actors mentioned

Do not read raw/ sources for answering — only wiki pages. The wiki is the reasoning layer; raw/ is the ground truth archive.

Step 4 — Synthesize

Compose an answer with:

• Clear direct response to the question
• Inline [[wikilink]] citations to the pages the answer draws from
• Confidence indicators where synthesis relies on inference across sources
• Explicit gaps: what the wiki can't yet answer

Use the synthesis structure: Direct Answer → Supporting Evidence (with wikilinks) → Confidence Notes → Gaps

Step 5 — Present to User

Show the synthesized answer in chat. Then ask:

"Would you like this filed as a wiki synthesis page? If yes, I'll save it to wiki/syntheses/<slug>.md and update the index."

Step 6 — File (if user confirms)

Create wiki/syntheses/<slug>.md using the Synthesis Page Format from copilot-instructions.md. Reference the answer template for exact structure.

Then:

• Add entry to wiki/index.md under ## Syntheses
• Update any concept or entity pages that this synthesis enriches
• Append to wiki/log.md:

## [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM] query | <Question>
- Filed to: wiki/syntheses/<slug>.md
- Pages consulted: [list]
- Gaps identified: [list or none]

What Makes a Good Query Answer

Cite specifically — every non-obvious claim should have a [[wikilink]] pointing to the source page where it comes from. Generic statements without citations are a sign the synthesis is drifting into hallucination territory.

Surface gaps honestly — if the wiki doesn't have enough to answer something well, say so. Name what sources would fill the gap. This turns the query into a hint for future ingests.

Don't re-derive raw sources — if the answer requires going back to raw/ to read the original documents, that means the wiki doesn't yet have a good enough synthesis. Flag it, suggest what pages to create, and optionally trigger a partial ingest to fill the gap.

Compound Queries

Some questions span multiple topics. For these:

1. Break the question into sub-questions
2. Answer each from the wiki
3. Synthesize across them in the final answer
4. File as a single synthesis page that links to all relevant concept/source pages

Example compound query: "How has context window size evolved, and what does that mean for RAG approaches?" → Sub-questions: context window evolution (concept page + source pages) × RAG tradeoffs (concept page) → synthesis with both strands cross-linked.