Dossier

Structured research producing actionable reports with ranked recommendations, cited sources, and optional decision ballots. Works for any domain — tech, travel, health, policy, finance, art.

Workflow: SCOPE → GATHER → EVALUATE → SYNTHESIZE → DELIVER

0. Preflight — verify the request is actionable

Before starting research, confirm all three:

1. Specific — what to investigate is bounded: a named topic, a concrete comparison, or a clear question. "Look into the X space generically" fails this.
2. Unambiguous — contested terms are defined by context. If the request uses a word with multiple plausible meanings and context doesn't resolve which, flag it.
3. Well-understood — you can state the objective back to the operator in 1–2 sentences without hedging. If you'd have to pad with "I think you mean…" or "depending on what you want from this…", you don't understand it yet.

If one or more checks fail, ask before starting. A dossier built on unclear objectives wastes more research time than the clarifying turn costs. Batch questions; offer choices where reasonable; skip the obvious.

If all three check out, proceed directly to SCOPE. Do not ask just to perform diligence — the bar is "the answer isn't obvious from context," not "I want to be extra sure."

1. SCOPE