Second Brain — Query

Answer questions by searching and synthesizing knowledge from the wiki.

Search Strategy

1. Start with the index

Read wiki/index.md to identify relevant pages. Scan all category sections (Sources, Entities, Concepts, Synthesis) for entries related to the question.

2. Use qmd for large wikis

If qmd is installed (check with command -v qmd), use it for search:

qmd search "query terms" --path wiki/

This is especially useful when the wiki has grown beyond ~100 pages where scanning the index becomes inefficient.

3. Read relevant pages

Read the wiki pages identified by the index or search. Follow [[wikilinks]] to pull in related context from linked pages. Read enough pages to give a thorough answer, but don't read the entire wiki.

4. Check raw sources if needed

If the wiki pages don't fully answer the question, check relevant source summaries in wiki/sources/ for additional detail. Only go to files in raw/ as a last resort.

Synthesize the Answer

Format

Match the answer format to the question:

Factual question → direct answer with citations
Comparison → table or structured comparison
Exploration → narrative with linked concepts
List/catalog → bulleted list with brief descriptions

Citations

Always cite wiki pages using [[wikilink]] syntax. Example:

According to [[Source - Article Title]], the key finding was X. This connects to the broader pattern described in [[Concept Name]], which [[Entity Name]] has also explored.

Offer to save valuable answers

If the answer produces something worth keeping — a comparison, analysis, new connection, or synthesis — offer to save it:

"This comparison might be useful to keep in your wiki. Want me to save it as a synthesis page?"

If the user agrees:

Create a new page in wiki/synthesis/ with proper frontmatter
Add an entry to wiki/index.md under Synthesis
Append to wiki/log.md: ## [YYYY-MM-DD] query | Question summary

Conventions

Search the wiki first. Only go to raw sources if the wiki doesn't have the answer.
Cite your sources. Every factual claim should link to the wiki page it came from.
Valuable answers compound. Encourage saving good analyses back into the wiki.
Use [[wikilinks]] for all internal references. Never use raw file paths.

Related Skills

/second-brain-ingest — process new sources into wiki pages
/second-brain-lint — health-check the wiki for issues

second-brain-query