kb-research

Searches and synthesizes information from a user's knowledge base with inline citations.

16.0k|1.5k|Updated Jul 30, 2024
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/MODSetter/SurfSense --skill kb-research
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: kb-research
Source: https://github.com/MODSetter/SurfSense/tree/main/surfsense_backend/app/agents/chat/multi_agent_chat/main_agent/skills/builtin/kb-research
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/MODSetter/SurfSense --skill kb-research

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve?

Finding and combining information scattered across a personal knowledge base is slow and error-prone, and answers without citations are hard to trust. This Skill provides a structured research workflow that decomposes questions, runs targeted knowledge base searches, and produces cited answers without fabricating sources.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Question Decomposition: Breaks a broad research question into 2-4 specific, citation-worthy sub-questions before searching.
  • Targeted KB Search: Runs focused searches using terms the user actually wrote, then opens the most relevant documents fully with read_file and uses grep to locate supporting passages in long files.
  • Citation Discipline: Every claim carries the [n] label from the source passage, and missing information is explicitly flagged as "Not found in your knowledge base" instead of being invented.
  • Use Case: Ask "summarize what we've discussed about project X across all my notes" and receive a short synthesized answer with inline citations drawn from multiple documents.

Quick Start

Ask the agent to research a topic inside your knowledge base, for example: find everything in my knowledge base about the onboarding redesign and summarize it with citations.

Frequently Asked Questions about kb-research

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I research a topic across my entire knowledge base?

Ask a natural-language research question and the Skill decomposes it into 2-4 sub-questions, runs one targeted knowledge base search per sub-question, and synthesizes the findings into short paragraphs with inline [n] citations.

How does knowledge base search cite its sources?

Every claim carries the [n] label shown on the passage it came from, whether from search results or read_file output. The Skill never writes chunk ids, URLs, or titles itself, so citations always trace back to real retrieved passages.

What happens when information is not found in the knowledge base?

The Skill outputs an explicit "Not found in your knowledge base" callout for any sub-question lacking supporting passages. It never fabricates content to fill gaps, so unanswered parts of your question are clearly marked.

When should I use knowledge base research instead of a web search?

Use it when the answer should already exist in your own documents, notes, repos, or connector data, especially for multi-document synthesis. It searches only your knowledge base, so use a web research approach for live public information.

Why does the search use my exact wording instead of synonyms?

Targeted searches use terms you would have actually written because knowledge base retrieval matches against your own documents. Synonym-heavy queries dilute relevance and return less useful excerpts for citation.