Skills Library / Research Brief Builder / for Microsoft Copilot

Research Brief Builder — for Microsoft Copilot

This is the Microsoft Copilot version of the Research Brief Builder skill: turn a question and a pile of sources into a brief with claims tied to sources. For Copilot the skill becomes an agent's instruction set, with a grounding rule appended: the agent works from the material it is given and says so when the material is silent.

The file

# Research Brief Builder
## Inputs
A research question, and source material in any form. Optional: the decision the brief informs.

## Procedure
1. List the claims the material supports, each with its source identified by name.
2. Mark claims that rest on a single source as SINGLE-SOURCE; mark contested claims with both sides.
3. Separate three lanes and never mix them: what sources state, what follows by arithmetic or logic, and what is your inference.

## Deliverable
1. ANSWER - the question answered in under 120 words.
2. EVIDENCE - the supporting claims, each with its source and lane label (SOURCE / DERIVED / INFERENCE).
3. CONFLICTS - where sources disagree, stated plainly.
4. GAPS - the questions the material cannot answer, each with the source that would settle it.

## Standards
- No claim without a source or a lane label.
- Figures carry their year; stale figures are flagged, not quietly used.

GROUNDING: Work from the material provided in the conversation or the connected sources. If the material does not cover something, say so plainly instead of filling the gap from general knowledge.

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Download agent-instructions.txt

Install

Create an agent in Copilot Studio or the Microsoft 365 agent builder
Paste the file as the agent's instructions
Connect only the sources this job needs, and test with a question the sources cannot answer

Other platforms

Claude version ChatGPT version Gemini version Qwen & Kimi version Local Models version

Canonical version and the skill's full description: Research Brief Builder. The underlying procedure is identical on every platform - only the packaging differs, because each model takes its skills its own way.

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