Building a Brief, End-to-End
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Core Concept
By the end of this chapter you have a finished markdown document you could send to your team today. A real brief on a real question, with sources, options compared, a recommendation, and caveats. That artifact is the actual deliverable of the whole research pattern.
The chapter also pays off the "build your own skill" lesson from 2.3 by using a skill built specifically for this workflow. Watch the skill enforce every rule from 4.1 automatically - plan-before-action, cite-as-you-go, structure first, take a real position.
How It Works (Step-by-Step)
Step 1 - Set up before you record (or before you sit down to work)
- Install the research-brief skill into Cowork (Settings → Skills → Add).
- Confirm brief-template.md is in your working folder.
- Have brief-prompt.md open for reference.
Step 2 - Open with the question
A real decision you're weighing. Not "learn about CRMs" - the actual decision. "Should we switch our team CRM from HubSpot to Attio in Q1 2026?" The specificity is what makes the brief actionable.
Step 3 - Show the template
Open brief-template.md on screen. Question. TL;DR. Evidence (Scan + Compare table). Recommendation. Caveats. Appendix. This is the shape Cowork will fill.
Step 4 - Walk through the skill
Open the research-brief SKILL.md. Read the description (the trigger phrase), the four-step recipe, the hard rules. Point out that each rule maps directly to a lesson from 4.1. Every rule from the framework, baked into the file so you never retype them.
Step 5 - Paste the one-liner
Copy from brief-prompt.md Option A:
"Draft me a brief: should we switch our team CRM from HubSpot to Attio in Q1 2026?"
That's the whole prompt. The skill does the rest.
Step 6 - Read Cowork's plan out loud
The skill enforces plan-before-action. Cowork returns the sharpened question, the Compare criteria, the sources it would prioritize, and rough timing. Read it out. This is the rule from 4.1 in action.
Step 7 - Tweak one thing
Change something visibly. Add a criterion ("AI features"). Drop one. Push back on the timing. Cowork adjusts. Now go.
Step 8 - Watch the parallel searches
Cowork fans out multiple searches in parallel. Comment on the parallelism - this is one of the visible unlocks of an agent over a chatbot.
Step 9 - Walk the draft brief
When the draft lands, read every section. Question → TL;DR → Scan → Compare table → Recommendation → Caveats. Notice citations live next to claims. Notice every cell in the Compare table has a source.
Step 10 - Verify a specific fact
Pick one number - a price, an integration count, a feature. Click the citation. Open the source page. Confirm. This is the trust step.
Step 11 - Refine one section
Find something the brief is light on.
"Migration risk needs more depth."
Watch Cowork expand it.
Step 12 - Open the final brief
The skill saves the brief to your working folder as a .md file. Open it. Scroll. This is a brief you could send today.
Why This Matters
Most people never write a decision brief because writing one is a pain. Every question they have to research becomes fifteen browser tabs and a half-finished draft they don't ship. When the brief workflow is one prompt, briefs stop being expensive. And once briefs are cheap, decisions get made faster and better.
What Should Be Possible After This
- Frame a real decision you're weighing as a one-sentence question.
- Trigger the research-brief skill and watch it enforce the framework.
- Read a Cowork plan and tweak it before execution.
- Verify a citation against its source page.
- Ship a finished brief to your team.
The Research Brief Skill
The full SKILL.md is available by clicking the button below. Drop it into Settings → Skills → Add and any "help me decide" phrasing triggers the workflow.
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