Init research vault: structure, template, Bases config

- Per-topic directories with index.md entry point (mirrors idea-dump pattern)
- Frontmatter: title, status, category, tags, created, updated, origin
- Status lifecycle: exploring -> active -> concluded | shelved
- Categories: market, technical, competitive, legal, scientific, exploratory
- Obsidian Bases table view (bases/research-base.md)
- Template for new research topics (templates/research-template.md)
- Quartz-ready for future publication as research.rasyidanaf.com
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# Research Vault
A vault for structured research — investigation, analysis, and synthesis across topics.
## Workflow
1. **Discuss** research questions in Buzz channels — `#research`, `#general`, wherever the question arises.
2. **Declare** — when a research thread is worth keeping, @hermes-agent logs it here as a new topic directory.
3. **Investigate** — the agent populates `index.md` with findings and creates detail files as the research grows.
4. **Synthesize** — when research concludes, the `index.md` summary is finalized and status moves to `concluded`.
## Structure
Each research topic is a **directory** at the vault root with an `index.md` entry point:
```
<topic-slug>/
index.md ← frontmatter + summary + key findings (the entry point)
sources.md ← links, references, data sources
analysis.md ← deep analysis, findings
methodology.md ← how the research was conducted
notes.md ← working notes, raw observations
summary.md ← final synthesis (when concluded)
next-steps.md ← follow-up questions, gaps
```
- **Small topics**: just `index.md` alone in the directory.
- **Big topics**: split into detail files as they grow. Link them from `index.md` with `[[wikilinks]]`.
- Detail file names are up to you — `sources`, `analysis`, `methodology`, `notes`, `summary`, `next-steps` are common patterns.
### Frontmatter (in `index.md`)
```yaml
---
title: One-line summary
status: exploring | active | concluded | shelved
category: market | technical | competitive | legal | scientific | exploratory
tags: []
created: YYYY-MM-DD
updated: YYYY-MM-DD
origin: buzz://<channel-uuid>/<event-id>
---
```
### Categories
Categories are in frontmatter, not folders — every topic lives at the vault root.
| Category | Kind of research |
|----------|-----------------|
| `market` | Market analysis, sizing, trends |
| `technical` | Technology evaluation, architecture research, tool comparison |
| `competitive` | Competitor analysis, landscape mapping |
| `legal` | Regulatory, compliance, legal landscape |
| `scientific` | Literature review, paper analysis |
| `exploratory` | Open-ended investigation, "what is X" |
### Status Lifecycle
```
exploring → active → concluded
↘ shelved
```
- `exploring` — just started, gathering sources, scoping the question
- `active` — ongoing research, regularly updated
- `concluded` — findings synthesized, research complete
- `shelved` — parked, may revisit
## Bases
Open `Research Base` (in `bases/research-base.md`) to see all topics as a filterable, sortable table — by status, category, tags, or date. Only `index.md` files appear; detail files are excluded via the `file.name.is("index")` filter.
## Graph View
Wikilinks between detail files within a topic, and between topics via shared tags, create a knowledge graph visible in Obsidian's graph view. Cross-links to [[index|Idea Dump]] entries (e.g., research that feeds a product idea) work natively since both vaults live under the same Obsidian vault.
## Publishing (Future)
The vault is structured for eventual publication as a public knowledge base:
- **Quartz** (recommended) — free static site generator for Obsidian vaults. Preserves wikilinks, backlinks, graph view, and full-text search. Self-hostable via NixOS.
- **Obsidian Publish** — paid, simplest, but not self-hosted.
The `index.md` + wikilink structure means the published site will render as a connected knowledge graph, not a flat list of documents.

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---
filters:
and:
- file.name.is("index")
formulas:
age_days: 'date(now) - file.ctime'
properties:
status:
input: select
options:
- exploring
- active
- concluded
- shelved
category:
input: select
options:
- market
- technical
- competitive
- legal
- scientific
- exploratory
tags:
input: tags
created:
input: date
updated:
input: date
origin:
input: text
---
# Research Base
All research topics, filterable by status, category, tags, and date. Detail files are excluded — only `index.md` per topic directory appears here.
| Title | Status | Category | Tags | Created | Updated |
|-------|--------|----------|------|---------|---------|
| {{title}} | {{status}} | {{category}} | {{tags}} | {{created}} | {{updated}} |

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---
title:
status: exploring
category:
tags: []
created: {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}
updated: {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}
origin:
---
# {{title}}
## Summary
One or two sentences on what this research investigates.
## Research Question
What specific question are we trying to answer?
## Key Findings
-
## Sources
Key references, links, and data sources. For a full list, see [[sources]] if the topic is large.
-
## Detail Files
Optional — create these only when research grows and you want to modularize:
- [[sources]] — links, references, data sources, API docs
- [[analysis]] — deep analysis, findings, comparisons
- [[methodology]] — how the research was conducted, tools used
- [[notes]] — working notes, raw observations, intermediate results
- [[summary]] — final synthesis (when concluded)
- [[next-steps]] — follow-up questions, gaps, future research
For small topics, keep everything in `index.md` and delete this section.
## Discussion
Notes from the Buzz channel discussion. Link back to the thread with the origin URL.
## Next Steps
- [ ]
## Conclusion
What did we find? (concluded / shelved — update the frontmatter status too)