Shortcut Specification: Capture Research

Version: 1.0
Goal: Capture a research question as Markdown and save it into the repository inbox.

Preconditions

• Working Copy has cloned ai-research-os.
• Its document provider is enabled in Files.
• The repository contains research/inbox/.

Build Actions

1. Ask for Input

• Action: Ask for Input
• Type: Text
• Prompt: Research topic or question

The output variable may appear as Provided Input or Ask for Input.

2. Current Date

• Action: Current Date

3. Format Date for File Name

• Action: Format Date
• Input: Current Date
• Format: Custom
• Pattern: yyyy-MM-dd-HHmmss

4. Format Date for Metadata

Add a second Format Date action:

• Input: Current Date
• Format: ISO 8601, or custom yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssZZZZZ

5. Text

Insert this content. Replace bracketed labels by inserting the blue variable tokens, not by typing the brackets literally.

---
type: research-question
created: [Formatted ISO Date]
status: inbox
priority: untriaged
---

# Research Question

## Question

[Provided Input]

## Why It Matters

## Context

## Suggested Next Action

Triage this question against the current roadmap and existing research.

6. Set Name

• Action: Set Name
• Input: Text from step 5
• Name: [Formatted File Date]-research-question.md

Insert the formatted date variable, followed by the literal suffix.

7. Save File

• Action: Save File
• Input: Renamed file
• Ask Where to Save: On for the first version
• Choose: Working Copy → ai-research-os → research → inbox
• Overwrite If File Exists: Off

After this works reliably, set a fixed destination if your iOS version permits it.

8. Show Notification

• Text: Research question saved to inbox.

9. Open App

• Optional action: Open App
• App: Working Copy

Acceptance Test

1. Run the shortcut.
2. Enter Does REP overhead reduce research throughput?
3. Verify a .md file appears in research/inbox/.
4. Open it and confirm the question and real timestamp were inserted.
5. Open Working Copy and confirm the file appears as an uncommitted change.
6. Commit and push it.

Known Failure Modes

• Typing [[Current Date]] produces literal text; variables must be inserted as tokens.
• Saving to an ordinary Files folder bypasses the intended repository.
• A fixed filename causes accidental overwrites.