Multi-Source Synthesis Patterns

When answering questions that require information from multiple Glean sources, use these patterns to combine and synthesize effectively.

When This Applies

Use this approach when:

• A question spans documents, meetings, people, and code

• You need to cross-reference information from different sources

• Results from one source need context from another

• Building a comprehensive answer from partial information

• Sources seem to conflict or overlap

BE SKEPTICAL

When synthesizing across multiple sources, aggressive vetting is essential:

Source Quality Test

• Is each source authoritative?

• ✅ INCLUDE: Official docs, code, recent meetings

• ⚠️ CONTEXT: Secondary sources, somewhat dated

• ❌ EXCLUDE: Hearsay, speculation, very old information

Recency vs Authority

• When sources disagree on recency, choose wisely:

• ✅ TRUST: Recent information from official source

• ⚠️ CAUTION: Very recent but unofficial vs stale but official

• ❌ AVOID: Treating old info as current just because it's "official"

Completeness Check

• Do you have the full picture?

• ✅ INCLUDE: 3+ sources align, comprehensive coverage

• ⚠️ CONTEXT: Limited sources, note gaps explicitly

• ❌ EXCLUDE: Single source for multi-faceted questions

Conflict Resolution

• When sources conflict, don't hide it:

• ✅ INCLUDE: Conflict + explanation of which is likely correct

• ❌ EXCLUDE: Picking one source without acknowledging disagreement

Filter Out:

• Unattributed claims

• Information older than 3 months (unless structure/architecture)

• Synthesis that glosses over fundamental disagreements

• "I synthesized this" without showing your work

Say "I don't know" when:

• Sources are missing or conflicting

• Information is too stale to be reliable

• You lack sufficient data to synthesize confidently

The Synthesis Framework

1. Identify Information Types Needed

Before querying, determine what types of information are needed:

Information Type Glean Tool Use When

Official documentation search

Need authoritative specs, policies

Real-time context meeting_lookup

Need recent discussions, decisions

People/org structure employee_search

Need ownership, expertise

Code evidence code_search

Need implementation truth

User's own context memory , user_activity

Need personalization

AI synthesis chat

Need reasoning across sources

2. Query in Optimal Order

Recommended order for comprehensive synthesis:

• Start broad with chat

• Get AI-synthesized overview

• Verify with search

• Find authoritative documents

• Add recency with meeting_lookup

• Get latest discussions

• Clarify ownership with employee_search

• Identify who to ask

• Ground in reality with code_search

• What's actually implemented

3. Cross-Reference Pattern

When you have results from multiple sources, cross-reference:

Finding: [Topic]

From Documentation

• [What docs say] - Source: [doc title] ([link])

From Recent Meetings

• [What was discussed] - Source: [meeting date]

From Code

• [What's implemented] - Source: [file/repo]

Synthesis

Based on these sources: [Your synthesized answer]

Confidence

• Documentation: [Current/Stale/Missing]
• Meeting Context: [Recent/Old/None]
• Code Evidence: [Present/Partial/None]

4. Handle Conflicts

When sources disagree:

Conflicting Information Detected

Most Likely Truth: [Your assessment based on recency, authority]

Recommendation: Verify with [person/source]

Synthesis Patterns by Use Case

Pattern: "What is X?"

• chat

• Get overview

• search

• Find official definition

• employee_search

• Find owner to verify

• Synthesize: Combine AI overview + official doc + owner context

Pattern: "Who should I talk to about X?"

• employee_search

• Find by role

• code_search

• Find by code activity

• search

• Find by doc authorship

• Synthesize: Rank by multiple signal strength

Pattern: "What's the status of X?"

• chat

• Get current status summary

• meeting_lookup

• Find recent discussions

• search

• Find tracking docs (Jira, etc.)

• Synthesize: Combine with recency weighting

Pattern: "How do we do X?"

• search

• Find process docs

• code_search

• Find implementation

• meeting_lookup

• Find recent changes

• Synthesize: Doc process + code reality + recent updates

Output Best Practices

• Cite every source - Include links for all claims

• Note recency - When was this information last updated?

• Flag uncertainty - Be clear about gaps

• Suggest verification - Point to people who can confirm

• Acknowledge conflicts - Don't hide disagreements

Example Synthesis Output

[Question/Topic]

Answer

[Direct answer to the question]

Supporting Evidence

Confidence Assessment

• Overall Confidence: [High/Medium/Low]
• Data Freshness: [Current/Mostly current/Some stale]
• Source Agreement: [Strong/Partial/Conflicting]

Gaps & Recommendations

• [What's missing or uncertain]
• [Who to verify with if critical]

Relationship to Other Skills

This skill works with:

• glean-tools-guide

• For tool selection

• confidence-signals

• For noting data quality

• enterprise-search

• For document searches

• meeting-context

• For meeting queries

• people-lookup

• For people queries