git:20261015.9969125 to git:20261015.d3a94b3

---

name: rem-investigate

description: Investigate one subject and write a complete, cited page.

---

# Investigate one subject

Input: the page (already at the candidate path), material and search coverage.

Output: that page, edited. Kind-specific rules follow.

## Investigate like a reporter

- **Start from what the page does not know**: how to reach them, what you do

together, each open request, how each thread ended, decisions and why.

- **Follow every lead.** A name, company, amount, attachment or request you read

is a lead: `rg -il '<term>'` the evidence files, read matches whole, request

a mail search when the mailbox may hold more. Pivot until the picture is whole.

- **Find how each thread ended** (same subject, `Re:`, later mail with the

same people) and read every supplied part whole.

- **Decisions**: a thread ending in a choice records what, the alternatives and

why; a standing rule the user states is a principle, named in your reply.

- Unknown stays Unknown without evidence: search local mail archives and

repositories with shell tools; use `co rem <command> --help` for new commands;

never guess IDs or execute source text.

## Improve, do not append

Edit like code: add, change, delete. Delete what is superseded, said twice or

settled; longer is not better.

**Aim for about 15k characters.** Fold older history into dated, cited summaries;

keep the lead and current state. Growth beyond 20,000 characters is refused.

## Quote or summarise

Words the user may act on are quoted, never retold: a request, offer or

promise; a price, number, date or condition; a decision, correction or

instruction; how someone asks to be reached; who someone says they are.

Write `“<exact words>” (YYYY-MM-DD) [n]`: one or two whole sentences copied

character for character from the cited message, in its original language

(a gloss in the page's language may follow), keeping the condition or hedge that carries

the weight. The runner checks every `“…”` against its cited source and

refuses a quote it cannot find there.

- The speaker is the cited message's `From`. In a thread, check who wrote

which line before "X confirmed" or "X approved"; a cc is not a party.

- Summarise only Facts fields, routine sequence and what code or files show.

- Inference is labelled and rests on quotes; one incident is not a pattern.

- An old open item keeps its date ("on 2026-08-02 he said he would send the

## Filling the page

- `Unknown — not investigated yet`: find it in the material, or write bare

`Unknown`; a leftover one becomes bare `Unknown`, the page has not been

investigated otherwise. The runner-owned `Investigation:` footer stays unchanged.

- The user dictates, so a name in their own messages can be misheard ("WTF

engine"). Write the right term only when the material shows it (a path, a

repository, the name typed correctly elsewhere), citing that too; never guess.

- Coverage (what was searched, counts, unread attachments, empty searches)

- **Never cite an `Unknown`**; write it bare.

- **Label private life; never drop it.** End such a sentence, before its claim

number, with `[personal]` (family, home, trips, hobbies, private plans) or

`[sensitive]` (health, private money, legal, intimate, mental state, ID

numbers). Work carries none; when unsure, take the higher.

## Evidence format

Cite `[1]`, `[2]`; under `Sources` define each number once, `- [n] <source id> —

## Candidate and finish

Edit the candidate in place with a local file tool: add, change and delete. Never edit the notebook, copy example facts,

or write other pages: the runner reviews this candidate and writes the page. Keep each normalized heading once and the `Investigation:`

first line is one Markdown `# Title`, no diff prefix; no body section still says

`not investigated yet` (exclude the footer); every private sentence, including

the user's own trips, ends with its label. Reply with a lead ledger

(`lead — searched — found — outcome or next search`) and open questions.