/aide:synthesize — Synthesize Phase

Agent: This command is executed by the aide-strategist agent.

Read the intent spec's frontmatter and the brain's research, then fill in the .aide body sections (Context, Strategy, Good examples, Bad examples, References) AND author the sibling brief.aide. This is a fresh strategist session — it did not run the research phase and carries no prior context.

Synthesize is conditional in the AIDE pipeline. It runs only when the orchestrator routes through this phase — either because the spec-writer signaled "Strategy needed" or the user explicitly asked for synthesis. Most modules skip synthesize and go straight to /aide:plan as frontmatter-only navigation stubs.

All-or-nothing rule: if you produce a body, you fill all five sections. Partial bodies (Context filled but Strategy empty, etc.) are forbidden. If the available research isn't sufficient to fill all five, escalate back to /aide:research rather than producing a thin body.

Checklist

• Read the target .aide file. Confirm frontmatter is complete (scope, intent, outcomes.desired, outcomes.undesired). If frontmatter is missing or incomplete, stop and escalate back to /aide:spec
• Identify the domain from the intent. Search the brain for research filed under that domain (e.g., research/email-marketing/, research/local-seo/)
• If no brain is available, check for a co-located research.aide in the same folder as the intent spec
• If neither brain research nor research.aide exists, stop — research must run first via /aide:research
• Read all relevant research entries. Cross-reference findings against the intent's outcomes.desired and outcomes.undesired — the research serves the intent, not the other way around
• Fill ## Context — why this module exists, the domain-level problem, constraints that shape it. Write for a generalist engineer. No code. Do not restate context already carried by a parent .aide
• Fill ## Strategy — distill research into decisions. Each paragraph names a concrete choice (tactic, threshold, structural decision) and the reasoning or data that justifies it. Cite sources inline. Write in decision form, not description form. No code
• Fill ## Good examples — concrete domain output that illustrates success. Real output, not code. Pattern material for QA
• Fill ## Bad examples — the almost-right failures. Output that looks valid but violates intent. Recognizable failure modes, not enumeration
• Verify every strategy decision traces back to an outcomes.desired or guards against an outcomes.undesired. Cut anything that doesn't serve the intent
• Run aide_validate to check the completed spec for structural issues
• Hand off to /aide:plan — the architect is the next phase