Plan research with Points

Research usually starts with a question, but it rarely stays as one question. It becomes a set of sources, partial answers, contradictions, hunches, and follow-up directions. If all of that stays in one thread, the research becomes hard to trust because you cannot see which conclusion came from which evidence.

BaseHalf works better when you give each kind of research material its own place.

Start with the research question

Create one Point for the central question. Write it in a way that can survive several rounds of work.

How should small teams preserve useful AI work after the first chat?

The first Point should also include the working scope. Add what you are not trying to answer yet. A good scope prevents the Map from becoming a pile of interesting but unrelated material.

Separate sources from claims

Source Points hold material you read, watch, or import. Claim Points hold statements you may want to use later.

Keep them separate because they change at different speeds. A source is stable once captured. A claim may be revised many times as more evidence appears.

For each important source, create a Source Point with:

• The source title and link or file.
• A short note about why it matters.
• Extracted passages or observations.
• Open questions that came from reading it.

For each reusable claim, create a Claim Point with:

• The claim in one sentence.
• The evidence that supports it.
• The uncertainty or counterexample.
• The next source that could strengthen or weaken it.

Use question Points for uncertainty

Uncertainty deserves its own visible object. If a question stays buried inside a source note, it is easy to forget. If it becomes a Point, you can open it, attach relevant sources, and resolve it later.

Question Points are especially useful for:

• Definitions that are not stable yet.
• Conflicting evidence.
• Missing data.
• Assumptions that need to be tested.
• Places where the research changed direction.

When the question is answered, do not delete it immediately. Add the answer and reference the sources that changed your mind. That preserves the path of reasoning.

Build the synthesis last

Do not ask for the final synthesis before the Map has enough structure. First collect sources, extract claims, and identify questions. Then open a Synthesis Point and ask BaseHalf to write from the connected context.

The synthesis should reference the claims and sources it depends on. That makes the result easier to revise because you can improve one underlying Point without rewriting the entire project from memory.

Keep research reusable

At the end of each session, ask what should be reused later.

Maybe it is a definition, a comparison, a list of criteria, or a decision about scope. Turn that material into a clean Point or Block. Reference it from the next research question.

Research compounds when each useful part can be applied independently, combined freely, and carried into the next question.