From Company Research to confirmed work

Discovery is where you ask people about their work. It has 3 tabs: Plan, Asks and Sessions. The Plan shows the 4 steps of discovery and the one step to do now. The Asks tab holds the asks you prepared and the asks you sent. The composer is where you edit an ask and see the real email.

Discovery opens when the engagement is active. For a prospect, the sidebar says "Discovery and Work Map open once the engagement is active." Record the commitment in Settings › Company account to open it.

The Plan: 4 steps

The Plan shows the 4 steps in order:

1. Company Research. Research builds a first picture of the company. Then the first touch asks the point of contact to correct it and to send the team list.
2. Executive Kickoff. Leadership confirms the strategy, the priorities, the owners and who decides.
3. Team Discovery. The people who do the work describe their workflows, handoffs and systems.
4. Solution Analysis. The advisor ranks the opportunities against the recorded evidence. The readout to the client is Planned.

Each step has one of 3 looks:

• The current step is a wide card with "Step N of 4", a short checklist such as "2 of 4 done", and one primary button for the next action.
• A done step is small. It shows "Done · <date>". The date comes from the records.
• A waiting step is quiet. It says what unlocks it, for example "Unlocks when the executive kickoff is held."

Select a card to open its step. Company Research opens its step page. Executive Kickoff and Team Discovery open their template in the composer. Solution Analysis opens the analysis, or the blockers that keep it closed. Opening a step never writes or sends anything.

The Company Research step

Select the Company Research card, or open #discovery/research. The page shows:

• the last run, its date and its result. A simulated run says "simulated data";
• Run research again: "Looks for new or missing facts. Facts a person confirmed are kept.";
• what research found, what it did not find, what is disputed and what a person confirmed;
• the sources that research used;
• Kept because a person confirmed it: each confirmed fact that newer research disagrees with, as "Confirmed: X · Research now says: Y";
• the company type and the file structure of the Repo, with the line "kept from <date>";
• the run history, with what each run changed;
• Refresh by file: the files that research keeps current, with Refresh now and Keep research current.

Facts a person verified always win

A fact that a person at the company confirmed always wins over research. The same applies when the advisor confirms or corrects a fact. New research cannot outvote it, relabel it or remove it. When newer research disagrees, DutyGraph keeps the confirmed value. It shows the difference in Repo › To review: "A person confirmed X. Newer research says Y. The confirmed value stays. Keep it, or ask the person again."

A new run keeps the file structure

Run research again does not rebuild the Repo's folders. An accepted company type and structure stay. A proposed structure stays as it is.

To start the structure again, select Rebuild the company structure and confirm. This starts a new run that proposes a new structure. Confirmed facts and answers stay. DutyGraph deletes nothing. Delete company is not built. Its design waits for a decision.

Refresh by file

Some research files change over time. The Refresh by file panel has one row for each refresh plan:

Each row shows the last check, the next check ("due now" when it is due) and the result of the last refresh, for example "3 new findings · 1 flag · nothing changed". A row from a scheduled refresh adds "scheduled". People, roles, duties, Task Cards and workflows never refresh from the web.

Each of these files has a refresh: block in its frontmatter: the plan, the cadence, the fields, the sources, last_checked and next_check. See The Company Repo and the Copilot.

To refresh one plan now:

1. Find the plan's row.
2. Select Refresh now.
3. Wait for the result line. The same plan cannot refresh again within 10 minutes.

Refresh now is also in Repo › Details on each file that refreshes. A refresh is a normal research run. It stays inside the budget of the account's research authorization. It runs at the authorized level, at most Snapshot. A row that needs a higher level says "This file needs Company research (Snapshot) authorization."

Confirmed facts never change

A refresh researches the plan's fields again, also the fields that a person confirmed. It does not write a value. New values arrive as research findings to review. When the new evidence disagrees with a confirmed value, DutyGraph keeps the confirmed value and adds a flag. The flag shows in Repo › To review and under Kept because a person confirmed it.

Keep research current

Keep research current refreshes each file when it is due, within a monthly cap. It is off by default. You need permission to run research.

1. Turn on Keep research current.
2. Enter the Monthly cap ($). The default is the cost of 4 refreshes at the lowest research level.
3. Select Save cap.

When the schedule is on, DutyGraph checks it every 5 minutes. Each check starts at most 1 refresh for a company, on the most overdue file. It does not try the same file again within 24 hours. The line under the switch shows the spend, for example "On. Due files refresh by themselves. $3.00 of $12.00 spent this month · 1 scheduled run".

The scheduled refreshes stop when the spend reaches the cap. The page then says "The monthly cap is reached. Scheduled refreshes stopped. They start again next month, or when you raise the cap." Only scheduled refreshes count against the cap. A Refresh now does not.

The schedule skips these companies:

• the sample company and sandbox companies;
• a company with no account, or with a closed account;
• a company with no connected research source.

The schedule acts as the person who turned it on. When that person can no longer run research, it stops and says so. Turn it off and on again to continue. No email or notification tells you about a scheduled result now.

The composer

The composer opens as a full page (#discovery/compose/<draft>). It opens from a Plan card, from Review and send in Asks, or from the Repo.

The layout

The layout follows the width of the composer:

• From 1,500 px: 3 columns. The recipients, the editor and the live email preview.
• From 700 to 1,499 px (most laptops): 2 columns. The recipients and the editor. The email opens in a preview window.
• Below 700 px (phones): 1 column. The email opens in a preview window.

The editor shows the questions first. Then it shows the email wording (greeting, subject, note, answer-page title) as text. Select Edit wording to change it. Then come the answer-by date and the privacy notice.

Preview the real email

1. Select Preview email or Answer page in the editor's action bar.
2. Choose Desktop (660 px) or Mobile (375 px).
3. When the ask has more than 1 person, choose the person.
4. Press Escape, or select Close, to close the window.

The preview window opens by itself after Save draft or Save changes on 2-column and 1-column layouts. It shows the real email that the person receives.

Save and send

1. Edit the questions (1 to 10, at most 200 characters each) and the wording.
2. Set the answer-by date. DutyGraph refuses a date in the past.
3. Select Save draft, or Save changes for an existing draft. Undo changes removes your edits.
4. Read the real email in the preview.
5. Select Send batch. The send area says "Blocked: …" and why, when the engagement or the email setup is not ready.

A sent ask cannot change. Save changes on a draft saves a new draft and withdraws the old one.

When email is not set up

When the workspace has no email provider, DutyGraph does not send the email. The send area says "Email is not set up, so DutyGraph will not send this."

1. Select Create a private link for <name>.
2. Select Copy and give the link to the person yourself.
3. Select Next: <person> → for the next person in the batch.

A private link opens without an account or password. It is for the named person only. Do not forward it to someone else.

Asks

The Asks tab has 2 lists:

• Queued asks · N: unsent drafts. Each row shows the person, what is asked with the first question, where the ask came from (Repo Copilot, Repo file, Composer, Question plan, Team questions, First touch, Kickoff pre-work or Custom request) and the date.
• Sent asks · N: asks that left the queue.

For a queued ask:

• Select Review and send → to open it in the composer.
• Select Remove to withdraw the draft. Nobody was asked, so nobody is told.

The Asks tab and the Discovery item in the sidebar show the queued count.

Asks come into the queue from 3 places:

1. The Repo Copilot: Add to Discovery queue, or Send to Discovery after a focused review. See The Company Repo and the Copilot.
2. A Repo file: Ask the person responsible in Details.
3. The composer's templates on the Plan.

Queuing never sends an email or creates a link.

The workbench

Below the Plan, Discovery › Plan keeps the workbench. The workbench holds the detailed forms of each step: the first touch, the kickoff, the team list, the team questions and the Task Cards. Its 5 working steps are Research & contact, Leadership meeting, Review the team, Team interviews and Review task cards. The sections below describe them. The Plan cards and the composer replace the old drawers.

Start from a website request

You can also choose Add a company. Enter its name and website, then select Continue to company research. Review the research options and start research. The review covers the whole business by default. For a large company, expand the department option and name the division to review first. Set improvement goals after research and leadership discussion.

The public form collects the company website, company name, team size, contact name, email and role. The goal is optional. Website requests arrive in the Inbox with the contact details. Open a request to review it and add the company. Opening a request does not send email.

1. Research & contact

Start Company Research from the Company Research step or from the company's account. One research run covers the company profile and the Deep lanes: competitors, customers, partners, regulation and go-to-market. Research writes sourced findings with a state and a confidence. Locally, RESEARCH_SIMULATION=true gives simulated findings that say "simulated". A hosted company needs a connected research source.

The Company Snapshot and the Repo's company/ and market/ files show the findings. Reported facts have not been independently confirmed. Company research does not establish internal duties or reporting lines.

Open a stage's info button for Why this stage? New AI stage proposals retain their company passages, documented peer examples, source links and dates, rationale and unknowns. The number of stages follows the proposed grouping; it is not fixed at six. Peer examples are comparisons to discuss, never client facts, employee assignments or evidence that a practice succeeds. Older saved template stages retain their authored guidance.

The first touch goes to your point of contact. Open it from the Company Research card: the composer shows the email, the recipient and the sponsor packet (what they are asked, what we know, what we still need). Save draft saves it. Preview the real email, then send it, or create a private link. Saving and sending are separate actions. The contact can speak or type answers on their private page. Their answers appear in the workbench's Leadership meeting step and in the Repo.

The contact's private page includes a team CSV template/upload, manual add/edit/remove controls, manager links, executive kickoff and pilot participant selections, and structured leadership inputs. Review the returned package, then choose Confirm roster & populate org chart. Invalid reporting lines or conflicting existing people block the import without partial changes. Selections do not send invitations. The uploaded organization is separate from the interview roster agreed after kickoff.

2. Leadership meeting

Choose Prepare meeting guide. The guide uses company research and the contact's actual reply, when available. It follows the selected business model and each stream of a hybrid company. Confirm or correct the proposed stages. The guide covers the offer and customer journey; goals with owners, measures and time horizons; departments and reporting; role duties; a concrete task example; dependencies and delays; software and decision boundaries; and follow-up. The advisor uses the guide during the meeting. The meeting agenda sections total 120 minutes. Without a returned preparation response, the guide is labeled provisional. For the order of the screens (agenda, approval, invitations), see Run a company through DutyGraph, step 4.

During or after the meeting, use Understand the business, together. Select one of eight topics, read the lead question, open follow-up prompts as needed, and record the answer. Agenda topics and preparation details are collapsible. You can also paste an authorized transcript. Unsaved notes survive switching Discovery steps, but leave Discovery only after saving. “Notes added” means text was entered, not verified coverage. Guided notes are optional; use them to close gaps rather than copy the whole conversation. Record who supplies each input, who produces the output, where it goes, and who handles exceptions. Leadership establishes context; each employee describes their detailed procedures later. The combined notes and transcript can contain up to 20,000 characters. Review the notes, then save them. These notes are accepted as the advisor's account of the meeting and become the source for team dossiers. They do not establish independent proof of every claim. Direct Fireflies import is not connected; paste an authorized transcript here.

3. Review the team

Save outcomes & review team saves the kickoff notes and opens step three. With AI configured, it also extracts the team and duties, infers their business-stage links, and saves the proposed map. Review the expanded people, roles and duties breakdown against the meeting notes before preparing individual interviews. Open company work map opens the Work Map. Company research cannot create the internal roster.

Open a person or duty to correct the saved result. Existing work remains available; a new roster does not erase it. Each saved person needs an email, role and department. If the AI output cannot be saved, an error explains the issue and the draft remains editable. Correct it and save, or prepare a new draft. The system does not invent email addresses to get past a missing field.

4. Team interviews

No AI is needed for this step. Under Write the question sets yourself, choose the people to invite. Pilot participants the sponsor chose in the kickoff preparation are preselected; people who share a name with someone else are flagged, and every picker shows role and email. Prepare questions starts each person from questions for their role, department and recorded duties. Edit them (up to ten, one per line), set the due date and choose Save. The saved requests appear under Send the team their questions.

When AI is connected, Create question sets can prepare the interviews instead. AI prepares one tailored interview for every person in the reviewed team. It uses their role, full reviewed duty descriptions, business model and leadership context. Up to eight focused prompts cover all of the person's stated duties, including recurring and exception work. Questions ask about a real example: what starts the work, what is needed, what they do, the tools they use, what they produce, who receives it, and where decisions or delays occur.

Question generation saves the personal requests automatically. Preview each form and email. Each row shows where that person is: emailed, link shared, connected the Companion app, answered, or expired. Remind sends a push to a connected phone, or a fresh emailed link (the earlier unused link stops working), at most once a day and three times per request. Select the people to contact and choose Review selected recipients. The final review lists the exact names and email addresses. Send questions to the selected people sends only those requests in sequence. A confirmed email-service receipt is skipped on later batch attempts. An uncertain result stops the batch for review. Open each request to inspect its email preview, delivery attempt and original questions.

The recipient opens the private link without an account or password. Voice is useful for a real example that captures steps, exceptions and frustrations; typing is always available. The recipient reviews the response before sending it. If transcription is enabled, a short recording can be transcribed into editable text.

After recording, they stop the clip and choose Transcribe into my response, then check the editable text. The advisor starts task extraction from returned responses. AI saves the proposed cards with inferred people, duty and stage links; the advisor can explore and correct the map afterward.

Their original answer arrives first. This is their understanding of the work, not company approval of ownership or agent permissions. If AI is unavailable, the typed or transcribed answer still gives the advisor useful evidence. In the Companion app, a participant can always choose Send my words for advisor review; the answer arrives marked as their own words, without cards. When exact task checks are needed later, the advisor prepares a separate confirmation request for the named owner and performer. See Answer a work request from your private link.

5. Review task cards

Start with Team answers. Every returned answer is listed, with the participant's open questions and the fields they edited. Accept answer makes it citable. Select a passage and choose Create task card from this answer: the card form opens with the participant as performer, their answer as evidence and the passage in the steps. Then assign an owner and Mark advisor-reviewed. Open the returned responses to see their original account, corrections and decisions. Retained cards are proposed tasks, with the participant as performer; accountable ownership still needs review. Removed cards remain in the response history.

Generated cards are saved as proposed work, without marking advisor review or participant confirmation. Inspect each card's input, action, output, tools and decisions. AI can reuse identified existing tasks on later runs, preserving corrections. Resolve missing owners, overlapping responsibilities and handoff differences with the relevant people. Use Review the work across the team for recorded gaps and optional AI hypotheses. Validate findings with the team before treating them as established facts.

A participant's initial check records their understanding. Once you accept their answer, that confirmation counts for the exact version they confirmed. Assigning an owner or marking the card reviewed does not undo it: the confirmation is carried to the new version with a note, because the described work did not change. The owner, if a different person, still gets one check. A changed description needs another check. Prepare personal task checks works for every reviewed card, drafted by AI or written by hand, and skips people whose confirmation already counts. Agent proposals come afterward; this process does not grant access or deploy an agent.

Changed duty descriptions are not silently merged by owner and title. Stage links can be inferred by AI or assigned manually; each is saved on the work record. For older unassigned work, use Connect existing work with AI on the Work Map. Open a duty or task to inspect the inference basis and confidence.

Continue with focused questions

On the Work Map, Ask about this work previews short questions about missing details in the selected stage. Choose relevant people from their stored email addresses. Continuing checks are on by default after this selection; the roster is not enrolled automatically. Pause or resume the saved selection from the map. A person receives at most one new gap request a week, cannot have another open work request (a request past its due date no longer counts), and is not automatically asked the same gap again. Questions send without AI; replies then wait for your review. The answer window starts when the email is sent, and one reminder goes two days before the due date. Sample workspaces preview questions without sending email.

The person answers by voice or text on the private page. Their reply is saved before AI processes it. Eligible updates remain proposed; changed or reviewed work and contradictions need advisor review. Reported task flows are documentation only until separately configured and reviewed for cases. Missing information does not prove a broken process, and this loop does not guarantee that every gap will be resolved. See Work Map.