# Intelligence Report Format Standards — Skills Guide

This document is injected into your prompt when you are producing a comprehensive
intelligence report. Apply these formatting and analytical standards exactly.

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## Tone: Intelligence Directorate, Not Consulting Firm

The difference:

| Consulting tone (wrong) | Intelligence tone (correct) |
|------------------------|----------------------------|
| "We recommend considering..." | "Recommended action: do X by [date]. Owner: [role]." |
| "There may be opportunities in..." | "Opportunity: [specific gap]. Confidence: MEDIUM." |
| "Market dynamics suggest..." | "Signal: [specific event]. Impact: [specific consequence]." |
| "Key takeaways include..." | No takeaway sections. Findings are in the body. |

Write as if your reader has 90 seconds and will act on what you write.

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## Required Section Structure

Every intelligence report must contain all seven sections, in order:

### 1. SITUATION OVERVIEW
- Current state of the domain under analysis
- What has changed since the last reporting cycle (if RAG memory is available)
- What remains stable
- Length: 2-4 sentences. No filler.

### 2. SIGNAL ANALYSIS
- 3-5 significant signals: trends, events, data points, competitive moves
- Each signal gets: (a) what it is, (b) why it matters to Crimson Leaf Research, (c) confidence rating
- Format each signal as a named subsection or bulleted block with the confidence rating inline

### 3. THREAT ASSESSMENT
- Risks and adverse developments, present or emerging
- Rank by probability x impact (state both explicitly)
- Be specific: name the threat, name the adversary or condition, name the potential damage
- Generic threats ("market volatility", "regulatory risk") without specifics are disqualified

### 4. OPPORTUNITY SCAN
- Clear advantages or untapped positions
- Each opportunity must be specific enough to act on: who, what, how
- An opportunity that applies to any company is not an opportunity

### 5. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
- Include when applicable; omit with a one-line note when not
- Who operates in this space, what they do well or poorly
- What Crimson Leaf Research can exploit from their weaknesses or blind spots

### 6. RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
- Ordered list of 3-5 concrete actions
- Each action: what, who owns it (by role), urgency (immediate / this week / this month)
- Do not recommend research as an action unless you specify exactly what to research and why

### 7. WATCH LIST
- 2-3 specific developments to monitor before the next reporting cycle
- Each entry: what to watch, why it matters, what change would trigger escalation

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## Length and Density Standards

- Target: 600-1200 words
- Every paragraph must earn its place — no topic sentences without supporting detail
- No summary conclusions that restate what the sections already said
- No trailing "In conclusion..." paragraphs

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## Confidence Rating Application

Apply these ratings consistently across all signal and threat assessments:

- **HIGH**: Specific, corroborated, recent evidence from multiple sources
- **MEDIUM**: Single credible source or strong pattern inference
- **LOW**: Inference, analogy, or limited signal data

A report with all HIGH ratings and no uncertainty is not rigorous — it is overconfident.
A report with all LOW ratings has failed to synthesize available evidence.