General Research Intake

General Research Intake

Document Type: Protocol
Status: Active
Version: v1.0
Authority: Research Brain
Applies To: Unassigned research requests, exploratory intelligence capture, cross-brain idea parking, and early-stage research intake
Parent: Research Brain Architecture
Last Reviewed: 2026-03-18

Purpose

General Research Intake exists to provide a structured intake area for research requests, ideas, signals, and exploratory topics that do not yet clearly belong to a specific operational Brain.

Its purpose is to ensure potentially valuable intelligence is not lost simply because it is:

• too early
• not yet classified
• cross-brain in nature
• exploratory only
• not clearly Affiliate, PPL, AIBS, Ads, Finance, or another defined Brain

This page creates a safe and structured entry point for intelligence before final routing occurs.

Scope

This protocol applies to:

• unassigned research ideas
• exploratory product and market questions
• early-stage curiosity signals
• cross-brain intelligence prompts
• newsletter-derived ideas not yet assigned to a destination Brain
• future-opportunity observations
• general research requests initiated by HeadOffice, Martyn, or M

This protocol governs how basic and unassigned research should enter Research Brain.

It does not govern:

• final opportunity approval
• campaign execution
• capital allocation
• strategic override
• direct handoff approval into another Brain
• live ad creation
• final viability rulings

Those remain governed by HeadOffice, Affiliate Brain, Ads Brain, Finance Brain, SIT Brain, and other relevant MWMS systems.

Definition / Rules

Core Principle

Not all valuable intelligence begins inside a clearly named Brain.

Some useful signals first appear as:

• rough ideas
• partially formed questions
• unexplained market observations
• new products worth checking
• newsletter mentions
• unusual advertiser activity
• possible future opportunities
• cross-domain patterns not yet understood

General Research Intake exists to capture these signals before they are lost.

Role Within Research Brain

General Research Intake functions as the open intake layer for research that has not yet been assigned to a specific destination system.

Research Brain may later classify intake items into one or more of the following:

• Affiliate Brain
• Ads Brain
• PPL Brain
• AIBS Brain
• Finance Brain
• HeadOffice
• Cross-Domain Research
• Future / Parked Concept
• Research Archive

This page is an entry point, not a final destination.

Intake Categories

General Research Intake may receive items such as:

• product research requests
• market trend observations
• competitor curiosity checks
• unexplained advertising activity
• newsletter intelligence fragments
• customer-behaviour questions
• emerging niche ideas
• possible future Brain ideas
• strategic questions requiring evidence gathering
• parked concepts requiring later review

Minimum Intake Fields

Every General Research Intake item should include, where possible:

• Intake_ID
• Date Logged
• Request Title
• Raw Research Prompt
• Source Type
• Source Link or Origin
• Submitted By
• Initial Category
• Possible Destination Brain
• Priority Level
• Status

If some fields are unknown, the item may still be logged.

Missing clarity must not prevent capture.

Initial Category Options

Each intake item should be given an initial category.

Recommended categories:

• Product
• Market
• Competitor
• Customer
• Trend
• Newsletter Signal
• Tool / Platform
• Strategic Question
• Future Concept
• Cross-Domain

These categories are used only for organisation and routing support.

They do not determine final authority.

Possible Destination Brain

Where possible, each intake item should include an initial destination estimate.

Possible destinations include:

• Affiliate Brain
• Ads Brain
• PPL Brain
• AIBS Brain
• Finance Brain
• HeadOffice
• Research Brain Only
• Cross-Domain
• Unknown Yet

Unknown Yet is a valid destination state.

Routing Rules

General Research Intake follows a staged routing model.

Stage 1 – Capture

The signal is logged without requiring full interpretation.

Stage 2 – Basic Classification

Research Brain assigns an initial category and possible destination.

Stage 3 – Research Pass

The signal is investigated to determine whether it contains useful intelligence.

Stage 4 – Routing Outcome

The item is then:

• routed to a downstream Brain
• retained inside Research Brain
• parked as future research
• archived if low value

No intake item should bypass logging and move directly into execution.

Output Types

General Research Intake may produce the following outputs:

• Research Note
• Product Snapshot
• Competitor Snapshot
• Market Signal Summary
• Newsletter Intelligence Note
• Cross-Domain Observation
• Routed Research Brief
• Parked Concept Record

Outputs remain advisory only.

General Research Intake does not create execution authority.

Relationship to HeadOffice

HeadOffice may submit broad or early-stage research questions into General Research Intake when the correct destination Brain is not yet clear.

This allows HeadOffice to preserve potentially important lines of inquiry without forcing premature categorisation.

Relationship to Operational Brains

Operational Brains may later consume outputs derived from General Research Intake.

However:

• Affiliate Brain still performs opportunity evaluation
• Ads Brain still performs creative and testing interpretation
• Finance Brain still performs capital judgement
• SIT still enforces structural discipline

General Research Intake informs.

It does not decide.

Use Cases

Examples of suitable General Research Intake items include:

• “Look into this product and see whether it is worth deeper review.”
• “This newsletter mentioned a tool that may matter later.”
• “Why are advertisers suddenly appearing in this category?”
• “Is this a real opportunity or just noise?”
• “Park this ecommerce idea for future investigation.”
• “Find out whether this trend is rising or fading.”
• “Check whether this belongs to Affiliate, AIBS, or neither.”

Status Model

Recommended status options:

• New
• Logged
• Under Review
• Routed
• Parked
• Archived

This allows intake items to remain visible across their lifecycle.

Governance Principle

Research capture must happen before interpretation pressure removes weak but potentially useful signals.

A rough signal may later become valuable intelligence.

Failure to capture early signals creates intelligence loss.

Drift Protection

The system must prevent:

• useful ideas being lost because they are not yet fully formed
• forcing premature Brain assignment
• direct execution based on unclassified intake items
• treating exploratory notes as approved opportunities
• unlogged research prompts existing only in chat or memory
• weak signals being inflated into certainty without evidence review

General Research Intake exists to preserve possibility without pretending possibility is proof.

Architectural Intent

General Research Intake exists to give Research Brain an open but structured entry point for intelligence that has not yet found its final home inside MWMS.

Its role is to make the intelligence hub more useful, more complete, and less dependent on perfect categorisation at the moment of discovery.

This supports cumulative learning, better routing, and reduced idea loss across the ecosystem.

Final Rule

If a research signal seems potentially useful but does not yet belong to a specific Brain, it should be captured in General Research Intake rather than left unlogged.

Unassigned does not mean unimportant.

Change Log

Version: v1.0
Date: 2026-03-18
Author: MWMS HeadOffice / Research Brain
Change: Created General Research Intake as the open intake protocol for unassigned, exploratory, and cross-brain research signals. Defined purpose, scope, intake categories, minimum fields, routing model, output types, governance logic, drift protection, and architectural intent.