Where the wiki itself is dense and graph-shaped (great for someone who knows what to look for), policy briefs are linear, bounded, and self-contained — for someone landing cold.
A brief tests the wiki: if the wiki can't produce a defensible 1,000-word answer to a hot question, the wiki has a coverage gap.
Filename convention
<topic-slug>-YYYY-MM-DD.md — the date is part of the brief because policy state is dated.
Examples:
pre-release-vetting-eo-status-2026-05-10.mdstate-chatbot-laws-second-wave-2026-05-10.mdchip-smuggling-and-export-controls-2026-05-10.md
Brief types
- explainer — "What is X and where does it stand?" (default for cold readers).
- comparison — "X vs. Y, which framework / law / approach is which?"
- tracker — "Status of all currently-active Z." (e.g., a tracker of all state AI-mental-health bills).
- takeaways — "Three things you should know about Q." (the briefest format; ~500 words).
Skill reference
Full procedure: .claude/skills/policy-brief/SKILL.md.
Live briefs
(Add new briefs here in reverse-chronological order.)
- 2026-05-12 — Policy Brief: Claude Mythos preview — three takeaways for AI policy — Claude Mythos preview: three takeaways for AI policy (takeaways)
- 2026-05-12 — Policy Brief: The second wave of state chatbot / AI-mental-health laws — tracker — The second wave of state chatbot / AI-mental-health laws — tracker (tracker)
- 2026-05-11 — Policy Brief: Procurement-driven vs. pre-release-vetting AI governance — which one will bind? — Procurement-driven vs. pre-release-vetting AI governance — which one will bind? (comparison)
- 2026-05-10 — Policy Brief: Where does the Trump pre-release-vetting EO actually stand? — Where does the Trump pre-release-vetting EO actually stand, and which of the two reported drafting tracks is real? (explainer)