Synthesis

Synthesis gives you another way to read your notes together. Use it to condense a branch, see the shape of a project, or compare interpretations. Keep the notes as the evidence you return to when an interpretation seems incomplete.

The Mac app has several summary surfaces. The Summary Builder hexagon, Project View, and a saved summary's refresh action do not all run the same operation.

Summarise a branch#

1. Connect a parent note to one or more children.
2. Select the parent.
3. Click the hexagon marked Summary Builder, or right-click the node and choose Summarize Connections.
4. Let generation finish, then read the selected note's Summary section.

The hexagon starts branch synthesis directly. It does not open a scope-selection sheet in this build. Selecting an isolated note and clicking it produces no branch synthesis because there are no descendants to combine.

For a deeper branch, Glob works from the lower levels towards the root. It can reuse an unchanged intermediate result, then combine the branch's material into a root synthesis. Children can receive a short context label such as “Soil observations within Garden notes”. This label is separate from the child's title; clicking it in the editor removes it.

Generation can stop if a source disappears, a request fails, or work is cancelled. Some intermediate summaries may already exist when a later step fails. Check the results before starting the whole branch again.

What scope means#

Scope tells you which material a summary represents. It is useful when reading a saved block or editing its prompt, even though the hexagon chooses its own branch workflow.

A subtree follows parent-child structure. A component follows connections. Two nearby notes do not belong to the same connected component merely because you placed them together.

The deep branch action can label its final root block Component, even though you started it from a branch. Read that label together with the action you used; it is not evidence that you selected every note in the project.

Source collection is bounded. A large scope does not guarantee that every body fits into a single request. Existing embedded summary text is removed from the ordinary source collection so it is not repeatedly treated as original writing.

Project View#

Use the eye button labelled Project View to step back from individual nodes. If it is dimmed, the project does not currently meet the view's eligibility conditions.

The view contains Project Summary and expandable cluster sections. Opening it does not itself buy a new summary. Choose Generate Summary when there is no result, or a refresh control when you want a new one.

A project summary can show Core Thesis, Key Domains, Insights, Open Questions, Decisions, Next Steps, and Full Synthesis. Sections with no returned content are absent. Treat proposed next steps and interpretations as generated text to review, rather than completed actions.

Cluster controls let you work on a smaller group. A broad project summary and a cluster summary serve different purposes; try the smaller group when the project result overlooks the detail you need.

Styles and prompt layers#

The built-in styles are:

• Synthesis — compress the idea clearly.
• Structural — examine claims, assumptions and implications.
• Perspective — restate from another neutral framing.
• Simplification — explain simply without adding claims.

These names also appear in Prompt Architect. Editing a style changes the instruction used by operations that request that style. It does not convert every summary action into that style, and it does not change your source notes.

Read and edit a saved summary#

Expand Summary in the note editor. Its entries show their scope. Use a row's pencil button to edit the displayed text, then choose Save & Pin.

Saving a human edit clears that block's generated alternatives and structured presentation so your edited text is what appears. The pin protects the text from later automatic replacement. Cancel leaves the saved block unchanged, and an empty edit cannot be saved.

Where a summary row offers multiple variants, its cycle control moves through them. The counter shows the current variant and total. A refresh regenerates that block's existing scope and style; it does not append another copy to the body. Removing a summary removes the generated block, not the note.

In Project View, expanded deep-summary sections can show these block controls below the note titles. They are separate from the inline editor's pencil action. Read generated relationship descriptions against the links you actually drew; a description does not create a connection.

Freshness has limits#

Glob uses source comparisons to reuse results and discard some generation that became stale while it was running. Project summaries also have a stale indication after changes during the session.

These checks are not a guarantee that every visible summary is current. After an important title, body or structural change, review the text and refresh deliberately. A restored cached project summary can still need a refresh after reopening the app.

Pinned text stays yours even when its sources change. Review it yourself when you revise the underlying argument.

When AI is unavailable#

The ordinary summary-upgrade path can keep a locally prepared result if AI cannot run or fails. That fallback is not universal. Branch synthesis and structured project work can report a failure instead.

For example, “Project summary requires AI provider and network” means that operation needs an available AI route. “No source material” means there was nothing usable to summarise. Check the source notes, connection and account before retrying.

In Settings → AI Summarization, Stream summaries as they generate controls progressive display on supported summary operations. Turning it off changes when text appears; it does not change the requested scope.

Saved summary blocks are separate from your note bodies and from Glob account note transfer. See Mac sync settings before expecting them on another client.