# Build a weekly research brief with a specialist HeyMate

Create a research mate with a clear topic, source rules, and a reviewable output. Includes a recurring brief prompt and checks for unsupported claims.

By the HeyMate project. Published 2026-11-01. Category: Workflows.

> A specialist mate can keep a recurring research role and instructions. The useful result is a sourced brief that distinguishes new evidence, interpretation, and missing information—not a confident summary with unverified links.

## Write a brief for the researcher

Define the question before choosing the schedule. “Watch competitors” is too broad. A more useful scope names the products, the kinds of changes that matter, and the period to compare. Specify whether you want releases, pricing changes, documentation updates, or customer announcements, and which sources count as evidence.

Try this prompt:

> Create a research mate for changes to the three products I name. Prefer official release notes and product documentation. For each finding, include the source URL, publication date when available, what changed, and why it might matter. Mark anything you could not verify.

## Make the output easy to audit

- Scope and period: what the brief covers and which dates it compares.
- Confirmed changes: short findings with direct sources.
- Implications: clearly labeled analysis rather than vendor claims.
- Open questions: missing pages, inaccessible sources, or conflicting information.
- Next actions: decisions a person should review, not automatic external changes.

Do a one-off run before creating a routine. Open the linked pages and check whether they actually support the claims. A recent crawl date is not always the date of an event. Ask the mate to distinguish “newly found” from “newly announced” so old documentation does not become a false product launch.

## Then add a recurring routine

HeyMate mates can have scheduled routines. Start with the cadence controls available in your version, such as daily at a chosen time or every N hours. Write the intended period into the task so each run has a clear boundary. Check the first few outputs before relying on the routine.

Try this prompt:

> For each research run, compare with the previous brief if it is available. Do not repeat an unchanged item as new. If nothing material changed, say so briefly. Do not contact vendors, publish, or change files outside the agreed workspace.

Research depends on the provider’s tools and the integrations you configure. If a run has no browser or source access, it should report that limitation rather than imply a fresh search. A recurring schedule does not give an agent new permissions or make a model’s knowledge current.

## Keep interpretation separate from evidence

A feature launch does not prove adoption, product quality, or revenue. Ask for the exact evidence behind business implications. If the brief is intended for a client or team, review the sources yourself before sharing. Use a stable format so missing dates and unsupported comparisons stand out instead of being hidden by polished prose.

For a meeting-focused version, see [meeting preparation](https://sayheymate.vercel.app/blog/ai-meeting-prep-mac). For a tool choice, see [HeyMate versus Claude Cowork](https://sayheymate.vercel.app/blog/heymate-vs-claude-cowork), including where the products overlap.

## Understand background work and cost

Enabled routines and approved jobs can run in the background. That is different from an app that acts only while you hold a hotkey. Provider limits and optional connector fees still apply, even though HeyMate adds no subscription fee. Review [privacy and storage](https://sayheymate.vercel.app/privacy) and use only the accounts and sources you intend to expose.

## Related reading

- [Prepare for meetings on Mac with a source-backed AI brief](https://sayheymate.vercel.app/blog/ai-meeting-prep-mac)
- [HeyMate vs Claude Cowork: choose your desktop AI workflow](https://sayheymate.vercel.app/blog/heymate-vs-claude-cowork)
- [How to choose an open-source AI assistant for Mac](https://sayheymate.vercel.app/blog/choose-open-source-ai-assistant-mac)

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