Pattern Summary
Collect + Summarize is a synthesis pattern where the agent gathers inputs, signals, or content from multiple sources and produces a concise, meaningful output. It helps reduce user effort in navigating complexity and supports rapid decision-making or situational awareness.
This pattern is especially valuable when users need an overview, context alignment, or a clean signal from messy or fragmented inputs.
When to Use It
Use Collect + Summarize when:
- Information is distributed across channels, users, or documents
- Users benefit from a high-level overview before diving into detail
- Tasks involve comparison, prioritization, or triage
- You're surfacing context from async conversations or system activity
Examples include meeting recap agents, support ticket digests, cross-channel campaign reporting, or surfacing system status from multiple telemetry feeds.
How It Works
- Collection Phase: Agent gathers relevant data from multiple predefined sources
- Filtering/Clustering: Data is deduplicated, grouped, or tagged to remove noise
- Summarization Phase: Key points, changes, or recommendations are synthesized
- Presentation: Summary is delivered via UI or interaction in a digestible form
The pattern supports static (on-demand) and dynamic (streaming or scheduled) modes.
Fit Assessment
Use this pattern if:
- Users routinely sift through fragmented data to find signal
- Summarization improves focus, speed, or clarity
- Inputs have semantic structure or extractable signals
Avoid using it when:
- Inputs are too ambiguous or inconsistent to summarize effectively
- The summary would remove nuance critical to decisions
- Real-time raw data is more valuable than interpretation
Acceptable Dependencies
✅ Access to multiple reliable input sources
✅ Summarization logic: extractive, abstractive, or rule-based
✅ Clear output formatting guidelines
✅ Optional: tagging or scoring inputs to guide what gets emphasized
Unacceptable Dependencies
❌ Blind summarization of low-quality or unverified inputs
❌ Overloaded summaries that try to do too much
❌ Static summaries that can’t be refreshed when data changes
Implementation Starter Guide
- Identify target summary consumers and their goals
- Define what sources are included and why
- Choose a summarization strategy (abstractive vs extractive)
- Keep formatting consistent and skimmable
- Allow for drill-down or view details if needed
Example: Daily Team Activity Recap
The agent reviews commits, tickets, and team messages. Each morning it posts:
"Yesterday’s activity: 3 PRs merged, 2 blockers resolved, 1 open question from design."
[View Details] [Acknowledge] [Share]
Strategic Value
- Turns noise into insight
- Frees users from manual information gathering
- Builds credibility when the agent reflects true, useful signals
Collect + Summarize turns fragmented context into usable intelligence - so the user can stay focused on action.
Tags
Pattern Type: Aggregation, Synthesis, Decision Support
Scope: Multi-source, Multi-session
Recommended UI Modes: Card, Feed Block, Modal Summary
