# Trace — Idea Evolution Over Time Trace how a specific idea, concept, or belief has evolved across the vault over time. Shows the full arc of thinking development. **Usage:** `/trace [topic]` -- e.g., `/trace software as fashion` or `/trace context management` --- ## Step 1: Synonym Discovery Before searching, build a vocabulary map for this topic. Ideas often evolve under different vocabulary. 1. Read one context file that's most likely to touch this topic 2. Extract 3-5 related terms, adjacent concepts, and alternative phrasings 3. Note any jargon, shorthand, or metaphors used for this idea in the vault Then search using the full vocabulary: ```bash Obsidian search query="<topic>" Obsidian search:context query="<topic>" Obsidian search query="<synonym 1>" Obsidian search query="<synonym 2>" Obsidian search query="<related concept>" ``` Also search daily notes specifically: ```bash Obsidian search query="<topic>" path="Daily Notes" Obsidian search query="<synonym 1>" path="Daily Notes" ``` And check context files, essays, and any Maps of Content: ```bash Obsidian search query="<topic>" path="Essays" Obsidian read file="<any context file likely to contain this topic>" ``` **Sparse data handling:** If the initial search returns few results, try broader related terms. If a topic has very few explicit mentions, it may appear implicitly. Move to Step 1.5. ## Step 1.5: Implicit Pattern Detection Some ideas don't have explicit mentions but emerge through patterns across daily notes. Use broader contextual searches: ```bash Obsidian search:context query="<broader theme>" Obsidian tags counts sort=count # check if related tags reveal hidden mentions ``` Look for: - Daily notes that discuss the same problem this idea addresses, without naming it - Emotional reactions to situations that this idea would explain - Decisions made that reflect this thinking, even if the thinking wasn't articulated Implicit mentions are often the earliest evidence of an idea forming. ## Step 2: Follow the Graph For each note that mentions the topic: ```bash Obsidian backlinks file="<note>" # what else connects to this? Obsidian links file="<note>" # what does this link to? ``` Follow backlinks 2-3 hops out from the most significant mentions. The goal is to find: - Notes that influenced this thinking without mentioning the topic directly - Related concepts that evolved alongside this idea - People, conversations, or events that triggered shifts ## Step 3: Build the Timeline Organize findings chronologically. For each significant mention or shift: - **Date**: When it appeared - **Context**: What was happening at the time (from daily notes, calendar if helpful) - **The thinking**: What was believed or proposed at that point - **Confidence level**: If marked with `[solid]`, `[evolving]`, `[hypothesis]`, `[questioning]`, note it - **What triggered the shift**: Conversation, experience, reading, or just time ### Temporal Weighting Recent mentions (past 3 months) suggest active evolution. The idea is alive and changing. Focus the narrative here. Older mentions establish origin but the story is in the active period. If there's a long gap between mentions (e.g., nothing for 6 months, then a burst), that gap itself is interesting. What happened? Did the idea go dormant, or did it evolve underground? ## Step 4: Identify the Arc Synthesize the timeline into a narrative: ### First Appearance When and where this idea first showed up. What form was it in? Was it a question, a hunch, a reaction to something? ### Key Inflection Points Moments where the thinking shifted meaningfully. What caused each shift? ### Current Position Where the thinking stands now. What confidence level? What's resolved vs. still open? ### Confidence Marker Evolution If the topic appears in a context file with a confidence marker, show how that marker changed over time. Was it `[hypothesis]` and now `[solid]`? When did the shift happen? Was there a specific event that triggered the upgrade? Was it earned through experience, or did it drift to `[solid]` without being tested? ### The Evolution Pattern What kind of evolution was this? Options: - **Linear deepening**: Same direction, just more refined over time - **Pivots**: Fundamental changes in direction - **Convergence**: Separate ideas that merged into one - **Divergence**: One idea that split into multiple threads - **Circular**: Keeps coming back to the same question without resolution ### Unresolved Tensions Contradictions or open questions that remain. Things written at different times that don't agree with each other. ### What's Next Based on the trajectory, where is this idea likely heading? What would resolve the open tensions? --- ## Output Format **TRACE: [Topic]** **First appeared:** [date] **Time span:** [X weeks/months] **Mentions found:** [number of notes] **Velocity:** [Accelerating / Steady / Dormant] [Timeline with key moments] [Arc narrative] [Confidence marker evolution, if applicable] [Unresolved tensions] [What's next] --- ## Output Guidelines - Be specific: cite exact notes and dates - Show the actual words used at different times so the evolution is visible - Don't flatten the complexity. If the thinking contradicts itself across time, show that. - The value is in seeing the shape of your own thinking from the outside. Make that shape visible.