aio-research-kit

name	aio-research-kit
description	Run a structured 10-phase research workflow to investigate a topic, conduct a literature review, or deep-research a technical or market question via research-cli (auto-installs if missing). Use for any investigation that needs phase-gated discipline: question formulation → data collection → analysis → documentation.
when_to_use	start research, investigate a topic, create research project, structured research, research-kit, deep research, research workflow, literature review, 10-phase research
effort	medium
argument-hint	<topic>

Research Kit Skill

Environment

• research: !which research 2>/dev/null || echo "NOT INSTALLED"
• uv: !which uv 2>/dev/null || echo "NOT INSTALLED"
• python3: !which python3 2>/dev/null || echo "NOT INSTALLED"

Structured 10-phase research framework via nguyenvanduocit/research-kit.

Step 1: Check Availability

Check if research CLI is installed:

which research

If found → skip to Step 3: Use CLI. If not → proceed to Step 2: Install.

Note: Research Kit is a Python CLI tool, not an MCP server.

Step 2: Install

2a. Install via uv (recommended)

uv tool install research-cli --force --from git+https://github.com/nguyenvanduocit/research-kit.git

2b. Install via pip

pip install git+https://github.com/nguyenvanduocit/research-kit.git

2c. Environment Variables (optional)

For AI-assisted reasoning during research:

# DeepSeek R1 reasoning
export DEEPSEEK_API_KEY="your-deepseek-key"

# OR Gemini reasoning
export GOOGLE_AI_API_KEY="your-google-ai-key"

Step 3: Use CLI

Initialize a Research Project

research init

This creates a structured research directory with the 10-phase template:

1. Phase 1: Question Formulation — Define research questions
2. Phase 2: Literature Review — Survey existing knowledge
3. Phase 3: Hypothesis Formation — Develop testable hypotheses
4. Phase 4: Methodology Design — Plan research approach
5. Phase 5: Data Collection — Gather evidence
6. Phase 6: Data Analysis — Analyze findings
7. Phase 7: Interpretation — Draw conclusions
8. Phase 8: Validation — Verify results
9. Phase 9: Documentation — Write up findings
10. Phase 10: Peer Review — External validation

Validate Research Structure

research check

Validates that the research project follows the correct structure and all required sections are present.

How to Conduct Research

Step-by-Step Workflow

1. Initialize: research init in your project directory
2. Define scope: Edit Phase 1 to clearly state research questions
3. Gather sources: Use Phase 2 to document existing literature and references
4. Form hypotheses: Phase 3 — what do you expect to find?
5. Design approach: Phase 4 — how will you investigate?
6. Collect data: Phase 5 — gather evidence systematically
7. Analyze: Phase 6 — look for patterns, statistical significance
8. Interpret: Phase 7 — what do the results mean?
9. Validate: Phase 8 — cross-check findings
10. Document: Phase 9 — write comprehensive report
11. Review: Phase 10 — get external feedback
12. Validate: research check to ensure completeness

Research Best Practices

• Start with clear, specific questions (Phase 1)
• Document all sources with citations (Phase 2)
• Keep hypotheses falsifiable (Phase 3)
• Separate data collection from analysis (Phase 5 vs 6)
• Include negative results (Phase 7)
• Have someone else review (Phase 10)

Common Workflows

Technical Research

1. research init
2. Phase 1: "What is the performance impact of switching from REST to gRPC?"
3. Phase 2: Benchmark studies, existing comparisons
4. Phase 5: Run benchmarks, collect metrics
5. Phase 6: Compare latency, throughput, resource usage
6. Phase 9: Write recommendation with data

Market Research

1. research init
2. Phase 1: "What features do competitors offer in this space?"
3. Phase 2: Survey competitor products
4. Phase 5: Feature matrix, pricing data
5. Phase 7: Gap analysis, opportunity identification