research

name	research
description	[Planning] Use when you need to research, analyze, and plan technical solutions that are scalable, secure, and maintainable.

Codex compatibility note:

• Invoke repository skills with $skill-name in Codex; this mirrored copy rewrites legacy Claude /skill-name references.
• Task tracker mandate: BEFORE executing any workflow or skill step, create/update task tracking for all steps and keep it synchronized as progress changes.
• User-question prompts mean to ask the user directly in Codex.
• Ignore Claude-specific mode-switch instructions when they appear.
• Strict execution contract: when a user explicitly invokes a skill, execute that skill protocol as written.
• Subagent authorization: when a skill is user-invoked or AI-detected and its protocol requires subagents, that skill activation authorizes use of the required spawn_agent subagent(s) for that task.
• Do not skip, reorder, or merge protocol steps unless the user explicitly approves the deviation first.
• For workflow skills, execute each listed child-skill step explicitly and report step-by-step evidence.
• If a required step/tool cannot run in this environment, stop and ask the user before adapting.

Codex Project-Reference Loading (No Hooks)

Codex uses static project-reference loading instead of runtime-injected project docs. When coding, planning, debugging, testing, or reviewing, open project docs explicitly using this routing.

Always read:

• docs/project-config.json (project-specific paths, commands, modules, and workflow/test settings)
• docs/project-reference/docs-index-reference.md (routes to the full docs/project-reference/* catalog)
• docs/project-reference/lessons.md (always-on guardrails and anti-patterns)

Missing/stale context route: If docs/project-config.json, the docs index, lessons.md, CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, or any task-required reference doc is missing or stale, auto-run $project-init or the narrow setup route ($project-config, $docs-init, $scan-all, $scan --target=<key>, $claude-md-init) before ordinary project-specific work. If Codex mirrors or AGENTS.md are missing/stale, ask the user to run $sync-codex; do not auto-run it.

Situation-based docs:

• Backend/CQRS/API/domain/entity changes: backend-patterns-reference.md, domain-entities-reference.md, project-structure-reference.md
• Frontend/UI/styling/design-system: frontend-patterns-reference.md, scss-styling-guide.md, design-system/README.md
• Spec authoring, docs/specs/ pathing, or TC format: feature-spec-reference.md, spec-system-reference.md, spec-principles.md
• Behavior/public-contract changes or spec-test-code sync: workflow-spec-test-code-cycle-reference.md plus the spec docs above
• Derived spec indexes/ERDs/reimplementation guides: spec-system-reference.md and source Feature Specs under docs/specs/
• Integration test implementation/review: integration-test-reference.md
• E2E test implementation/review: e2e-test-reference.md
• Code review/audit work: code-review-rules.md plus domain docs above based on changed files

Do not read all docs blindly. Start from docs-index-reference.md, then open only relevant files for the task.

Quick Summary

Goal: Research, analyze, and report on technical topics using multi-source web investigation.

Workflow:

1. Scope Definition — Identify key terms, recency needs, evaluation criteria
2. Information Gathering — Use gemini CLI or WebSearch (max 5 searches), cross-reference sources
3. Analysis & Synthesis — Identify patterns, pros/cons, security/performance implications
4. Report Generation — Save structured markdown report with findings and recommendations

Key Rules:

• Maximum 5 research tool calls per session
• Prefer gemini CLI if available, fallback to WebSearch
• Always cite sources and verify across multiple independent sources

Be skeptical. Apply critical thinking, sequential thinking. Every claim needs traced proof, confidence percentages (Idea should be more than 80%).

Research

Research Methodology

Always honoring YAGNI, KISS, and DRY principles. Be honest, be brutal, straight to the point, and be concise.

Phase 1: Scope Definition

First, you will clearly define the research scope by:

• Identifying key terms and concepts to investigate
• Determining the recency requirements (how current must information be)
• Establishing evaluation criteria for sources
• Setting boundaries for the research depth

Phase 2: Systematic Information Gathering

You will employ a multi-source research strategy:

1. Search Strategy:

   • Check if gemini bash command is available, if so, execute gemini -m gemini-2.5-flash -p "...your search prompt..." bash command (timeout: 10 minutes) and save the output using Report: path from ## Naming section (including all citations).
   • If gemini bash command is not available, fallback to WebSearch tool.
   • Run multiple gemini bash commands or WebSearch tools in parallel to search for relevant information.
   • Craft precise search queries with relevant keywords
   • Include terms like "best practices", "2024", "latest", "security", "performance"
   • Search for official documentation, GitHub repositories, and authoritative blogs
   • Prioritize results from recognized authorities (official docs, major tech companies, respected developers)
   • IMPORTANT: You are allowed to perform at most 5 researches (max 5 tool calls), user might request less than this amount, strictly respect it, think carefully based on the task before performing each related research topic.

2. Deep Content Analysis:

   • When you found a potential Github repository URL, use docs-seeker skill to find read it.
   • Focus on official documentation, API references, and technical specifications
   • Analyze README files from popular GitHub repositories
   • Review changelog and release notes for version-specific information

3. Video Content Research:

   • Prioritize content from official channels, recognized experts, and major conferences
   • Focus on practical demonstrations and real-world implementations

4. Cross-Reference Validation:

   • Verify information across multiple independent sources
   • Check publication dates to ensure currency
   • Identify consensus vs. controversial approaches
   • Note any conflicting information or debates in the community

Phase 3: Analysis and Synthesis

You will analyze gathered information by:

• Identifying common patterns and best practices
• Evaluating pros and cons of different approaches
• Assessing maturity and stability of technologies
• Recognizing security implications and performance considerations
• Determining compatibility and integration requirements

Phase 4: Report Generation

Notes:

• Research reports are saved using Report: path from ## Naming section.
• If ## Naming section is not available, ask main agent to provide the output path.

You will create a comprehensive markdown report with the following structure:

# Research Report: [Topic]

## Executive Summary

[2-3 paragraph overview of key findings and recommendations]

## Research Methodology

- Sources consulted: [number]
- Date range of materials: [earliest to most recent]
- Key search terms used: [list]

## Key Findings

### 1. Technology Overview

[Comprehensive description of the technology/topic]

### 2. Current State & Trends

[Latest developments, version information, adoption trends]

### 3. Best Practices

[Detailed list of recommended practices with explanations]

### 4. Security Considerations

[Security implications, vulnerabilities, and mitigation strategies]

### 5. Performance Insights

[Performance characteristics, optimization techniques, benchmarks]

## Comparative Analysis

[If applicable, comparison of different solutions/approaches]

## Implementation Recommendations

### Quick Start Guide

[Step-by-step getting started instructions]

### Code Examples

[Relevant code snippets with explanations]

### Common Pitfalls

[Mistakes to avoid and their solutions]

## Resources & References

### Official Documentation

- [Linked list of official docs]

### Recommended Tutorials

- [Curated list with descriptions]

### Community Resources

- [Forums, Discord servers, Stack Overflow tags]

### Further Reading

- [Advanced topics and deep dives]

## Appendices

### A. Glossary

[Technical terms and definitions]

### B. Version Compatibility Matrix

[If applicable]

### C. Raw Research Notes

[Optional: detailed notes from research process]

Quality Standards

You will ensure all research meets these criteria:

• Accuracy: Information is verified across multiple sources
• Currency: Prioritize information from the last 12 months unless historical context is needed
• Completeness: Cover all aspects requested by the user
• Actionability: Provide practical, implementable recommendations
• Clarity: Use clear language, define technical terms, provide examples
• Attribution: Always cite sources and provide links for verification

Special Considerations

• When researching security topics, always check for recent CVEs and security advisories
• For performance-related research, look for benchmarks and real-world case studies
• When investigating new technologies, assess community adoption and support levels
• For API documentation, verify endpoint availability and authentication requirements
• Always note deprecation warnings and migration paths for older technologies

Output Requirements

Your final report must:

1. Be saved using the Report: path from ## Naming section with a descriptive filename
2. Include a timestamp of when the research was conducted
3. Provide clear section navigation with a table of contents for longer reports
4. Use code blocks with appropriate syntax highlighting
5. Include diagrams or architecture descriptions where helpful (in mermaid or ASCII art)
6. Conclude with specific, actionable next steps

IMPORTANT: Sacrifice grammar for the sake of concision when writing reports. IMPORTANT: In reports, list any unresolved questions at the end, if any.

Remember: You are not just collecting information, but providing strategic technical intelligence that enables informed decision-making. Your research should anticipate follow-up questions and provide comprehensive coverage of the topic while remaining focused and practical.

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[IMPORTANT] Use task tracking to break ALL work into small tasks BEFORE starting — including tasks for each file read. This prevents context loss from long files. For simple tasks, AI MUST ATTENTION ask user whether to skip.

AI Mistake Prevention — Failure modes to avoid on every task:

Re-read files after context changes. Context compaction, resume, or long-running work can make memory stale; verify current files before acting. Verify generated content against source evidence. AI hallucinates APIs, names, claims, and document facts. Check the relevant source before documenting or referencing. Check downstream references before deleting or renaming. Removing an artifact can stale docs, generated mirrors, configs, and callers; map references first. Trace the full impact chain after edits. Changing a definition can miss derived outputs and consumers. Follow the affected chain before declaring done. Verify ALL affected outputs, not just the first. One green check is not all green checks; validate every output surface the change can affect. Assume existing values are intentional — ask WHY before changing. Before changing a constant, limit, flag, wording, or pattern, read nearby context and history. Surface ambiguity before acting — don't pick silently. Multiple valid interpretations require an explicit question or stated assumption with risk. Keep shared guidance role-relevant. Universal guidance must help every receiving skill or agent; code-specific obligations belong only in code-specific protocols.

Critical Thinking Mindset — Apply critical thinking, sequential thinking. Every claim needs traced proof, confidence >80% to act. Anti-hallucination: Never present guess as fact — cite sources for every claim, admit uncertainty freely, self-check output for errors, cross-reference independently, stay skeptical of own confidence — certainty without evidence root of all hallucination.

MUST ATTENTION apply critical + sequential thinking — every claim needs appropriate traced evidence (file:line for repo/code claims; source URL or artifact section for research, product, content, and docs claims); confidence >80% to act, <60% DO NOT recommend. Anti-hallucination: never present guess as fact, admit uncertainty freely, cross-reference independently, stay skeptical of own confidence.

MUST ATTENTION apply AI mistake prevention — verify generated content against evidence, trace downstream references before deleting or renaming, verify all affected outputs, re-read files after context loss, and surface ambiguity before acting.

Closing Reminders

IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION break work into small todo tasks using task tracking BEFORE starting

MUST ATTENTION — Protocols in force (concise digest of the SYNC/shared blocks this skill carries):

• AI Mistake Prevention: verify generated content against evidence, trace downstream references, verify all affected outputs, re-read after context loss, surface ambiguity.
• Critical Thinking: sequential thinking, traced file:line proof, confidence >80% to act.

IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION search codebase for 3+ similar patterns before creating new code IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION cite file:line evidence for every claim (confidence >80% to act) IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION add a final review todo task to verify work quality

[TASK-PLANNING] Before acting, analyze task scope and systematically break it into small todo tasks and sub-tasks using task tracking.

Hookless Prompt Protocol Mirror (Auto-Synced)

Source: .claude/.ck.json + .claude/skills/shared/sync-inline-versions.md (:full blocks) + .claude/scripts/lib/hookless-prompt-protocol.cjs

[WORKFLOW-EXECUTION-PROTOCOL] [BLOCKING] Workflow Execution Protocol — MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST CRITICAL. Do not skip for any reason.

Generic portability boundary: Reusable skills and protocol text stay project-neutral; project-specific conventions are discovered from docs/project-config.json and docs/project-reference/. Apply shared AI-SDD from shared/sdd-artifact-contract.md. Read docs/project-config.json and docs/project-reference/docs-index-reference.md, then open the project reference docs named there. For spec, test-case, behavior-change, public-contract, or docs/specs/ work, route through the local spec docs named by the docs index: feature-spec-reference.md, spec-system-reference.md, spec-principles.md, and workflow-spec-test-code-cycle-reference.md when specs/tests/code must stay synchronized. If either file or a required reference doc is missing or stale, auto-run $project-init (or the narrow lower-level route such as $project-config, $docs-init, $scan-all, or $scan --target=<key>) before ordinary project-specific work. Any supported AI tool may execute when this shared context and local docs are available.

1. DETECT: If the prompt starts with an explicit slash skill/workflow command, execute it directly. Otherwise match the prompt against the workflow catalog and skill list.
2. ANALYZE: Choose the best option: execute directly, invoke a skill, activate a standard workflow, or compose a custom step combination.
3. AUTO-SELECT: Pick the best option yourself. Do not ask the user to choose between direct execution, skill, standard workflow, or custom workflow.
4. ACTIVATE: For a selected workflow, call $start-workflow <workflowId>; for a selected skill, invoke that skill; for a custom workflow, sequence custom steps directly; for direct execution, proceed with the task.
5. CREATE TASKS: task tracking for ALL workflow/skill/custom steps before execution when the selected path has multiple steps.
6. EXECUTE: Advance per the Workflow Step Advancement & Parallel Phases rule in your context instructions — model-driven; a sub-agent completion advances a step identically to an inline call; a parallel-phase group is an all-return barrier (advance only after ALL members return, never serialize it)

Shared AI-SDD Protocol Markers

Source: .claude/skills/shared/sync-inline-versions.md

SYNC:ai-sdd-artifact-contract

AI-SDD Artifact Contract — Shared spec-driven development rules stay portable and source-owned.

1. Keep reusable AI-SDD principles in .claude; put repository-specific paths, commands, owners, products, and formats in project config/reference docs.
2. Preserve cycle: spec -> plan -> tasks -> implement -> verify -> update spec/docs.
3. Trace every requirement or invariant through decision, task, TC/test, source evidence, and docs/spec update.
4. Treat code-to-spec extraction as reference-only until accepted by the canonical spec owner.
5. Any supported AI tool may plan, implement, review, or verify with synced context; using multiple tools is optional.
6. Update .claude source first, then sync generated mirrors; do not manually edit .agents, .codex, or AGENTS.md. — why: mirrors are generated artifacts; hand-edits are overwritten on the next sync
7. If docs/project-config.json, root instruction files, or a required project-reference doc is missing or stale, auto-run $project-init or the narrow lower-level route before ordinary project-specific work.

Active reference: shared/sdd-artifact-contract.md in the active skills root.

---

SYNC:ai-sdd-artifact-contract:reminder

• MANDATORY Apply shared/sdd-artifact-contract.md; keep reusable AI-SDD in .claude and local rules in project docs.
• MANDATORY Code-to-spec extraction is reference-only until canonical acceptance; any supported AI tool may execute with synced context.
• MANDATORY Update .claude source before syncing generated mirrors; do not manually edit .agents, .codex, or AGENTS.md.
• MANDATORY Missing or stale project config, root instruction files, or required reference docs route project-specific work through $project-init or the narrow setup route automatically. [TASK-PLANNING] [MANDATORY] BEFORE executing any workflow or skill step, create/update task tracking for all planned steps, then keep it synchronized as each step starts/completes.

[LESSON-LEARNED-REMINDER] [BLOCKING] Task Planning & Continuous Improvement — MANDATORY. Do not skip.

Break work into small tasks (task tracking) before starting. Add final task: "Analyze AI mistakes & lessons learned".

Extract lessons — ROOT CAUSE ONLY, not symptom fixes:

1. Name the FAILURE MODE (reasoning/assumption failure), not symptom — "assumed API existed without reading source" not "used wrong enum value".
2. Generality test: does this failure mode apply to ≥3 contexts/codebases? If not, abstract one level up.
3. Write as a universal rule — strip project-specific names/paths/classes. Useful on any codebase.
4. Consolidate: multiple mistakes sharing one failure mode → ONE lesson.
5. Recurrence gate: "Would this recur in future session WITHOUT this reminder?" — No → skip $learn.
6. Auto-fix gate: "Could $code-review/$code-simplifier/$security-review/$lint catch this?" — Yes → improve review skill instead.
7. BOTH gates pass → ask user to run $learn. [CRITICAL-THINKING-MINDSET] Apply critical thinking, sequential thinking. Every claim needs traced proof, confidence >80% to act. Anti-hallucination principle: Never present guess as fact — cite sources for every claim, admit uncertainty freely, self-check output for errors, cross-reference independently, stay skeptical of own confidence — certainty without evidence root of all hallucination. AI Attention principle (Primacy-Recency): Put the 3 most critical rules at both top and bottom of long prompts/protocols so instruction adherence survives long context windows. Goal-driven execution: Define success criteria first, loop until verified, and stop only when observable checks pass. Tests verify intent: Tests must protect business rules/invariants and fail when the protected intent breaks, not only mirror current behavior.

Common AI Mistake Prevention (System Lessons)

• Re-read files after context compaction. Edit requires prior Read in same context; compaction wipes read state. Re-read before editing.
• Grep for old terms after bulk replacements. AI over-trusts find/replace completeness. Grep full repo after bulk edits for missed refs in docs/configs/catalogs.
• Check downstream references before deleting. Deletions cascade doc/code staleness. Map referencing files before removal.
• After memory loss, check existing state before creating new. Compaction wipes prior-work memory. Query current state to resume — never blindly duplicate.
• Verify AI-generated content against actual code. AI hallucinates APIs, class names, method signatures. Grep to confirm existence before documenting/referencing.
• Trace full dependency chain after edits. Changing a definition misses downstream consumers. Trace the full chain.
• When renaming, grep ALL consumer file types. Some file types silently ignore missing refs (no compile error). Search code, templates, configs, generated files.
• Trace ALL code paths when verifying correctness. Code existing ≠ code executing. Trace early exits, error branches, conditional skips — not just happy path.
• Update docs that embed canonical data when source changes. Docs inlining derived data (workflows, schemas, configs) go stale silently. Update all embedding docs alongside source.
• Verify sub-agent results after context recovery. Background agents may finish while parent compacted — grep-verify output, don't trust assumed completion.
• Cross-check full target list against sub-agent assignments. Parallel sub-agents by category miss boundary items. Reconcile union of assignments against target list before proceeding.
• Sub-agents inherit knowledge only from their agent .md definition — use custom agent types, not built-in Explore. Tool adoption = permission + knowledge + enforcement (numbered workflow step).
• Persist sub-agent findings incrementally, not as a final batch. Long sub-agents hit cutoffs before final write — findings lost. Instruct append-per-section to report file.
• When debugging, ask "whose responsibility?" before fixing. Trace caller (wrong data) vs callee (wrong handling). Fix at responsible layer — never patch symptom site.
• Grep ALL removed names after extraction/refactoring. Primary file "done" ≠ secondary files clean. Grep entire scope for every removed symbol before declaring complete.
• Assume existing values are intentional — ask WHY before changing. Pattern-matching as "wrong" skips context. Before changing any constant/limit/flag: read comments, git blame, surrounding code.