deepresearch

name	deepresearch
description	Iterative web-current research with source ledger. Sonnet collects, Opus synthesizes. Parallel WebSearch + WebFetch across sub-queries. Output is a structured ResearchBrief with citations, persisted to memory.research_sources. The default first step of every umbrella when the goal is novel or time-sensitive.

/deepresearch — sourced research with ledger

The research substrate for every umbrella. Anchors decisions on current-time evidence, not training-cutoff knowledge.

Process

1. Memory-first ledger lookup. Before any web call, query memory.research_sources for the topic within the last 7 days (default window). If a fresh prior brief exists, reuse it and skip steps 2–5. Outside the window, surface the prior brief as "possibly stale" alongside a fresh pass so the caller can compare. Disable the shortcut with memoryFirst: false (or --no-memory-first on the CLI) when the topic is known-volatile and must re-fetch every run.
2. Decompose the topic into 3–8 sub-queries.
3. Run WebSearch + WebFetch in parallel across the sub-queries.
4. Read primary sources first (official docs, vendor announcements, RFCs, repos). De-prioritize SEO blogspam.
5. Resolve conflicts by citing the most recent authoritative source.
6. Synthesize via Opus into a ResearchBrief: topic, summary, keyFindings, sources (URL + relevance + excerpt + accessedAt), openQuestions.
7. Persist sources to memory.research_sources for future re-use.

When to invoke (manually)

• Before architectural decisions where SOTA matters (/cmax and friends already invoke this automatically).
• When evaluating libraries, models, or services as of today.
• When the goal involves a regulation, pricing, or API that changes frequently.

Output

JSON ResearchBrief matching the schema in packages/core/src/types.ts. CLI: cmax research "<topic>" prints the brief and writes sources to memory.

Anti-pattern protection

• Citation linkage is schema-enforced. Every keyFinding now carries ≥ 1 sourceUrl drawn from the brief's sources array — the JSON schema rejects findings without one. Uncitable findings are dropped at generation time rather than emitted naked; the dark-patterns no-fake-cite hook is the second line of defense, not the first.
• Every claim attaches ≥ 1 source URL with an accessedAt field.
• Sources with relevance < 0.3 are dropped.
• openQuestions is mandatory — research that returns "everything is clear" is suspicious.