team-research

name	team-research
description	Research a codebase area before making changes. Dispatches parallel read-only agents (file-finder + researcher) that read questions.md only — never task.md. Trigger on "research this", "explore the codebase for", or "/team-research".
effort	medium
argument-hint	[docs/plans/<id>/]

Team Research — Answer the Questions

Run the RESEARCH phase only, then stop. The researcher and file-finder read questions.md (and optionally repos.md) — never the user's original task description.

Input

$ARGUMENTS is the artifact directory: docs/plans/<id>/. If empty, the discovery block below resolves it.

The dispatched agents receive $ARGUMENTS/questions.md and (when it exists) $ARGUMENTS/repos.md. They do not read task.md.

Resolve the artifact directory by running this self-contained block (one bash call — agent threads reset cwd between calls):

# Three-tier artifact-directory discovery (archetype A).
# ID_RE + PHASE_FILES canonical from hooks/session-start-recover.mjs.
# PHASE_FILES recency mirrors findActiveTopic() in session-start-recover.mjs.
# NOTE: this block is duplicated across 8 skills by design (see docs/architecture.md); future: shared discover-topic.sh.
ID_RE='^([A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9_]*-[0-9]+|[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2})-[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*$'
PHASE_FILES="task questions research design structure plan"
PRED="questions.md"            # predecessor artifact this skill consumes
# Tier 1 — explicit: $ARGUMENTS names an existing dir → use verbatim.
if [ -n "$ARGUMENTS" ] && [ -d "$ARGUMENTS" ]; then
  echo "$ARGUMENTS"; exit 0
fi
# Tier 2 — discover: newest ID_RE dir under docs/plans/ that holds PRED.
best=""; best_mtime=-1
# Assumes cwd is the repo/worktree root (where docs/plans/ lives).
for dir in docs/plans/*/; do
  name="$(basename "$dir")"
  printf '%s' "$name" | grep -qE "$ID_RE" || continue   # ID_RE filter
  [ -f "$dir$PRED" ] || continue                        # predecessor filter
  m=-1
  for p in $PHASE_FILES; do
    f="$dir$p.md"
    [ -f "$f" ] || continue                             # skip racing/absent
    s="$(stat -f %m "$f" 2>/dev/null || stat -c %Y "$f" 2>/dev/null)" || continue
    [ "${s:-0}" -gt "$m" ] && m="$s"                    # max-mtime over PHASE_FILES
  done
  [ "$m" -gt "$best_mtime" ] && { best_mtime="$m"; best="$dir"; }
done
[ -n "$best" ] && { echo "$best"; exit 0; }
# Tier 3 — none found: print nothing → fall to AskUserQuestion (prose below).

• If the block printed a path, use it as $ARGUMENTS (tier 1 explicit arg, or tier 2 discovery). When the path came from tier 2 (no explicit arg), announce the resolved directory to the user before proceeding, so an auto-picked topic is never silent. Discovery resolves only the directory variable — the dispatch step below still forwards exactly {questions.md, repos.md?}.
• If the block printed nothing (tier 3 — no directory holds questions.md), do not hard-error. Fire AskUserQuestion with a Setup header and labeled options:
  • Run the producer — run /team-question <description> to produce the missing questions.md.
  • Provide a path — the user supplies the docs/plans/<id>/ directory directly (run ls docs/plans/ to find your topic directory).

Execution

Follow skills/progress-tracking/SKILL.md: when this procedure has two or more steps, seed one todo item per step before starting and mark each complete as you go.

1. Use the directory resolved in ## Input.
2. Dispatch file-finder and researcher in parallel, passing each the path $ARGUMENTS/questions.md. If $ARGUMENTS/repos.md exists, include its path too — repos.md carries scope (which repos and where) without leaking intent. Do not pass the original description, task.md, or any framing.
3. Combine their returned content into a single research.md written to $ARGUMENTS/research.md with the required frontmatter (see the researcher agent for the schema). The topic value MUST be read from $ARGUMENTS/questions.md's frontmatter and copied verbatim — never improvised, never combined with the ticket id. In multi-repo mode, preserve the repo-slug prefix on every file reference (e.g. frontend:src/App.tsx:42).
4. Stop once $ARGUMENTS/research.md exists — do not continue to DESIGN.

Scope isolation

• The orchestrator passes the agents only questions.md (and optionally repos.md for scope). Never task.md, never the description.
• Agent system prompts forbid reading task.md. They are allowed to read repos.md because it carries scope, not intent.
• If the agents need context the questions lack, they must surface it as an open question rather than guessing intent.

If you suspect leakage (e.g., research references a goal not stated in questions.md), treat it as a defect and re-dispatch with a fresh agent.

Completion

Report:

• Path to $ARGUMENTS/research.md
• Key findings (3–5 bullets)
• Open questions count
• Tell the user: "Next: run /team-design docs/plans/<id>/"