dotnet-research

name	dotnet:research
description	Research .NET topics externally — docs.microsoft.com, NuGet registry, GitHub issues. Routes to web-researcher or nuget-researcher based on query type.
argument-hint	<topic> | --library <name>
effort	medium

research

Fetch external context without polluting main conversation. Two modes.

Modes

General topic research

/dotnet:research "Blazor United authentication flow"

Routes to web-researcher (haiku + WebSearch + WebFetch). Prefers:

• learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/ (primary)
• learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/
• github.com/dotnet/* issues + design notes
• devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/
• Andrew Lock, Nick Chapsas, Scott Hanselman blogs

Output: .claude/research/{slug}.md with bullets + authoritative links.

Library evaluation

/dotnet:research --library Polly

Routes to nuget-researcher. Returns:

• Current version + last published date
• Maintenance signal (commits / issues / stars / release cadence)
• Known CVEs (dotnet list package --vulnerable cross-check)
• Compatibility matrix (target frameworks supported)
• Recommended alternatives if maintenance is stale
• 1–2 representative usage snippets

Output: .claude/research/libraries/{name}.md.

Iron Laws

• Cite sources — never fabricate API names or NuGet versions
• Verify NuGet package identity (nuget.org/packages/<id>) before recommending
• Flag EOL runtimes when research result assumes them (e.g., snippet using netcoreapp2.1)
• If CVE found, route to security skill with 🔴 severity

Flow

1. Classify query — general vs library
2. Spawn the appropriate researcher agent
3. Researcher fetches primary-source URLs, summarizes
4. Output structured Markdown file
5. Return summary inline (don't dump the full file)

Example Outputs

General

# Blazor United Authentication (research — 2026-04-18)

## Key concepts
- `@rendermode` affects auth cookie visibility [microsoft-1]
- InteractiveServer: full auth state available
- InteractiveWebAssembly: state persistence via PersistentComponentState
- ...

## Sources
[microsoft-1]: https://learn.microsoft.com/.../blazor/security
[microsoft-2]: ...

Library

# Polly v8.4.0 (research — 2026-04-18)

## Summary
- Resilience library: retry, circuit breaker, timeout, bulkhead
- Maintained by App vNext (community)
- Last release: 2026-03-20 (active)
- Stars: 13k, issues: 28 open

## Compatibility
- net6.0, net8.0, net9.0

## CVEs
None (checked GitHub Advisory + dotnet list package --vulnerable)

## Recommendation
✅ Safe to adopt. Prefer Microsoft.Extensions.Http.Resilience (which
wraps Polly v8) for HTTP clients.

References

• ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/trusted-sources.md — ranked list of .NET documentation sources
• ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/nuget-evaluation.md — signals to check for library health
• ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/search-patterns.md — effective queries for docs vs GitHub issues

Anti-patterns

• Asking main Claude for .NET research when /dotnet:research would isolate the context
• Recommending an unmaintained library — always check last release date
• Pulling random blog content without a primary-source citation
• Not saving research output — loses the work for the next session