ring-researching-features

name

ring:researching-features

description

Researching the product/feature in depth before any planning document is written: the product itself, technical approach, third-party integrations, prior art, and existing codebase grounding (file:line refs) via parallel repo/web/docs agents using firecrawl and exa. Gate 0 of ring:using-pm-team (both tracks); runs before ring:writing-prds. Use before pre-dev planning a new feature or modification. Skip for trivial changes or when a recent research.md already exists.

Pre-Dev Research Skill (Gate 0)

When to use

• Before any pre-dev workflow (Gate 0 of both tracks)
• When planning new features or modifications
• Invoked by /ring:planning-large-features and /ring:planning-small-features

Skip when

• Trivial changes that don't need planning
• Research already completed (research.md exists and is recent)

Sequence

Runs before: ring:writing-prds (Gate 1)

Related

Complementary: ring:writing-prds, ring:writing-trds

Gathers deep technical/product research BEFORE writing planning documents, ensuring PRDs and TRDs are grounded in codebase reality, prior art, and authoritative technical sources.

Scope is technical/product only. Research covers: the product/feature itself (what it is, how comparable products solve it), technical approach, third-party integrations, prior art, and existing codebase patterns. ZERO business content — no market analysis, no personas, no user research, no go-to-market.

Step 1: Determine Research Mode

Mode	When	Agent Priority
greenfield	New capability (no existing patterns)	Web research primary
modification	Extending existing functionality	Codebase research primary
integration	Connecting external systems	All agents equally weighted

If unclear, ask: "Is this (1) Greenfield, (2) Modification, or (3) Integration?"

Step 2: Dispatch 3 Agents in Parallel

Single message, 3 Task calls:

Agent	Focus	Mode Priority
ring:repo-researcher	Codebase patterns for [feature]; search docs/solutions/ knowledge base; return file:line refs	PRIMARY in modification
ring:web-researcher	Technical approach, prior art, and best practices for [feature]; use firecrawl (search/scrape/crawl) + exa; return URLs	PRIMARY in greenfield
ring:docs-researcher	Tech stack docs for [feature]; detect versions from manifests; firecrawl scrape/crawl of official docs + exa search; return version constraints	PRIMARY in integration

Web research tooling is explicit: agents MUST use firecrawl (firecrawl_search, firecrawl_scrape, firecrawl_crawl) and exa for discovery and source retrieval — not memory.

Step 2.5: Handle Topology Configuration

If TopologyConfig provided (from command's topology discovery), persist in research.md frontmatter:

---
feature: {feature-name}
gate: 0
date: {YYYY-MM-DD}
research_mode: greenfield | modification | integration
agents_dispatched: 3
topology:
  scope: fullstack | backend-only | frontend-only
  structure: single-repo | monorepo | multi-repo
  modules:
    backend:
      path: {path}
      language: golang | typescript
    frontend:
      path: {path}
      framework: nextjs | react | vue
  doc_organization: unified | per-module
  api_pattern: bff | none
---

Step 3: Synthesize Results

Compile all 3 agents' findings into docs/pre-dev/{feature}/research.md.

Required sections:

# Research: {Feature Name}

## Codebase Patterns
[From repo-researcher — existing patterns with file:line references]

## Technical Approach & Prior Art
[From web-researcher — how comparable products/projects solve this, candidate approaches, third-party integrations, with URLs]

## Framework Constraints
[From docs-researcher — version constraints, compatibility notes]

## Key Findings
[Top 5-10 insights that will inform PRD/TRD decisions]

## Risks & Unknowns
[Things that need more investigation before PRD/TRD]

Output

File: docs/pre-dev/{feature}/research.md with topology frontmatter (if provided)

After research.md complete: invoke ring:writing-prds (Gate 1).