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Research any topic — current events, products, people, concepts, comparisons — for evidence gathering and structured multi-source synthesis.
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Based on SOC occupation classification
| name | research |
| description | Research any topic — current events, products, people, concepts, comparisons — for evidence gathering and structured multi-source synthesis. |
Research is breadth-first, then depth-first. Start wide to map the landscape, then dive into the highest-signal sources. Do not jump to a single source type and call it done — each platform reveals a different facet of the topic.
Good research answers not just what happened, but who is saying it, how confident the evidence is, and what the competing narratives are.
Cross-source corroboration: A claim found in 3+ independent sources is stronger than any single source. Multi-platform coverage is the highest-confidence signal.
Internalize the research first: Ground your synthesis in the ACTUAL research content, not your pre-existing knowledge. If sources talk about "ClawdBot" and you assumed "Claude Code", do not conflate them.
This skill uses the web-search MCP server. Search, dedup, clustering, and stats computation, here you do all that synthesis work manually as you read tool results.
The MCP gives you:
You are responsible for:
Cost of comparison mode: Comparing 2 entities means roughly 2x the tool calls (~8-12 per entity). Plan your turn budget accordingly. For 3-way comparisons, consider doing a single focused comparison instead of exhaustive per-entity research.
| Tool | What It Does | When To Use |
|---|---|---|
mcp__plugin_web-search_web-search_search_web | DuckDuckGo or Exa web/news search (via provider param) | First pass: news, background, official sources |
mcp__plugin_web-search_web-search_search_web (domain) | DuckDuckGo (site:) or Exa (include_domains) scoped to a domain | Targeted docs: docs.python.org, react.dev, RFCs |
mcp__plugin_web-search_web-search_fetch_page | Clean HTML-to-markdown extraction from URLs | Read articles, changelogs, specs, papers |
mcp__plugin_web-search_web-search_search_wikipedia | Full article text via MediaWiki API | Factual summaries, background research, citations |
mcp__plugin_web-search_web-search_search_arxiv | Academic paper search w/ Lucene field prefixes | Research papers, literature reviews, citations |
| Tool | What It Does | When To Use |
|---|---|---|
mcp__plugin_web-search_web-search_search_reddit | Reddit via RSS + shreddit enrichment | Real-user discussions, product feedback, niche opinions |
mcp__plugin_web-search_web-search_search_hackernews | HN via Algolia + comment enrichment | Tech debate, architectural analysis, deep critical takes |
mcp__plugin_web-search_web-search_get_github_issue | Full GitHub Issue/PR thread with comments | Complete conversation context sorted by reactions |
mcp__plugin_web-search_web-search_search_x | X/Twitter via Xquik API or Bird CLI | Real-time announcements, expert takes, breaking news |
| Source | Signal | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Official docs, specs, papers | ★★★★★ | Ground truth, APIs, specifications |
| GitHub (code, issues, releases) | ★★★★☆ | Open-source projects, technical evidence |
| Hacker News comments | ★★★★☆ | Tech consensus, critical analysis |
| Web search (blogs, news) | ★★★☆☆ | Broad coverage, multiple viewpoints |
| Reddit discussions | ★★★☆☆ | Real-user opinions, practical experience |
| X/Twitter | ★★☆☆☆ | Real-time signal, expert takes (high noise) |
Cross-platform corroboration beats any single source type. A claim on Reddit + HN + a blog is stronger than a single whitepaper.
LAW 1 — Badge on line 1. 🔍 deep-research · {YYYY-MM-DD}. One blank line, then report. No title, no preamble.
LAW 2 — NO em-dashes (—) or en-dashes (–). Use - (single hyphen with spaces). Everywhere. Exception: quoted content.
LAW 3 — NO ## section headers in body. No ## Key Findings, no ## Analysis. Narrative uses bold-lead-in paragraphs. Exceptions: comparison mode (see below).
LAW 4 — Bold-lead-in paragraphs. Every narrative paragraph begins with **Headline** - .
LAW 5 — Inline markdown links. [name](url) for every citation. Raw URLs never shown. Priority:
[@handle](https://x.com/handle) > [r/sub](https://reddit.com/r/sub) > [channel](url) > [HN](url) > [publication](url)[name]().LAW 6 — NO trailing Sources block. The Sources consulted: list is INSIDE the report. Nothing after the invitation.
Before any searches, check for these failure classes:
Class 1 — Demographic shopping: gift for 42 year old man → ask about hobbies/relationship/budget, or reframe to gifts for men in their 40s + scope to gift subreddits.
Class 2 — Numeric keyword trap: 42 collides with unrelated content (Jackie Robinson, Hitchhiker's). Strip numbers from queries unless load-bearing ("GPT-4" is fine).
Class 3 — Overly-literal phrasing: how to use Docker → social posts use "my Docker setup", "Docker Compose tip", not tutorial phrasing. Reframe to discussion keywords.
Class 4 — Generic single noun: sneakers, coffee, bread → no anchor, pure noise. Ask for specificity.
Before community searches, resolve platform-scoped targeting. This is where you do manual lookups that drastically improve signal quality.
Subreddits: Run search_web "{topic} subreddit" to find 3-5 relevant subreddits. For product/tool topics, also add 2-3 category-peer subs from the table below (where cross-product discussion actually happens):
| Category | Peer Subs |
|---|---|
| AI image gen | StableDiffusion, midjourney, dalle2, aiArt |
| AI video gen | aivideo, StableDiffusion, runwayml, singularity |
| AI music gen | SunoAI, udiomusic, aimusic |
| AI coding | ChatGPTCoding, LocalLLaMA, singularity |
| AI chat models | LocalLLaMA, ChatGPT, ClaudeAI, singularity |
| SaaS/productivity | SaaS, productivity, Entrepreneur |
X handles: For person/product topics, run search_web "{topic} X handle" for the primary handle and 1-2 commentators.
GitHub: For developer topics, resolve github.com/{handle}. For projects, resolve owner/repo.
Use these resolved values when calling community search tools (e.g., search_reddit with the subreddits parameter). Scoped searches produce dramatically better signal than keyword-only searches.
Run 2-3 searches to map the landscape. Vary the angle:
search_web "{topic} 2026" # direct
search_web "{topic}" (news mode) # news
search_web "{topic}" domain="docs.python.org" # official docs
From results, pick 1-2 long-form sources to deep-read later.
Mine 3-4 platforms. Use resolved handles/subreddits/repos to scope. The tool results come with engagement data — use it:
| Platform | How | Look For |
|---|---|---|
search_reddit | Topic + subreddits parameter | Real experiences, complaints, workarounds. Top comments are highest-signal. |
search_hackernews | Topic + keywords | The why behind the news. Comments from domain experts. |
search_github | Topic as issue/PR keyword | Roadmap signals, breaking changes, community wishlists. |
search_x | Topic + resolved handles | Real-time reactions, expert threads, announcements. |
Per-platform notes (read before searching):
search_reddit tool returns top comments with scores; read them.search_hackernews result includes top_comments and comment_insights fields — these are pre-extracted for you. Use them.search_github returns state (open/closed), labels, engagement.reactions, and top_comments. Look for closed PRs to see how something was fixed.After reading all results, answer these questions:
🔍 deep-research · 2026-06-10
**{Headline}** - {1-2 sentences}, per [@handle](url)
**{Headline}** - {1-2 sentences}, per [r/sub](url)
**{Headline}** - {1-2 sentences}, per [publication](url)
Patterns from the research:
1. {Pattern} — per [source](url)
2. {Pattern} — per [source](url)
3. {Pattern} — per [source](url)
Gaps & uncertainty:
- {What isn't known or weakly supported}
Sources consulted:
- [name](url)
- [name](url)
---
Some things you could ask next:
- {Specific follow-up based on the most discussed finding}
- {Deeper dive into a contested angle}
Rank by signal quality, not mention count. This is the most common failure mode in recommendation research — leading with "Python has 15 mentions" when the actual story is a domain expert switching to Go.
| Signal | Weight | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Practitioner testimony with specifics | Highest | "I use X for Y and here's why" |
| Expert defection | High | Domain insider publicly switching |
| Measurable benchmark | High | "43.7% latency win" |
| Reasoned comparison | Medium | Side-by-side with tradeoffs |
| Multiple unaffiliated voices concur | Medium | Various people saying the same thing |
| Descriptive mention (exists) | Low | "X is a Python framework" |
| Promotional / bootcamp | Skip | "Comment CODE for my course" |
Lead with the 30-day delta, not the status-quo baseline. A status-quo leader with no new movement is a footer item.
Output:
🔍 deep-research · 2026-06-10
Recommended (ranked by signal quality):
**[Pick 1]** - why it's the top recommendation
- Evidence: {specific quote, benchmark, or defection}
- Best for: {use case}
- Voices: {@handles, r/subs}
**[Pick 2]** - ...
**[Pick 3]** - ...
Also mentioned (exists, not specifically recommended): {name} ({why it's a mention, not a pick})
Gaps & uncertainty:
- ...
Sources consulted:
- [name](url)
Cost warning: Each entity requires its own Phase 1-2 search cycle. For 2 entities expect ~10-14 tool calls total. Use the subreddits parameter and resolved handles to scope early and avoid wasted searches.
🔍 deep-research · 2026-06-10
# {A} vs {B}: What the Research Says
## Quick Verdict
{Thesis sentence. Comparable metrics. Community framing quote.}
## {Entity 1}
Strengths:
- {per [source](url)}
- ...
Weaknesses:
- {per [source](url)}
## {Entity 2}
{Same structure}
## Head-to-Head
| Dimension | {A} | {B} |
| ---------- | --- | --- |
| What it is | ... | ... |
| Key signal | ... | ... |
| Best for | ... | ... |
## The Bottom Line
{A} if {use case}. {B} if {use case}.
Sources consulted:
- [name](url)
The ## Quick Verdict, ## {Entity}, ## Head-to-Head, ## The Bottom Line headers are exceptions to LAW 3 — allowed only in comparison mode.
-.## headers in body (comparison mode exempted for the 4 allowed headers).[text](url). No raw URLs, no [name]().Sources consulted: is inside the report. Nothing after invitation.Max ONE regeneration. If still broken, emit the best version and note the gap.
After delivering the report, treat yourself as an expert for the rest of the conversation. Do NOT run new searches on the same topic — answer from what you gathered. Only research again if the user asks about a different topic.
search_web (news mode) + search_x. Timestamp everything. Flag volatility.-site:spam-site.com exclusions. Prefer search_web with domain="..." on known-good domains. Community platforms (Reddit, HN) resist SEO gaming.