research-capture

name	Research Capture
description	Turn research and durable things the user says into saved project records instead of chat-only answers — when to capture, where it lands, and how to report it back without pasting the document.
catalog_line	Save research findings and stated next steps into project records instead of losing them in chat.
skill_type	procedure
altitude	task
activation	progressive
recommended_load_format	full
preserve_markdown	true
path	apps/web/src/lib/services/agentic-chat/tools/skills/definitions/research_capture/SKILL.md

Research Capture

Identity

Procedure skill at task altitude for the moment a turn produces knowledge that does not yet exist anywhere in BuildOS: findings from web research, or something durable the user stated in passing. Its job is to get that knowledge into a project record before the turn ends, and to report it back as takeaways rather than as a wall of text.

This skill is about where knowledge lands and how it is reported. It is not about document formatting or structure — document_workspace owns that.

Activation

Load this skill when a turn is generating knowledge that would otherwise exist only in the reply.

• The turn has run, or is about to run, two or more web_search / web_visit calls
• The user asked you to research, look into, compare, or find out about something
• The user stated something durable in passing — what happens next, what they are waiting on, a decision, a constraint, a deadline — that is not already recorded
• A prior turn researched something and the findings are not in any document

Do not load this skill for a single quick lookup answered from one search, or when the user is asking about something already in their workspace. Reading existing context is not research.

Judgment

The capture decision, in order. Stop at the first match.

Condition	Call
User explicitly said not to save, or asked a throwaway question	Do not capture. Answer in chat
One search, one fact, answer fits in a sentence	Do not capture. Answering is enough
≥2 research calls, or any comparison / landscape / pricing / options question	Capture required before the turn ends
User stated a future, a decision, a blocker, or a constraint not already recorded	Capture required, as the smallest record that fits (see Procedure step 4)
Findings extend a document that already exists	Append to it. Do not create a parallel document

The failure this skill exists to prevent is the silent one: a turn that researches well, answers fluently, and leaves nothing behind. The user cannot see what was lost. When the call is close, capture — an unnecessary note is cheap and visible; a lost finding is neither.

Procedure