| name | research-general |
| description | Perform a broad landscape scan on any topic. Use when user asks for an "overview of", "landscape", "what's out there on", "broad research on", "survey of", or wants a wide but shallow scan before diving deeper. |
Research General
Perform a wide landscape scan on a topic — identify key players, solutions, tradeoffs, and where to dig deeper.
Workflow
Phase 1: Research
Gather information from two sources. Research each source independently, then aggregate findings.
Note: General research is wide, not deep — only docs_researcher and web_researcher are used. Skip repo_analyzer.
From Official Documentation (docs_researcher)
- Identify the primary sources and authorities on the topic
- Official definitions, standards, or specifications
- Key organizations or companies involved
- Canonical resources and reference material
- Current state of the art or best practices
- Industry reports or white papers if available
From Community Content (web_researcher)
- Blog posts, articles, and opinion pieces on the topic
- Video resources (talks, tutorials, conference presentations)
- Community discussions (Reddit, HN, forums)
- Comparison and "state of" articles
- Different perspectives and schools of thought
- Emerging trends and recent developments
- Real-world case studies and experience reports
Practical Articles Research (web_researcher — separate search)
Run a dedicated second search specifically targeting practitioner-oriented content. Use queries like "practical guide to {topic}", "{topic} in production", "{topic} lessons learned", "{topic} tips and tricks", "real-world {topic}", "{topic} best practices".
Look for:
- Step-by-step implementation guides and tutorials
- Production war stories and post-mortems
- "What I wish I knew before..." and "lessons learned" posts
- Checklists, decision frameworks, and rules of thumb
- Common mistakes and anti-patterns to avoid
- Cost/effort/complexity tradeoffs from practitioners
- Quick-start patterns and recommended defaults
Phase 2: Structure
Organize content into progressive levels. references/progressive-learning.md is the source of truth.
You MUST create exactly 5 levels in this order:
- Level 1: Problem Space
- Level 2: Key Players & Solutions
- Level 3: Landscape Map
- Level 4: Tradeoffs & Considerations
- Level 5: Recommended Deep Dives
Do NOT merge, skip, or rename levels. The level names above are FINAL — use them exactly. The reference file provides depth and content guidelines only, not level names.
Phase 3: Output
Generate the research folder.
Output Format
Create the folder in the current working directory (./research_output/research-{topic}/) containing:
research_output/research-{topic}/
├── README.md # Overview and how to use this research summary
├── landscape.md # The full landscape map with categories and players
├── practical-takeaways.md # Actionable advice sourced from practitioner articles
├── resources.md # All links organized by source and category
└── learning-path.md # Main content following the five levels
practical-takeaways.md Guidelines
This file distills practitioner wisdom into immediately actionable content. It should be sourced primarily from the dedicated practical articles research, NOT rehashed from landscape.md or learning-path.md. Structure it with sections like:
- Getting Started — recommended defaults, quick-start patterns, minimal viable setup
- When to Use / When to Avoid — concrete decision criteria with examples
- Common Mistakes — anti-patterns and pitfalls practitioners have documented
- Production Considerations — cost, scaling, monitoring, and operational tips
- Community Tips — distilled advice from blog posts, forums, and experience reports
Include code snippets, checklists, or decision tables where the source material supports them.
