| name | discover |
| description | Use when user wants to test multiple angles on an idea, run parallel hypothesis lanes, or explore a gap from different entry points. |
If you were dispatched as a subagent to research a specific lane, skip this skill. Search and return structured results immediately.
Discover Skill — Parallel Lanes + Persistent
Step 0 — Find session
Read the active lab_notebook.md to understand what was already explored and which gap was selected.
If no session exists:
"Run /explore <topic> first to build the foundation, then come back here."
Step 1 — Announce and launch
Say:
"Spinning up 4 parallel research lanes for [topic]. Each explores a different angle. I'll apply Carlini gates between stages and kill weak lanes early."
Append to lab_notebook.md:
## Discovery Run
Date: <date>
Topic: <topic>
Gap pursuing: <selected gap from idea-selection>
### Lanes launched
- Lane 1: [angle description]
- Lane 2: [angle description]
- Lane 3: [angle description]
- Lane 4: [angle description]
Spawn all 4 simultaneously. Each prompt must be long and task-shaped — start with "You are a research search agent. Do not ask questions. Search and return structured results immediately."
Agent 1 prompt:
You are a research search agent. Do not ask questions. Search and return structured results immediately.
Task: Find the most incremental improvement on SOTA for [topic].
Search for 3 recent papers (2022–2025) that represent the current frontier.
Then identify: what is the single most direct gap left open by these papers?
Propose a hypothesis that closes it. Suggest a concrete experiment (what to change, what metric).
Estimate feasibility: can it be tested in under 1 week on 1 GPU?
Return: papers (title, year, 1-line contribution), gap, hypothesis, experiment, feasibility score 0–1.
Agent 2 prompt:
You are a research search agent. Do not ask questions. Search and return structured results immediately.
Task: Find a cross-field transfer opportunity for [topic] from an adjacent field.
Search for 3 papers from a neighboring discipline (e.g. neuroscience→ML, physics→biology, etc.) that contain ideas not yet applied to [topic].
Identify the most promising transfer. Propose a hypothesis. Suggest a concrete experiment.
Return: papers (title, year, 1-line contribution), gap, hypothesis, experiment, feasibility score 0–1.
Agent 3 prompt:
You are a research search agent. Do not ask questions. Search and return structured results immediately.
Task: Find a core assumption in [topic] that the field takes for granted but may be wrong.
Search for 3 papers that either challenge this assumption or would be undermined if it were false.
State the assumption clearly. Propose the counter-hypothesis. Suggest a falsification experiment.
Return: papers (title, year, 1-line contribution), assumption, counter-hypothesis, experiment, feasibility score 0–1.
Agent 4 prompt:
You are a research search agent. Do not ask questions. Search and return structured results immediately.
Task: Find a systems/efficiency angle for [topic] — how to make it work on constrained hardware or at scale.
Search for 3 papers on efficient implementations, approximations, or hardware-aware designs in [topic].
Identify the key bottleneck. Propose a hypothesis for removing it. Suggest a concrete experiment.
Return: papers (title, year, 1-line contribution), bottleneck, hypothesis, experiment, feasibility score 0–1.
Step 2 — Apply Carlini gate to each lane
For each lane result, score it (0.0–1.0) on:
- Taste: would this change the field?
- Novelty: has this been tried?
- Feasibility: testable in < 1 week on 1 GPU?
Gate threshold: 0.5. Kill lanes below threshold.
Append all results to lab_notebook.md:
### Lane Results
#### Lane 1 — [angle]
Claim: <hypothesis>
Experiment: <what to change and measure>
Gate score: <X.XX>
Status: <survived / killed>
Kill reason (if killed): <why>
Papers found: <list>
#### Lane 2 — [angle]
...
Step 3 — Present surviving lanes as options
For each surviving lane, show a card:
Lane [N]: [angle name] (score: X.XX)
Claim: [one sentence — what you're testing]
Experiment: [one sentence — what to change, what metric to watch]
Why it survived: [one sentence]
Then:
"Which lane do you want to pursue? You can also ask me to dig deeper into any before deciding."
Append their choice:
### Selected Lane
Lane: <N>
Angle: <angle>
Claim: <full hypothesis>
Experiment: <full experiment description>
Researcher notes: <anything they said>
Update status:
## Status
<date>: Discovery complete. Selected lane: <N>. Next: /loop to start experiments.
Step 4 — Transition
"Good choice. Now set up the experiment. Run /loop once your baseline repo is ready.
Your hypothesis is saved in the lab notebook. To resume later: /resume"
