onboard-research

name	onboard-research
description	7-phase install wizard for the cowork-research engine. Reads business-brain.md from cowork-ai-os, classifies business type, recommends top 3 research connectors, picks destination (workspace/vault/Notion), schedules cadence. Resumable via state.md.
when_to_use	["/onboard-research","onboard research","set up research","install cowork-research","start research onboarding","begin research setup"]

/onboard-research — v0.2.0

The setup wizard for cowork-research. 7 phases. ~12 minutes. Resumable.

You are walking the user through wiring their workspace for research — brand briefs, web audits, meeting recaps. By the end, the user has:

• A research engine tuned to their business type (1 of 6 profiles)
• Top 3 connectors recommended (live-fetched from Anthropic's MCP directory via cowork-ai-os v0.10.2)
• A primary destination chosen (workspace / vault / Notion)
• Calibrated preferences (brief length, TLDR style, citation style, audit checklist style, recap depth)
• safe-zones.md updated with research carve-outs
• A first research deliverable (live-fire demo) shipped to the destination
• Weekly + monthly cadence scheduled, plus a 14-day /audit calibration check

Prereq check

Before Phase 0, run checks/prereq-cowork-ai-os.md. If about-me/business-brain.md is missing, halt with the paste-ready prompt that tells the user how to install + onboard cowork-ai-os first.

State management

Read templates/state-research.md.template and write a fresh state file to <workspace>/_aibos/state-research.md if it doesn't exist. If it exists with install_complete: false, resume at next_pending_phase. If install_complete: true, ask the user if they want to redo a specific phase.

Phase dispatch

Phases run in order, but each can be redone independently. After each phase, pause for user confirmation before advancing.

#	Phase	File
0	Welcome + prereq check	phases/00-welcome.md
1	Read business + classify	phases/01-classify-business.md
2	Recommend connectors (delegates to /browse-connectors live-fetch)	phases/02-recommend-connectors.md
3	Pick destination	phases/03-pick-destination.md
4	Calibrate preferences	phases/04-calibrate.md
5	Update safe-zones	phases/05-safe-zones.md
6	First research live-fire	phases/06-first-research.md
7	Cadence + calibration	phases/07-cadence-and-calibration.md

Pause and resume

If the user types pause onboarding: save state. Tell them: "Phase X complete. You're [N]% through. Resume any time with /onboard-research."

If the user types continue onboarding or invokes the skill again: read state-research.md, jump to next_pending_phase.

Phase completion protocol

After each phase's verification passes:

1. Update state file: mark phase as completed, set next_pending_phase: <next>, append timestamped log entry
2. Tell user: "Phase N complete. You're [%] through. [One-sentence preview of next phase]. Type continue onboarding when ready."

After all phases complete

The full wrap-up sequence lives in phases/07-cadence-and-calibration.md under "After Phase 7 — wizard wrap-up". The order is load-bearing — install_complete: true is the LAST write so a mid-wrap-up crash leaves state as "not complete" and the next invocation resumes the wrap-up. It runs (in order):

1. Build the ⚡ NEXT MOVE block — business-type-aware, picks one specific research action from business-brain.md (skipping the Phase 6 demo topic via first_brief_topic, with fallback when Phase 6 was skipped) — must pass the canonical regex ⚡ NEXT MOVE: .+ .+ .+\n Why: .+
2. Append onboarding-complete log line to about-me/memory.md (passive log, not a state flag)
3. Show the final wrap-up message — leads with the ⚡ NEXT MOVE, lists the 4 utility skills (/research-brief, /save-clip, /web-audit, /meeting-recap), names the 14-day calibration date in plain English
4. Self-improvement close — ask "What would've made this onboarding 10% better?" → append to projects/research/memory.md → flag /onboard-research for revision if 3+ recurrence
5. Mark install_complete: true in state-research.md AS THE LAST ACTION

The 14-day calibration check itself is scheduled earlier in Phase 7 (cadence Step 4).

Hard rules

• Never re-collect identity — read about-me/ files; never overwrite
• Append-only on about-me/connections.md and safe-zones.md
• Plan-then-approve for every write outside safe-zones.md-declared paths
• 3rd–4th-grade reading level for every prompt shown to the user (the wizard's voice — NOT the deliverables themselves)
• Resumable — every phase reads + writes state-research.md
• Live-fetch over hardcoding — Phase 2 delegates to /browse-connectors (cowork-ai-os v0.10.2+) so the connector list reflects Anthropic's directory today, not a snapshot from when this plugin shipped

Voice

Plain English. Short sentences. One question at a time. Approval gates, not menus. Show your work — when you recommend a connector, cite the line in business-brain.md that drove the recommendation.

What this skill never does

• Re-collect identity that already lives in about-me/ (read-only on those files)
• Write outside paths declared in safe-zones.md without explicit approval
• Hardcode the connector recommendation list (delegates to live-fetch)
• Force a destination choice (workspace is always available; vault and Notion are offered only if detected)
• Skip the calibration check (the 14-day /audit re-run is non-optional — it's how we measure if the wizard actually helped)