research

name	research
description	Research a topic using web search and create structured findings. Use when you need to investigate approaches, find papers, compare implementations, or gather knowledge on a topic. Creates structured notes in reports/ directory.
argument-hint	[topic]
context	fork
agent	general-purpose
compatibility	Claude Code, Codex CLI, and Gemini CLI. Requires web search access.

Research: $ARGUMENTS

Research a topic and create comprehensive implementation-focused findings.

Objective

Conduct web-based research on $ARGUMENTS to answer:

1. What approaches/systems exist?
2. What papers describe them?
3. What are the tradeoffs (complexity vs quality)?
4. What implementations exist?
5. What's the recommended approach for this project?

Research Methods

Search the web to find:

• Academic papers and key authors
• Documentation and specifications
• Open-source implementations
• Comparison studies

Fetch and read these pages to:

• Read paper abstracts/summaries
• Extract key information from documentation
• Check implementation details

Output Format

Write findings to ./reports/research-$ARGUMENTS.md:

# Research: $ARGUMENTS

## Summary
[One paragraph overview of findings]

## Approaches Found

### [Approach 1 Name]
**Source:** [URL]
**Description:** [What it is]
**Pros:** [Advantages]
**Cons:** [Disadvantages]
**Complexity:** [Low/Medium/High]

[Repeat for each major approach]

## Key Papers
- [Author (Year)](URL) - [What it contributes]
- [Author (Year)](URL) - [What it contributes]

## Existing Implementations
- **[Name]** ([URL]): [Description, language, license]

## Complexity vs Quality Tradeoffs
[Analysis of what level of complexity gets what level of quality]

## Recommendations
[Specific recommendations for this project's research area]

## Estimated Implementation Effort
- **Minimal approach:** [What you get]
- **Full approach:** [What you get]

## Open Questions
- [ ] [Unresolved question]
- [ ] [Area needing more investigation]

## References
- [Full citation with URL]

---

CRITICAL: File Modified Error Workaround

If Edit/Write fails with "file unexpectedly modified":

1. Read the file again
2. Retry the Edit
3. Try path formats: ./relative, C:/forward/slashes, C:\back\slashes
4. Prefer your file editing tools over shell text manipulation (cat, sed, echo)
5. If all formats fail, STOP and report

CRITICAL: Parallel Swarm Awareness

You may be running alongside other agents. NEVER use git restore/checkout/reset/clean.

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Completion

When done, reply ONLY:

Done - see reports/research-$ARGUMENTS.md

Do NOT:

• Output findings to conversation
• Read project source files (unless topic requires it)
• Modify any other files