subagent-research

name	subagent-research
description	Offload verbose research (web, code, files, GitHub, video) to a subagent instead of burning main context window.

Subagent Research

Golden rule: if the answer could be longer than 3 lines, use a subagent.

Core Pattern

1. Identify the research need
2. Pick the right tool (see table below)
3. Craft 1-4 specific questions
4. Dispatch a default subagent with questions + brevity instruction
5. Subagent runs research in its own context, returns terse answers

Template

Answer these questions as concisely as possible (one sentence per question):
1. [precise question]
2. [precise question]
No summarisation needed. Use [tool].

When NOT to Use

• Single fact — "What year was Python 3.12?" → tool directly
• Already know the query, answer is short → inline
• Need answer to proceed → no subagent overhead
• Trivial file lookup — grep inline

Research Types

Type	Tool	Example question
Web / general	web_search	"What are the pros/cons of X vs Y?"
Code / library internals	code_search	"What's the signature of React.useCallback?"
GitHub repos	fetch_content	"What does the README say about installation?"
YouTube / video	fetch_content + prompt	Pass user's exact question as prompt
File / workspace	bash (grep/find), read	"Where is DB configured in this project?"
Complex / multi-tool	combination	"Look up lib docs + check usage in codebase"

Common Mistakes

• Vague questions → rambling answers. Be specific.
• No brevity instruction → subagent defaults to verbose synthesis
• 5+ questions → split into multiple subagent calls
• Wrong tool for the type → web_search for code questions misses signatures
• web_search on main agent → do it in a subagent instead