research

name	research
description	Captures checked-in reference comparison in a durable local planning artifact and records wiki follow-up status.

Research

Use this skill when a canonical feature or durable subfeature needs explicit reference-project comparison recorded durably in the repository.

Responsibilities

1. Resolve exactly one feature or subfeature planning packet.
2. Review the relevant checked-in references, repo docs, and local planning packet.
3. Write <feature_path>/reference-research.md with the chosen borrowing path.
4. Record whether reusable wiki synthesis was written, skipped as non-reusable, or deferred because the wiki layer is absent.
5. When reusable synthesis is written into an existing wiki layer, update one focused wiki page plus that wiki root's index.md and log.md.

Required Output

• <feature_path>/reference-research.md

Resolve <feature_path> as either:

• <planning_dir>/<feature-slug>/

• <planning_dir>/<feature-slug>/subfeatures/<subfeature-id>/

• If .skills/planning.json defines planning_dir, use that as <planning_dir>.

• Otherwise default to docs/features.

Workflow

1. Resolve the target feature or subfeature using the existing planning registry.
2. Inspect the relevant checked-in references and the local planning packet.
3. Choose the preferred borrowing path and note lower-priority alternatives.
4. Run the helper with concrete research inputs so the result is written deterministically into reference-research.md.
5. If a derived wiki root already exists and the conclusion is reusable, record --wiki-status written plus one focused --wiki-page so the helper updates that page and the wiki index.md / log.md.
6. Stop after the local artifact and any requested wiki-layer updates are written. Downstream routing into discover, design, or review-planning belongs to later workflow steps.

Tooling

sirius research \
  docs/features/planning-workflow/subfeatures/reference-research-synthesis \
  --question "Which upstream pattern should own durable reference synthesis?" \
  --source "references/build-your-own-openclaw/: tutorial baseline" \
  --source "references/OpenHarness/: stronger workflow ownership patterns" \
  --chosen-reference "references/OpenHarness/" \
  --decision "Borrow the explicit skill-and-artifact pattern while keeping wiki updates optional." \
  --alternative "references/build-your-own-openclaw/: useful background, but too tutorial-shaped as the primary owner" \
  --wiki-status deferred \
  --wiki-note "Local artifact is written first; reusable wiki-page mutation lands in a later slice."

If the repository already has a derived wiki root and the reusable synthesis was written there, record that explicitly and let the helper update the wiki page, index, and log:

sirius research \
  planning-workflow \
  --question "Which proposal-management pattern should we reuse?" \
  --source "references/proposals/: current baseline" \
  --chosen-reference "references/proposals/" \
  --decision "Reuse the existing proposal lifecycle and extend it with local evidence." \
  --wiki-status written \
  --wiki-page "docs/wiki/concepts/proposal-research-patterns.md"

Guardrails

• Do not create a new planning lifecycle state for research.
• Do not auto-bootstrap a wiki layer when it is absent.
• Do not write wiki pages outside the derived wiki root.
• Do not write to a repository-global scratch file instead of the resolved planning packet.
• Do not silently guess across ambiguous scopes; require explicit --scope when needed.
• Do not absorb downstream discovery, design, or review changes into this skill unless the user explicitly asks for those later steps.