| name | king-research |
| description | Build an open-web research corpus on a topic using the king-research pipeline (generate → search → chunk → enrich → export) and auto-index it for later search. Trigger when the user asks to research / pesquisar / build a corpus / find sources / survey state-of-the-art on a general topic (papers, blog posts, discussions, comparisons). Do NOT trigger when the user points to a specific product documentation site — use the scraper-workflow skill for that. Do NOT trigger when the user wants to query already-indexed content — use the king-context skill (`kctx search`) for that. |
King Research — Topic Research Skill
Invoke king-research to build a research corpus on any topic. The user describes what they want; you extract the topic, pick the effort mode, and run the pipeline.
When to use this skill
| User wants... | Use |
|---|
| Sources on an open-web topic (papers, blog posts, discussions) | king-research (this skill) |
| A specific product/API doc site scraped | scraper-workflow (king-scrape) |
| To query already-indexed content | king-context (kctx search) |
If the user already mentions a URL or a specific product's docs, hand off to scraper-workflow.
Step 1: Extract the topic
Pull the topic from the user's message as a concise phrase (2–6 words).
Rules:
- Strip filler: "please", "por favor", "pode fazer", "quero que", "me faça".
- Keep semantic qualifiers: "for RAG pipelines", "in production", "2025".
- Prefer the user's wording over paraphrase.
- Quote multi-word topics when passing to the CLI.
If the topic is vague (e.g. "faz um research aí", "pesquise algo"), ask ONE clarifying question before running: "What topic?"
Step 2: Pick the effort mode
Explicit signals (override inference)
| Signal in the user's message | Mode |
|---|
| "rápido", "quick", "basic", "só uma ideia", "overview", "simples" | --basic |
| (no qualifier) | --medium (default) |
| "detalhado", "aprofundado", "profundo", "detailed", "in-depth", "completo" | --high |
| "exaustivo", "estado da arte", "thorough", "comprehensive", "state of the art", "máximo", "tudo que tiver" | --extrahigh |
Inferred from complexity (when no explicit signal)
| Topic shape | Mode |
|---|
| Narrow, well-known (e.g. "httpx timeouts") | --basic |
| Standard technical topic (e.g. "prompt caching strategies") | --medium (default) |
| Broad or comparative (e.g. "RAG vs fine-tuning") | --high |
| Bleeding-edge / multi-domain survey (e.g. "mixture of experts state of the art 2025") | --extrahigh |
Cost & time budget
| Mode | Initial queries | Deepening iterations | ~Time | API cost |
|---|
--basic | 3 | 0 | ~30s | minimal |
--medium | 5 | 1 | ~2 min | low |
--high | 8 | 2 | ~5 min | medium |
--extrahigh | 12 | 3 | ~10 min | high |
For --high or --extrahigh, state the expected time before running so the user isn't surprised. No need to ask permission — just warn.
Step 3: Run the pipeline
.king-context/bin/king-research "<topic>" --<mode> --yes
Flags to remember:
--yes / -y — skip the enrichment cost prompt (default ON from this skill; the user invoked us to do the work, not to be interrupted).--name <slug> — override the auto-generated slug (rarely needed; only if the user explicitly names it).--no-auto-index — don't auto-index into .king-context/research/ (rarely; only if the user explicitly asks for JSON-only output).--step <stage> / --stop-after <stage> — resume or partial-run (only for debugging; don't use proactively).
Pipeline stages (for reference when resuming): generate → search → chunk → enrich → export.
Step 4: Report + hand off to search
After the pipeline finishes, report concisely:
- The slug it was saved under (auto-indexed in
.king-context/research/<slug>/).
- Section count.
- Example commands to search it.
Template:
Indexed "<slug>" — N sections. Try:
kctx search "<keyword>" --doc <slug>
kctx topics <slug>
kctx list research
Don't dump the full topic tree or section titles — let the user drive the search.
Error handling
| Error | Action |
|---|
EXA_API_KEY is not set | "Set EXA_API_KEY in .king-context/.env or ./.env, then retry." |
OPENROUTER_API_KEY missing | Same — both are required (query generation + enrichment). |
| Zero results from Exa | Topic may be too niche or mis-spelled. Suggest rephrasing or adding context. |
| Pipeline fails with "no chunks" or "no enriched sections" | Report which stage; usually means the topic returned no fetchable pages. Try broadening the topic. |
| User hit a high/extrahigh run by mistake | Remind them Ctrl+C cancels; partial progress in .king-context/_temp/research/<slug>/ is kept for resume via --step. |
Examples
Implicit mode (inferred from complexity)
User: "pesquise sobre chain of thought prompting"
→ Topic: "chain of thought prompting"
→ Standard technical topic → --medium
→ .king-context/bin/king-research "chain of thought prompting" --medium --yes
→ "Indexed chain-of-thought-prompting — 14 sections."
Explicit mode — quick
User: "faz um research rápido sobre retry backoff"
→ Topic: "retry backoff"
→ Signal "rápido" → --basic
→ .king-context/bin/king-research "retry backoff" --basic --yes
Explicit mode — exhaustive
User: "quero tudo sobre mixture of experts, estado da arte"
→ Topic: "mixture of experts"
→ Signal "estado da arte" → --extrahigh
→ Warn: "~10 minutes and higher API cost — proceeding"
→ .king-context/bin/king-research "mixture of experts" --extrahigh --yes
Comparative (inferred high)
User: "compare RAG vs fine-tuning for code assistants"
→ Topic: "RAG vs fine-tuning code assistants"
→ Comparative, broad → --high
→ .king-context/bin/king-research "RAG vs fine-tuning code assistants" --high --yes
Vague topic (ask first)
User: "faz um research aí"
→ Ask: "What topic?"
→ (wait for reply, then resume from Step 1)
User provides a URL — hand off
User: "research stripe docs"
→ This is a doc site, not an open-web topic.
→ Hand off to scraper-workflow: king-scrape https://docs.stripe.com
