foundry-research

name

foundry-research

description

AI-powered research skill with five workflows - chat (single-model conversation), consensus (multi-model synthesis), thinkdeep (systematic investigation), ideate (creative brainstorming), and deep (multi-phase web research). Supports persistent threads and research sessions. TRIGGER when: user asks for research, consultation, brainstorming, investigation, or deep research. Always route through this skill — never call mcp__plugin_foundry_foundry-mcp__research directly. DO NOT TRIGGER when: a <command-name> tag is present in the current turn (skill already loaded), called from a subagent, simple factual questions answerable from context, or codebase exploration (use Explore agent instead).

Research Skill

Overview

• Purpose: AI-powered research with multiple reasoning strategies
• Scope: Five workflows, persistent thread and session management
• Entry: Skill(foundry:foundry-research) or user invocation

Flow

[x?]=decision (GATE)=user approval →=sequence

- **Entry** → [route?]
  - [explicit?] → Dispatch → Execute → Persist thread → Response + thread_id
  - [thread-id?] → Resume → Dispatch → Execute → Persist thread → Response + thread_id
  - [research-id?] → SessionMgmt
  - [sessions?] → ListSessions
  - [no args?] → (GATE: choose workflow) → AutoRoute → Dispatch → Execute → Persist thread → Response + thread_id
  - [deep research?] → (GATE: confirm query + params) → Start → Poll → Report (background execution)

CRITICAL for deep research workflow: Read references/deep-research-workflow.md before execution. Contains required polling strategy and MCP parameters.

Deep Research Status Monitoring

Call deep-research-status with long-poll (wait=true). The server blocks until progress occurs or timeout elapses.

1. Report progress to user when each call returns.
2. Repeat until status is completed or failed.
3. If 2 consecutive responses return "changed": false, offer user options via AskUserQuestion (keep waiting, cancel, narrow query).

CRITICAL — Do NOT supplement deep research with your own searches. While deep research is running, do NOT call WebSearch, WebFetch, tavily_search, tavily_extract, or any other web/research tools. The deep research workflow handles all source gathering internally. Only use external search tools if the user explicitly asks you to search independently. When deep research is in the SUPERVISION phase and progress seems slow, this is normal — report status and keep polling. Do not interpret normal processing time as a failure that needs workaround.

MCP Tooling

Router	Actions
research	chat, consensus, thinkdeep, ideate, deep-research, deep-research-status, deep-research-report, deep-research-list, deep-research-delete, deep-research-evaluate, thread-list, thread-get, thread-delete, node-execute, node-record, node-status, node-findings

MCP Contract

Action	Required	Optional	Errors
chat	prompt	thread_id, provider_id	THREAD_NOT_FOUND
consensus	prompt	providers, strategy	NO_MODELS_AVAILABLE
thinkdeep	prompt	thread_id, depth	MAX_DEPTH_EXCEEDED
ideate	prompt	thread_id, phase	INVALID_PHASE
deep-research	query	max_iterations, max_sub_queries, max_sources_per_query, follow_links	RESEARCH_TIMEOUT
deep-research-status	research_id	-	RESEARCH_NOT_FOUND
deep-research-report	research_id	-	RESEARCH_NOT_FOUND
deep-research-list	-	limit, completed_only	-
deep-research-delete	research_id	-	RESEARCH_NOT_FOUND
deep-research-evaluate	research_id	-	RESEARCH_NOT_FOUND
thread-*	thread_id	limit	THREAD_NOT_FOUND
node-status	spec_id, research_node_id	-	NODE_NOT_FOUND
node-execute	spec_id, research_node_id	prompt	NODE_NOT_FOUND, INVALID_TYPE
node-record	spec_id, research_node_id, result	summary, key_insights, recommendations, confidence	NODE_NOT_FOUND
node-findings	spec_id, research_node_id	-	NODE_NOT_FOUND, NO_FINDINGS

Workflow Selection

Signal	Workflow
Follow-up, iteration	chat
Multiple perspectives	consensus
Complex problem	thinkdeep
Brainstorming	ideate
Comprehensive research, multiple sources	deep research

User Gates

• No args: workflow selection
• Ambiguous: clarify before auto-route
• Consensus: strategy selection
• Ideate: phase transition
• Deep: pre-launch query confirmation, then progress updates during background execution

Output Formats

Workflow	Response
chat	{response, thread_id, model}
consensus	{responses[], synthesis, strategy}
thinkdeep	{findings[], confidence, thread_id}
ideate	{ideas[], phase, selected[]}
deep research	{research_id, status, report{summary, findings[], sources[], topic_research_results[], contradictions[], content_fidelity, evaluation}}

References

• Chat | Consensus | Deep
• ThinkDeep | Ideate
• Sessions | Auto-Route