research-general

name	research-general
description	Perform a broad landscape scan on any topic. Use when user asks for an "overview of", "landscape", "what's out there on", "broad research on", "survey of", or wants a wide but shallow scan before diving deeper.

Research General

Perform a wide landscape scan on a topic — identify key players, solutions, tradeoffs, and where to dig deeper.

Workflow

Phase 1: Research

Gather information from two sources. Research each source independently, then aggregate findings.

Note: General research is wide, not deep — only docs_researcher and web_researcher are used. Skip repo_analyzer.

From Official Documentation (docs_researcher)

• Identify the primary sources and authorities on the topic
• Official definitions, standards, or specifications
• Key organizations or companies involved
• Canonical resources and reference material
• Current state of the art or best practices
• Industry reports or white papers if available

From Community Content (web_researcher)

• Blog posts, articles, and opinion pieces on the topic
• Video resources (talks, tutorials, conference presentations)
• Community discussions (Reddit, HN, forums)
• Comparison and "state of" articles
• Different perspectives and schools of thought
• Emerging trends and recent developments
• Real-world case studies and experience reports

Practical Articles Research (web_researcher — separate search)

Run a dedicated second search specifically targeting practitioner-oriented content. Use queries like "practical guide to {topic}", "{topic} in production", "{topic} lessons learned", "{topic} tips and tricks", "real-world {topic}", "{topic} best practices".

Look for:

• Step-by-step implementation guides and tutorials
• Production war stories and post-mortems
• "What I wish I knew before..." and "lessons learned" posts
• Checklists, decision frameworks, and rules of thumb
• Common mistakes and anti-patterns to avoid
• Cost/effort/complexity tradeoffs from practitioners
• Quick-start patterns and recommended defaults

Phase 2: Structure

Organize content into progressive levels. references/progressive-learning.md is the source of truth.

You MUST create exactly 5 levels in this order:

1. Level 1: Problem Space
2. Level 2: Key Players & Solutions
3. Level 3: Landscape Map
4. Level 4: Tradeoffs & Considerations
5. Level 5: Recommended Deep Dives

Do NOT merge, skip, or rename levels. The level names above are FINAL — use them exactly. The reference file provides depth and content guidelines only, not level names.

Phase 3: Output

Generate the research folder.

Output Format

Create the folder in the current working directory (./research_output/research-{topic}/) containing:

research_output/research-{topic}/
├── README.md                # Overview and how to use this research summary
├── landscape.md             # The full landscape map with categories and players
├── practical-takeaways.md   # Actionable advice sourced from practitioner articles
├── resources.md             # All links organized by source and category
└── learning-path.md         # Main content following the five levels

practical-takeaways.md Guidelines

This file distills practitioner wisdom into immediately actionable content. It should be sourced primarily from the dedicated practical articles research, NOT rehashed from landscape.md or learning-path.md. Structure it with sections like:

• Getting Started — recommended defaults, quick-start patterns, minimal viable setup
• When to Use / When to Avoid — concrete decision criteria with examples
• Common Mistakes — anti-patterns and pitfalls practitioners have documented
• Production Considerations — cost, scaling, monitoring, and operational tips
• Community Tips — distilled advice from blog posts, forums, and experience reports

Include code snippets, checklists, or decision tables where the source material supports them.