research

name	research
description	Validate technical assumptions from the plan against real APIs, libraries, and codebase before spec creation. Dispatches Smith to produce structured research docs.
user_invocable	true

Research

Validate technical assumptions from the plan against real APIs, libraries, and codebase before writing the spec.

---

If the user provides $ARGUMENTS, analyze them for: - A plan path - Specific APIs, libraries, or assumptions to focus on 1. **Plan must exist.** Ask the user for the plan path (e.g., `docs/plans/01-plan-mcp-foundation.md`). Read to confirm. 2. **PRD must exist.** Ask the user for the PRD path (e.g., `docs/PRD.md`). Read to confirm. No plan found. Recommend running `/plan` first. No PRD found. Recommend running `/requirements` first. 1. **Define output location:** - Determine the phase number from the plan filename (e.g., `01` from `01-plan-*`) - Ask the user for the research topic (e.g., `github-dependencies-api`) - Suggest default path: `docs/research/{NN}-research-{topic-kebab}.md` - If multiple research docs needed for the same phase, use distinct topics (e.g., `01-research-github-api.md`, `01-research-projects-v2.md`) - Ensure the `docs/research/` directory exists (create if needed)

2. Identify focus areas (optional):

   • Ask the user: "Are there specific APIs, libraries, or assumptions you want Smith to focus on? Or should he extract all assumptions from the plan?"

3. Dispatch using exactly these parameters — no more, no less:

   Agent(
       subagent_type="investigator",
       prompt="Research technical feasibility for the plan at {plan_path}. PRD for context: {prd_path}. Save the research document to {research_path}. {focus_areas_or_empty}Read the plan to extract all technical assumptions and external dependencies, then validate each one against real documentation and the existing codebase."
   )
   

   Do NOT add extra parameters unless the user explicitly requests it.

1. Verify the research doc was created at the agreed path 2. Show the user Smith's report summary: how many assumptions confirmed/contradicted Present each contradiction clearly. Ask: "These contradictions need to be resolved before creating the spec. Do you want to adjust the plan first, or proceed to `/spec` with these known issues?" Recommend proceeding with `/spec` referencing the plan and research doc.