| name | research |
| description | Systematic research before planning - gather documentation, security concerns, tech stack analysis, and community insights. Use when user says "let's research", "research this", "investigate", "look into", or needs to understand a technology or feature before planning. |
| allowed-tools | Read, Edit, Glob, Grep, Task, WebFetch, WebSearch |
Research Skill
Conducts systematic research and creates living documents in _RESEARCH/.
When to Use
- Before planning new features
- Evaluating technologies
- Security research
- Understanding dependencies
Workflow
Step 1: Parse Research Topic
- Extract topic from user input
- Normalize to SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE for filename
- Check if
_RESEARCH/[TOPIC].md already exists
Step 2: Spawn Parallel Research Tasks
Use Task tool to run these in parallel:
Documentation Research:
- Find official documentation
- Identify API references
- Locate getting started guides
- Check for migration guides
Security Research:
- Search for known CVEs
- Find security advisories
- Identify auth/authz concerns
- Check dependency vulnerabilities
Tech Stack Analysis:
- Identify required dependencies
- Check Node.js/browser compatibility
- Analyze bundle size implications
- Find TypeScript definitions
Community Research:
- Search GitHub issues for common problems
- Find Stack Overflow discussions
- Identify known gotchas
- Gather performance tips
Step 3: Consolidate Findings
- Merge findings into structured document
- Identify conflicts between sources
- Assign confidence levels
- Highlight critical risks
Step 4: Create/Update Research Document
Save to _RESEARCH/[TOPIC].md using the template format.
Research Freshness
- Fresh (0-14 days): Current and reliable
- Aging (15-30 days): Consider refreshing for major decisions
- Stale (30+ days): Update before using in plans
Output Format
## Research Complete: [Topic]
### Key Findings
- Finding 1
- Finding 2
- Finding 3
### Critical Risks
- Risk 1 (if any)
- Risk 2 (if any)
### Confidence: High/Medium/Low
Document saved: _RESEARCH/[TOPIC].md
Next steps:
- Review full research document
- "make a plan for..." to create implementation plan
- "update research on..." to gather more information
