[WHAT] Deep Research Intelligence System — Unified research orchestration with recursive confidence, multi-perspective synthesis, and session management.
[HOW] Routes based on query complexity: QUICK (brave/firecrawl), STANDARD (multi-tool), DEEP (valyu+oracle)
[WHEN] Any research, search, or information gathering task
[WHY] Eliminates decision fatigue - one entry point routes to optimal backend(s)
Keywords: search, research, deep, oracle, sherlock, social, investigate, analyze
[WHAT] Deep Research Intelligence System — Unified research orchestration with recursive confidence, multi-perspective synthesis, and session management.
[HOW] Routes based on query complexity: QUICK (brave/firecrawl), STANDARD (multi-tool), DEEP (valyu+oracle)
[WHEN] Any research, search, or information gathering task
[WHY] Eliminates decision fatigue - one entry point routes to optimal backend(s)
Keywords: search, research, deep, oracle, sherlock, social, investigate, analyze
/research — Deep Research Intelligence System v1.0
Sherlock Bytes: Where curiosity meets certainty.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 🔍 RESEARCH DASHBOARD │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ (q) Quick Search — Fast web/news lookup (Brave, Firecrawl) │
│ (d) Deep Research — Recursive confidence loops (Valyu) │
│ (s) Synthesis — Multi-source fusion (Oracle + perspectives) │
│ (e) Extract — Structured data extraction (Firecrawl) │
│ (c) Crawl — Full site analysis (Firecrawl) │
│ (t) Track — Session management (list/resume/export) │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Session: {session_id} | Storage: ~/.config/LEV/research/{date}/{slug}/ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
/search Tag Routing
Tag
Mode
Tools
Description
quick
⚡ Fast
brave-search, firecrawl
Web lookup, default mode
full
🔄 Standard
brave + firecrawl + valyu
Multi-source synthesis
deep
🐢 Recursive
valyu research
Confidence loops until 85%
max
🐢🐢 Team
spawn research team
Full team-based analysis
sherlock
🔍 OSINT
Sherlock Bytes protocol
Investigation mode
cdo
🧠 CDO
Multi-perspective overlay
MBTI + role personas
Usage:
/search quick "query"# Fast web search
/search deep "query"# Recursive until confident
/search sherlock "query"# OSINT investigation
/search cdo # Multi-perspective on context
Timetravel Integration (v1.0)
The timetravel adapter library provides a unified programmatic layer for all research backends.
Individual CLI tools (brave-search, firecrawl, valyu, etc.) remain available for direct use.
timetravel search "query" --strategy quick # Fast web search
timetravel search "query" --strategy deep # Recursive with synthesis
timetravel search "query" --strategy social # Social/trending
timetravel search "query" --strategy academic # Papers + neural
timetravel search "query" --strategy max # All adapters + synthesis
timetravel search "query" --adapter brave # Single adapter
timetravel status # Adapter availability dashboard
Job System
timetravel job create -q "AI frameworks 2026" -s deep # Create recurring job
timetravel job list # List all jobs
timetravel job run <id> # Execute a job
CRITICAL: Read This Entire File First
Before ANY research operation:
This skill file MUST be fully loaded into context
Initialize session via research init "<query>" or auto-create
All outputs save to XDG-compliant ~/.config/LEV/research/ structure
Validate outputs before marking complete
Invocation Contract (Mandatory)
This section is normative and overrides convenience behavior.
If user input contains $research, /search, or an explicit search tag request, route through the /search shim contract first.
/search is a Claude Code command shim only. It is defined in ~/.claude/commands/search.md.
Non-Claude runtimes MUST still apply the same tag parsing semantics from the shim:
quick|full|deep|max|sherlock|cdo
no tag => quick
$research default => deep unless user overrides
Direct backend calls (brave, firecrawl, valyu, etc.) are allowed only:
# Initialize new research session
research init "What are the best AI agent frameworks in 2026?"# Resume existing session
research resume 20260203-2248_ai-agent-frameworks
# List all sessions
research list [--status=open|completed|all]
# Export session to markdown
research export <session-id> --format=md|json|pdf
# Validate session outputs
research validate <session-id>
# Mark session complete
research complete <session-id>
Triggers: "twitter", "reddit", "social", "trending", "sentiment"
Route: grok + last30days
Example: "what's trending about AI on Twitter"
DEEP (Full orchestration)
Triggers: "research", "deep", "comprehensive", "analyze", "compare", "investigate", "sherlock"
Route: valyu research -> oracle (synthesis)
Example: "research the state of AI safety in 2026"
Workflow Patterns
Pattern 1: Quick Search (1-2 min)
# User: "What is X?"
brave search "X" -n 5
# → Return top results with snippets
Pattern 2: Standard Research (5-10 min)
# User: "Research X thoroughly"
research init "X"
brave search "X"# Get overview
firecrawl scrape <top-3-urls> # Deep content
valyu answer "X"# Synthesize
research complete
Pattern 3: Deep Research (15-30 min)
# User: "Deep dive into X"
research init "X" --depth=deep
valyu research "X" -n 5 -t 0.85 # Recursive until confident# Multi-perspective overlay:
valyu answer "X from engineering perspective"
valyu answer "X market analysis"
valyu answer "X user experience implications"
oracle -p "Synthesize all findings" -f artifacts/*.json
research validate && research complete
Pattern 4: Comprehensive (30-60 min, spawn team)
# User: "Complete analysis of X"# Spawn research team:# • Lead Researcher (coordinator)# • Domain Expert (valyu recursive)# • Source Validator (firecrawl extraction)# • Synthesizer (oracle GPT-5)# Parallel workstreams with validation gates# Consolidated final report
Multi-Perspective Overlays
MBTI-Inspired Personas
Persona
Lens
Query Modification
Architect (INTJ)
Systems/Strategy
"architectural implications of X"
Analyst (INTP)
Logic/Theory
"theoretical foundations of X"
Commander (ENTJ)
Execution/ROI
"business case for X"
Visionary (ENTP)
Innovation
"disruptive potential of X"
Mediator (INFP)
Values/Ethics
"ethical considerations of X"
Advocate (INFJ)
Long-term Impact
"societal implications of X"
Role-Based Perspectives
Role
Focus
Example Query
UX Designer
User needs
"user pain points with X"
Security Engineer
Vulnerabilities
"security risks of X"
Product Manager
Market fit
"competitive landscape for X"
DevOps
Operations
"operational complexity of X"
Legal
Compliance
"regulatory requirements for X"
CDO (Cognitive Diversity Overlay)
Run these in parallel for comprehensive coverage:
Breadth First: Wide exploration, many sources
Depth First: Deep dive into top 3 sources
Contrarian: "arguments against X"
Historical: "evolution of X over time"
Future: "X predictions 2027-2030"
Output Templates
Synthesis Template
# Research Synthesis: {query}**Session**: {session_id}
**Date**: {date}
**Confidence**: {confidence}%
## Executive Summary
{2-3 sentence overview}
## Key Findings
1. {finding with source citation}
2. {finding with source citation}
3. {finding with source citation}
## Evidence
| Claim | Source | Confidence |
|-------|--------|------------|
| {claim} | [{source}]({url}) | {high/medium/low} |
## Perspectives Analyzed
- **{perspective_1}**: {summary}
- **{perspective_2}**: {summary}
## Open Questions
- {question requiring further research}
## Sources
{numbered list with URLs}
---
*Generated by Sherlock Bytes v1.0 | Validated: {validation_status}*
Validation Rules
Before marking any research session complete, validate:
For requests requiring >30 min or multi-domain expertise:
# Team spawned via Task toolname:DeepResearchTeamroles:-Lead Researcher (coordinator):valyu,brave,research-cli-Source Hunter (worker):firecrawl,brave-Domain Expert (worker):valyu,oracle-Validator (qa):research-clivalidation
Environment Variables
# Required (in ~/.env.local)
BRAVE_API_KEY=... # Brave Search API
FIRECRAWL_API_KEY=... # Firecrawl API
VALYU_API_KEY=... # Valyu API
OPENAI_API_KEY=... # Oracle (GPT-5)# Optional
EXA_API_KEY=... # Exa neural search
XAI_API_KEY=... # Grok/X search
TAVILY_API_KEY=... # Tavily AI search
Quick Reference
Command
Purpose
brave-search search "<query>"
Fast web search
brave-search news "<query>"
News search
firecrawl scrape <url>
Extract page content
firecrawl crawl <url>
Crawl entire site
firecrawl search "<query>"
Search + scrape
valyu search "<query>"
AI-optimized search
valyu answer "<query>"
Grounded AI answer
valyu research "<query>"
Recursive confidence
oracle -p "<prompt>" -f ...
GPT-5.2 Pro synthesis
Backend Reference
Backend
CLI
Tools
brave
brave-search
search, news, video, image, local, status
firecrawl
firecrawl
scrape, crawl, map, extract, batch, search, status
valyu
valyu
search, answer, contents, research
oracle
oracle
prompt + file synthesis
exa
scripts
search, content
grok
scripts
research
tavily
scripts
search, extract
last30days
scripts
search, trends
Version History
Version
Date
Changes
1.0.0
2026-02-09
Timetravel adapter library integration, 10 adapters, 6 strategies, job system
0.9.0
2026-02-03
Unified skill, XDG storage, validation, CLI tools
0.8.x
2026-01
Individual backend skills
🔍 Sherlock Bytes — "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
Technique Map
Role definition - Clarifies operating scope and prevents ambiguous execution.
Context enrichment - Captures required inputs before actions.
Output structuring - Standardizes deliverables for consistent reuse.
Step-by-step workflow - Reduces errors by making execution order explicit.
Edge-case handling - Documents safe fallbacks when assumptions fail.
Technique Notes
These techniques improve reliability by making intent, inputs, outputs, and fallback paths explicit. Keep this section concise and additive so existing domain guidance remains primary.
Prompt Architect Overlay
Role Definition
You are the prompt-architect-enhanced specialist for lev-research, responsible for deterministic execution of this skill's guidance while preserving existing workflow and constraints.
Input Contract
Required: clear user intent and relevant context for this skill.
Preferred: repository/project constraints, existing artifacts, and success criteria.
If context is missing, ask focused questions before proceeding.
Output Contract
Provide structured, actionable outputs aligned to this skill's existing format.
Include assumptions and next steps when appropriate.
Preserve compatibility with existing sections and related skills.
Edge Cases & Fallbacks
If prerequisites are missing, provide a minimal safe path and request missing inputs.
If scope is ambiguous, narrow to the highest-confidence sub-task.
If a requested action conflicts with existing constraints, explain and offer compliant alternatives.
