| name | branch |
| description | Fork an in-flight research-agent run at its current checkpoint into a named branch with its own state, log, and attempts, sharing the parent's goal and findings read-only. Use to pursue a competing strategy without disturbing the main line. The synthesize skill later compares branches. |
Branch a Research Run
Fork the current run so a competing strategy can be explored in parallel with (or instead of) the main line, without touching the main line's state.
Step 1: Parse Arguments
Extract from the user's message:
- Branch name (required): kebab-case identifier, e.g.
induction-proof, adversarial-search. Derive one from the stated strategy if the user did not name it explicitly, and confirm it.
- Branch focus (optional): one or two sentences describing what this branch should pursue differently from the main line.
Step 2: Verify the Run and the Name
.research/goal.md must exist (Read tool); if not, there is nothing to branch: suggest /research-agent:research..research/branches/<name>/ must NOT already exist (Glob tool). If it does, offer /research-agent:resume <name> instead, or a different name.
Step 3: Launch the Researcher in Branch Mode
Spawn the researcher agent (Agent tool, subagent_type: research-agent:researcher) with this prompt structure:
<mode>branch</mode>
<branch>{kebab-case name}</branch>
<branch-focus>
{the focus, or "explore an alternative approach to the goal"}
</branch-focus>
<working_directory>
{absolute path to current working directory}
</working_directory>
Fork the run at its current checkpoint per your branch-mode
initialization. Never write to the parent's goal.md, log.md, or
state.md; all branch work lives under .research/branches/{name}/.
Step 4: Inform the User
Branch {name} forked from the current checkpoint. It works under .research/branches/{name}/ with its own state, log, and attempts; the goal and the parent's confirmed findings are shared read-only.
/research-agent:status shows all branches alongside the main line/research-agent:resume {name} continues this branch later/research-agent:synthesize {name} concludes just this branch; a main-line /research-agent:synthesize compares all branches
