| name | ultra-research |
| description | Dual-model deep research with adversarial cross-audit. Claude and Codex each run their own deep-research skill independently on the same question, then each audits the OTHER's citations (claim-support: PASS/WEAK/FAIL → trust-score + verdict), and Codex synthesizes one trust-weighted final report with a disagreement ledger. All 5 notes (2 reports, 2 audits, 1 final) + an index land in a persistent Obsidian-style vault; the main session returns a concise bullet summary. Use for high-stakes questions, when the user wants dual-model / cross-verified research, or when a prior deep-research run came back mixed / unreliable. For ordinary research, use claudex:deep-research instead. |
| license | MIT |
ultra-research
$SKILL_DIR is this skill's directory. The Python helper is scripts/vault.py;
prompts are in prompts/. Read each prompt when you reach its stage.
When to use (routing)
Prefer plain claudex:deep-research by default. Use ultra-research only when: the
question is high-stakes (policy/financial/factual gravity); the user explicitly
asks for dual-model or cross-verified research; or a prior deep-research run on the
topic returned mixed/unreliable citation integrity.
Setup
- Disambiguate like deep-research: if the question is underspecified, ask 2–3
clarifying questions, then proceed; else state one interpretation and proceed.
Never block mid-run after this point.
- Resolve paths and the run id:
VAULT="$(python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/vault.py" vaultpath)"
REFINED_QUESTION="$(cat <<'EOF'
EOF
)"
RUN="$(python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/vault.py" runid --date "$(date +%F)" --question "$REFINED_QUESTION")"
RUNDIR="$VAULT/$RUN"
mkdir -p "$RUNDIR"
```
The question must be passed as one safely quoted shell argument; do not inline it
inside double quotes where embedded quotes can break the command.
Stage 1 — independent research (parallel)
Stage 2 — adversarial cross-audit (parallel)
Each report is audited by the OTHER model; auditors are blind to each other.
Stage 3 — trust-weighted final synthesis
Dispatch codex:codex-rescue --write with prompts/final-synthesis.md, the four
absolute paths filled in. It writes $RUNDIR/90-final-report.md and prints a bullet
summary to stdout.
Index + present
Degraded branches (never hard-fail; always label)
Degraded notes get degraded: true in frontmatter AND a first-line banner:
> **⚠️ DEGRADED — single-model run; adversarial cross-audit merit absent.**
- A — no Codex report: do NOT fake adversarial merit. Base the final on Claude's
deep-research report (already deterministically verified). Optionally attach a
Claude self-audit ONLY if labeled
self-audit — NOT adversarial; equivalent to plain deep-research integrity. Write a degraded
90-final-report.md and a degraded 00-index.md.
- B — Codex audit failed: Claude audits Codex's report normally (adversarial in
that direction) AND self-audits its own report under the explicit
self-audit — NOT adversarial; equivalent to plain deep-research integrity label; proceed to Stage 3; mark the run partially
degraded.
- C — Codex synthesis failed: Claude writes
90-final-report.md from the four
inputs using the Stage-3 merge algorithm; set both author-model: claude and
synthesized-by: claude. Not full DEGRADED (all four inputs exist) — just note
the synthesis fallback.
Hard rules
- Each side's own deterministic citation verification still runs inside its own
report; the cross-audit is an ADDITIONAL adversarial layer.
- An auditor never audits its own report (except the explicitly-labelled degraded
self-audit, which never counts as adversarial merit).
- The
90-final-report.md file — not any stdout — is the canonical final report.
- Always deliver a labeled result; never stop to ask permission mid-run.
