research-workspace

name	research-workspace
description	Route AI research workspace work across the evidence graph. Use for broad research tasks, choosing which research sub-skill applies, or updating the dashboard after experiment, claims, synthesis, or reference work.

Research Workspace

Role

This is the router skill. Use it first for broad research work, then load the smallest sub-skill that matches the task:

• research-experiment: creating experiments, running commands, recording run evidence.
• research-claims: updating OPEN_QUESTIONS.md, CLAIMS.md, and DECISIONS.md.
• research-synthesis: batch/branch review after several experiments.
• research-references: paper cards and outside evidence.
• research-director: rank next experiments, decide what not to run, and select the next scorecard.
• plan-research-goal: drafting a /goal prompt for autonomous research.
• aha-moment: personal "now it clicked" notes in AHA/.

Keep this skill small. Detailed procedures live in the sub-skills.

Read Order

1. RESEARCH.md (its program router names the active direction)
2. programs/index.yml, then the program card the task belongs to
3. OPEN_QUESTIONS.md
4. CLAIMS.md
5. DECISIONS.md
6. experiments/index.yml
7. the selected scorecard in factory/scorecards/
8. relevant experiment folders

Evidence Graph

Q question -> H hypothesis -> E experiment -> R run -> C claim -> D decision

Programs (RP###) group this graph by research direction. Resolve which program the task serves before experiment work; if none is named, work the highest-priority active program in the RESEARCH.md router.

Quality Bar

Each experiment should make one of these moves:

• answer a question;
• falsify a hypothesis;
• strengthen/weaken a claim;
• expose a blocker;
• eliminate a candidate direction.

If none of those happened, record it as a scratch run, not a serious experiment.

Always Do

• Keep RESEARCH.md short.
• Keep the live belief files compressed enough to inspect quickly.
• Never use the root README as an experiment ledger.
• Separate facts, hypotheses, and decisions.
• Prefer linked evidence IDs over narrative memory.
• When a concept clicks for the user, load aha-moment and capture it in AHA/.
• Run tools/validate_research_workspace.py after structural changes.

Periodic Compression

After about five serious experiments in a branch, use research-synthesis. The branch should get an explicit continue/stop/pivot decision.

Before starting a new autonomous /goal loop, use research-director if the next experiment is not already a direct consequence of the latest decision.