research

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

1. Extract topic from user input
2. Normalize to SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE for filename
3. 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

1. Merge findings into structured document
2. Identify conflicts between sources
3. Assign confidence levels
4. 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