mini-research

Mini Research - Research Workflow

Execute a scaled-down research process—from asking questions, finding literature, reading papers, synthesizing findings, to writing conclusions—to preliminarily identify research topics suitable for scientific study.

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Authorization Rules

For the following operations, if authorization is required to continue, always automatically select options that mean "automatically authorize all for the current session", such as: "Yes, and don't ask again for ...":

• Various installation and startup operations
• Various web scraping operations
• Various directory and file operations

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Workspace Setup

1. Translate the topic to English (if not already in English)
2. Create a root directory using kebab-case format
3. Create all subsequent folders and files under this root directory

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Core Principles

AI Tool Usage Priority

For each step, select mature research-related AI tools in the following priority order:

1. MCP Server
2. Skill
3. Agent
4. Python 3 Scripts

AI Tool Installation Process

1. Search the internet for the top three research-specific MCPs
2. If not installed, install to the current user's current project, start it, and proceed
3. If no suitable MCP exists, find the top three research-specific Skills from authoritative sources, install and proceed
4. If no suitable Skills exist, use the current Agent itself
5. If a Python 3 script can quickly complete the operation, write and execute the relevant script, for example:
   • Detect whether related AI tools (MCP Server or Skill) are installed and available
   • Generate output results in different document formats
6. When running npx or npm install, append the parameter --registry https://registry.npmjs.org/

AI Tool Selection Criteria

• Sort by download count
• From officially recognized websites

Trigger Conditions

• When "AI tool" is mentioned in the prompt, follow the above principles to check operations. If already installed, skip the installation logic.
• When "output results" is mentioned in the prompt, output the current results as a Markdown format file

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Execution Steps

• Create directories for each of the following steps, named step1-..., step2-..., step3-...
• Files generated within each directory should be named in order of generation: 1.1-..., 1.2-..., 1.3-...

Step 1: Refine the Research Question

1. Multi-tool Decomposition

• Use three different AI tools to analyze and decompose the topic into three "sub-questions"
• Each tool independently decomposes once, outputting results separately

2. Validation and Screening

• Use AI tools to search and verify each "sub-question" in authoritative research literature databases
• Comparative analysis from 3-5 professional dimensions
• Select the one with the most research value and confirm it as the "research topic"
• Output results (including the thought process of verification)

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Step 2: Literature Search

1. Multi-tool Search

• Use three different AI tools to search for academic literature related to the "research topic"
• Each time select 5-8 high-quality core papers
  • Screening criteria: high citation count, reliable sources
  • Exclude: news and blog articles
• Output results separately

2. Comparative Screening

• Compare all search results from a professional perspective
• Select 5-8 papers (remove duplicates)
• Output results (including the thought process of comparison)

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Step 3: Literature Reading and Extraction

1. Multi-tool Reading

• Use three different AI tools to read the full text of each paper
• For each paper:
  • Focusing on the "research topic", summarize the core findings in one sentence
  • Identify the sample size and research methods used
  • Judge whether this makes the conclusion more credible or more questionable
  • Add paper citations to key arguments
• Output results

2. Comparative Screening

• Further comparative analysis
• Screen out the most appropriate and accurate one-sentence summary for each paper
• Output results (including comparison process, add paper citations at key points)

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Step 4: Comprehensive Analysis and Conflict Identification

1. Multi-tool Comprehensive Analysis

• Use three different AI tools to comprehensively analyze the extracted findings from 5-8 papers
• Answer the following questions:
  • What are the common conclusions of these studies?
  • Are there any contradictions or disagreements between them?
  • What questions have not been well answered?

2. Comparative Screening

• Analyze and compare to select the most reasonable conclusions
• Output results

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Step 5: Write Mini Research Summary

Based on the above research results, write a 500-800 word research summary with the following structure:

【Research Question】
The question I want to answer is: ___

【Main Findings】
Existing research shows: ___ (2-3 core conclusions, with sources noted)

【Disagreements Among Studies】
Different studies have contradictions in the following aspects: ___

【Unanswered Questions】
The scientific community has not yet adequately answered: ___

【Implications for Us】
If I were a product manager, these findings would make me want to: ___

Output results (in HTML, Markdown, and PDF formats)

• First output the Markdown format file
• Based on the generated Markdown file, generate HTML and PDF
  • HTML uses a minimalist style and is mobile-responsive

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Output Format Template

Each step's output should be saved to the workspace root directory with the following naming convention:

• step1-question-refinement/ - Contains each tool's decomposition results and final research topic
• step2-literature-search/ - Contains each tool's search results and filtered paper list
• step3-literature-reading/ - Contains reading notes and summaries for each paper
• step4-comprehensive-analysis/ - Contains analysis results and conflict identification
• step5-research-summary/ - Contains final summary in three format files

Final output files:

• research-summary.html
• research-summary.md
• research-summary.pdf