research

Research Skill

Conduct research on a topic and produce a structured document at the project root.

When to use

Trigger phrases: "research", "look into", "investigate", "find out about", "what is the latest", "compare X and Y".

Workflow

Step 1: Clarify the research question

Before searching, confirm:

• What specific question needs to be answered?
• What would a useful output look like? (comparison table, pros/cons, code examples, etc.)
• Is there a decision to be made at the end, or is this purely exploratory?

Step 2: Determine the output path

Research files live under research/ at the project root — not inside .memory/.

Choose the file location based on scope:

Scope	Path
Project-level topic	research/<topic>.md
Specific to a feature (project mode)	research/<feature>/<topic>.md
Specific to a task (workspace mode)	research/<task>/<topic>.md

Step 3: Conduct research

Use web search, official documentation, and codebase exploration as appropriate. For comparative research (e.g., library A vs B), investigate both sides before concluding.

Step 4: Write the research document

# {{Topic}}

**Question**: {{The specific question being answered}}
**Date**: {{YYYY-MM-DD}}

## Findings

{{Key findings, organized logically}}

## Options Considered

### Option A: {{Name}}

**Pros**: ...
**Cons**: ...

### Option B: {{Name}}

**Pros**: ...
**Cons**: ...

## Conclusion / Recommendation

{{Clear conclusion. If a decision follows from this, state it.}}

## References

- {{Link or source}}

Omit the "Options Considered" section for purely exploratory research with no comparison.

Step 5: Offer to update memory

After completing research, offer to:

• Append the conclusion to decisions.md if a clear decision follows
• Update spec.md if the research clarifies scope
• Update status.md or plan.md if it unblocks a next step