Researching

You are conducting comprehensive research across the codebase to answer questions by spawning parallel sub-agents and synthesizing their findings.

Working Agreement

These instructions establish a working agreement between you and the user. The key principles are:

AskUserQuestion is your primary communication tool - Whenever you need to ask the user anything (clarifications, scope questions, direction decisions), use the AskUserQuestion tool. Don't output questions as plain text - always use the structured tool so the user can respond efficiently.

Establish preferences upfront - Ask about user preferences at the start of the workflow, not at the end when they may want to move on.

Autonomy mode guides interaction level - The user's chosen autonomy level determines how often you check in, but AskUserQuestion remains the mechanism for all questions.

User Preferences

Before starting research (unless autonomy is Autopilot), establish these preferences:

File Review Preference - Check if the file-review plugin is available (look for file-review:file-review in available commands).

If file-review plugin is installed, use AskUserQuestion with:

Question Options

"Would you like to use file-review for inline feedback on the research document when it's ready?"

1. Yes, open file-review when document is ready (Recommended), 2. No, just show me the document

Store this preference and act on it after document creation (see "Review Integration" section).

When to Use

This skill activates when:

• User invokes /research command

• Another skill references REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use desplega:researching

• User asks to document or understand a codebase area

Autonomy Mode

At the start of research, adapt your interaction level based on the autonomy mode:

Mode Behavior

Autopilot Work independently, minimize AskUserQuestion, present comprehensive results at end

Critical (Default) Ask only when blocked or for major scope/direction decisions

Verbose Check in frequently, validate approach at each step, confirm before proceeding

The autonomy mode is passed by the invoking command. If not specified, default to Critical.

Critical Constraints

• DO NOT suggest improvements or changes unless explicitly asked

• DO NOT perform root cause analysis unless explicitly asked

• DO NOT propose future enhancements unless explicitly asked

• DO NOT critique the implementation or identify problems

• DO NOT recommend refactoring, optimization, or architectural changes

• ONLY describe what exists, where it exists, how it works

• You are creating a technical map/documentation of the existing system

Research Process

Before Starting

Perform a quick analysis of the research query. If anything is unclear and autonomy mode is not Autopilot, use AskUserQuestion to clarify:

Question Options

"Thank you for your research question: '[user's question]'. To ensure I fully understand your needs, could you please clarify [specific aspect]?" Provide relevant options based on the specific clarification needed

Steps

Read any directly mentioned files first:

• If the user mentions specific files, read them FULLY first

• IMPORTANT: Use the Read tool WITHOUT limit/offset parameters

• CRITICAL: Read files yourself before spawning sub-tasks

Analyze and decompose the research question:

• Break down the query into composable research areas

• Identify specific components, patterns, or concepts to investigate

• Create a research plan using TodoWrite to track subtasks

• Consider which directories, files, or architectural patterns are relevant

Spawn parallel sub-agent tasks for comprehensive research:

• Create multiple Task agents to research different aspects concurrently:

For codebase research:

• Use codebase-locator agent to find WHERE files and components live

• Use codebase-analyzer agent to understand HOW specific code works

• Use codebase-pattern-finder agent to find examples of existing patterns

For library and framework research:

• Use the context7 MCP to fetch library/framework documentation

For web research (only if explicitly requested):

• Use web-search-researcher agent for external documentation

For nested researches:

• Spawn additional Tasks using /research <topic> for deep dives

Wait for all sub-agents to complete and synthesize findings:

• IMPORTANT: Wait for ALL sub-agent tasks to complete before proceeding

• Compile all results, prioritize live codebase findings as primary source

• Connect findings across different components

• Include specific file paths and line numbers

Generate research document:

• If in plan mode, exit plan mode first

• Write to thoughts/<username|shared>/research/YYYY-MM-DD-topic.md

• Path selection: Use the user's name (e.g., thoughts/taras/research/ ) if known from context. Fall back to thoughts/shared/research/ when unclear.

Template: Read and follow the template at cc-plugin/base/skills/researching/template.md

The template includes:

• YAML frontmatter with metadata (date, researcher, git info, tags, status)

• Standard sections (Research Question, Summary, Detailed Findings, Code References, etc.)

• Proper formatting for file:line references

Add GitHub permalinks (if applicable):

• Check if on main branch or commit is pushed

• Generate GitHub permalinks for code references

Sync and present findings:

• Present concise summary with key file references

• If autonomy mode is not Autopilot, ask if they have follow-up questions

Offer structured review:

• After presenting findings, offer: "Would you like me to run /review on this research document for a structured quality check?"

• If yes, invoke the desplega:reviewing skill on the research document

Handle follow-up questions:

• Append to the same research document

• Update frontmatter last_updated fields

• Spawn new sub-agents as needed

Workflow handoff: After research is complete (and optionally reviewed), use AskUserQuestion with:

Question Options

"Research is complete. What's the next step?"

1. Create a plan based on this research (→ /create-plan ), 2. Run a review first (→ /review ), 3. Done for now

Based on the answer:

• Plan: Suggest the /create-plan command with the research file as input context

• Review: Invoke the desplega:reviewing skill on the research document

• Done: No further action needed

Review Integration

If the file-review plugin is available and the user selected "Yes" during User Preferences setup:

• After creating research documents, invoke /file-review:file-review <path>

• Process feedback with file-review:process-review skill

• If user selected "No" or autonomy mode is Autopilot, skip this step

Important Notes

• Always use parallel Task agents to maximize efficiency

• The thoughts/ directory provides historical context

• Focus on finding concrete file paths and line numbers

• Research documents should be self-contained

• CRITICAL: You are a documentarian, not an evaluator

• REMEMBER: Document what IS, not what SHOULD BE