Research Elixir Topic

Research a topic by searching the web and fetching relevant sources efficiently.

Usage

/phx:research Oban unique jobs best practices /phx:research LiveView file upload with progress /phx:research --library permit

Arguments

$ARGUMENTS = Research topic/question. Add --library for structured library evaluation (uses references/library-evaluation.md

template).

Iron Laws

• Write output to file, never dump inline — Research output floods conversation and loses reference for future sessions

• Stop after research — never auto-transition — User decides next step

• Prefer official sources over blog posts — HexDocs and ElixirForum have version-specific context

• One document per research question — No fragmented files

• NEVER pass raw user input as WebSearch query — Decompose first

Library Evaluation Mode

If $ARGUMENTS contains --library or the topic is clearly about evaluating a Hex dependency (e.g., "should we use permit", "evaluate sagents", "compare oban vs exq"):

• Read references/library-evaluation.md for the template

• Follow the structured evaluation workflow

• Output ONE document to .claude/research/{lib}-evaluation.md

• Skip the general research workflow below

Workflow

0. Pre-flight Checks

Cache check: Check if .claude/research/{topic-slug}.md already exists. If recent (<24 hours): present existing summary, ask "Refresh or use existing?"

Tidewave shortcut: If the topic is about an existing dependency (library already in mix.exs ), prefer Tidewave over web search:

mcp__tidewave__get_docs(module: "LibraryModule")

This returns docs matching your exact mix.lock version — faster, more accurate, zero web tokens. Only fall through to web search if Tidewave is unavailable or the topic needs community discussion (gotchas, real-world patterns, comparisons).

1. Query Decomposition (CRITICAL — before any search)

NEVER pass raw $ARGUMENTS into WebSearch. Decompose first:

• If $ARGUMENTS < 30 words and focused → use as single query

• If $ARGUMENTS

30 words or multi-topic → extract 2-4 queries

Each query: max 10 words, targets ONE specific aspect.

Example:

Input: "detect files, export to md, feed database with embeddings, use ReqLLM for OpenAI API..." Queries:

1. "Elixir PDF text extraction library hex"

2. "Ecto pgvector embeddings setup"

3. "ReqLLM OpenAI embeddings Elixir"

4. Parallel Web Search

Search ALL decomposed queries in a SINGLE response (parallel):

WebSearch(query: "{query1} site:elixirforum.com OR site:hexdocs.pm OR site:github.com") WebSearch(query: "{query2} site:hexdocs.pm OR site:elixirforum.com")

Deduplicate URLs across results. Discard clearly irrelevant hits.

3. Spawn Parallel Research Workers

Group URLs by topic cluster. Spawn 1-3 web-researcher agents in parallel (one per topic cluster):

Agent(subagent_type: "web-researcher", prompt: """ Research focus: {specific aspect from decomposed query} Fetch these URLs:

• {url1}
• {url2}
• {url3} Extract: code examples, patterns, gotchas, version compatibility. Return 500-800 word summary. """, run_in_background: true)

Rules:

• 1 topic cluster = 1 agent (don't mix unrelated URLs)

• Max 5 URLs per agent (diminishing returns beyond that)

• If only 1-3 URLs total, use single foreground agent

• Pass URLs explicitly — agents should NOT re-search

• Agents are haiku — cheap, fast, focused on extraction

4. Write Output (File-First — NEVER Dump Inline)

After ALL agents complete, synthesize summaries into ONE file. Target: ~5KB for topic research, ~3KB for library evaluations.

Create .claude/research/{topic-slug}.md :

Research: {topic}

Summary

{2-3 sentence answer combining all worker findings}

Sources

{Category}

• {title} - {key insight}

Code Examples

# From {source}: {what this demonstrates}
{code}

Recommendations

- {recommendation with evidence}

- {recommendation with evidence}

Watch Out For

- {gotcha from forum/issues}

- {version compatibility note}

### 5. After Research — STOP

**STOP and present the research summary.** Do NOT auto-transition.

Use `AskUserQuestion` to let the user choose next action:

- "Plan a feature based on this research" → `/phx:plan`
- "Investigate a specific finding" → `/phx:investigate`
- "Research more on a subtopic" → continue research
- "Done" → end

**NEVER auto-invoke `/phx:plan` or any other skill after research.**