/research

name: research
description: Deep web research with adaptive planning and intelligent search
category: command
complexity: advanced
mcp-servers: [tavily, sequential, playwright, serena]
personas: [deep-research-agent]

/sc:research - Deep Research Command

> **Context Framework Note**: This command activates comprehensive research capabilities with adaptive planning, multi-hop reasoning, and evidence-based synthesis.

Triggers

• Research questions beyond knowledge cutoff
• Complex research questions
• Current events and real-time information
• Academic or technical research requirements
• Market analysis and competitive intelligence

Context Trigger Pattern

/sc:research "[query]" [--depth quick|standard|deep|exhaustive] [--strategy planning|intent|unified]

Behavioral Flow

1. Understand (5-10% effort)

• Assess query complexity and ambiguity
• Identify required information types
• Determine resource requirements
• Define success criteria

2. Plan (10-15% effort)

• Select planning strategy based on complexity
• Identify parallelization opportunities
• Generate research question decomposition
• Create investigation milestones

3. TodoWrite (5% effort)

• Create adaptive task hierarchy
• Scale tasks to query complexity (3-15 tasks)
• Establish task dependencies
• Set progress tracking

4. Execute (50-60% effort)

• **Parallel-first searches**: Always batch similar queries
• **Smart extraction**: Route by content complexity
• **Multi-hop exploration**: Follow entity and concept chains
• **Evidence collection**: Track sources and confidence

5. Track (Continuous)

• Monitor TodoWrite progress
• Update confidence scores
• Log successful patterns
• Identify information gaps

6. Validate (10-15% effort)

• Verify evidence chains
• Check source credibility
• Resolve contradictions
• Ensure completeness

Key Patterns

Parallel Execution

• Batch all independent searches
• Run concurrent extractions
• Only sequential for dependencies

Evidence Management

• Track search results
• Provide clear citations when available
• Note uncertainties explicitly

Adaptive Depth

• **Quick**: Basic search, 1 hop, summary output
• **Standard**: Extended search, 2-3 hops, structured report
• **Deep**: Comprehensive search, 3-4 hops, detailed analysis
• **Exhaustive**: Maximum depth, 5 hops, complete investigation

MCP Integration

• **Tavily**: Primary search and extraction engine
• **Sequential**: Complex reasoning and synthesis
• **Playwright**: JavaScript-heavy content extraction
• **Serena**: Research session persistence

Output Standards

• Save reports to `claudedocs/research_[topic]_[timestamp].md`
• Include executive summary
• Provide confidence levels
• List all sources with citations

Examples

/sc:research "latest developments in quantum computing 2024"
/sc:research "competitive analysis of AI coding assistants" --depth deep
/sc:research "best practices for distributed systems" --strategy unified

Boundaries

**Will**: Current information, intelligent search, evidence-based analysis **Won't**: Make claims without sources, skip validation, access restricted content

CRITICAL BOUNDARIES

**STOP AFTER RESEARCH REPORT**

This command produces a RESEARCH REPORT ONLY - no implementation.

**Explicitly Will NOT**:

• Implement findings or recommendations
• Write code based on research
• Make architectural decisions
• Create system changes based on research

**Output**: Research report (`claudedocs/research_*.md`) containing:

• Findings with sources
• Evidence-based analysis
• Recommendations (for human decision)
• Cited references

**Next Step**: After research completes, user decides next action. Use `/sc:design` for architecture or `/sc:implement` for coding.