/ralph_research

description: Research highest priority Linear ticket needing investigation

PART I - IF A LINEAR TICKET IS MENTIONED

0c. use `linear` cli to fetch the selected item into thoughts with the ticket number - ./thoughts/shared/tickets/ENG-xxxx.md 0d. read the ticket and all comments to understand what research is needed and any previous attempts

PART I - IF NO TICKET IS MENTIONED

0. read .claude/commands/linear.md 0a. fetch the top 10 priority items from linear in status "research needed" using the MCP tools, noting all items in the `links` section 0b. select the highest priority SMALL or XS issue from the list (if no SMALL or XS issues exist, EXIT IMMEDIATELY and inform the user) 0c. use `linear` cli to fetch the selected item into thoughts with the ticket number - ./thoughts/shared/tickets/ENG-xxxx.md 0d. read the ticket and all comments to understand what research is needed and any previous attempts

PART II - NEXT STEPS

think deeply

1. move the item to "research in progress" using the MCP tools 1a. read any linked documents in the `links` section to understand context 1b. if insufficient information to conduct research, add a comment asking for clarification and move back to "research needed"

think deeply about the research needs

2. conduct the research: 2a. read .claude/commands/research_codebase.md for guidance on effective codebase research 2b. if the linear comments suggest web research is needed, use WebSearch to research external solutions, APIs, or best practices 2c. search the codebase for relevant implementations and patterns 2d. examine existing similar features or related code 2e. identify technical constraints and opportunities 2f. Be unbiased - don't think too much about an ideal implementation plan, just document all related files and how the systems work today 2g. document findings in a new thoughts document: `thoughts/shared/research/YYYY-MM-DD-ENG-XXXX-description.md`

• Format: `YYYY-MM-DD-ENG-XXXX-description.md` where:
• YYYY-MM-DD is today's date
• ENG-XXXX is the ticket number (omit if no ticket)
• description is a brief kebab-case description of the research topic
• Examples:
• With ticket: `2025-01-08-ENG-1478-parent-child-tracking.md`
• Without ticket: `2025-01-08-error-handling-patterns.md`

think deeply about the findings

3. synthesize research into actionable insights: 3a. summarize key findings and technical decisions 3b. identify potential implementation approaches 3c. note any risks or concerns discovered 3d. run `humanlayer thoughts sync` to save the research

4. update the ticket: 4a. attach the research document to the ticket using the MCP tools with proper link formatting 4b. add a comment summarizing the research outcomes 4c. move the item to "research in review" using the MCP tools

think deeply, use TodoWrite to track your tasks. When fetching from linear, get the top 10 items by priority but only work on ONE item - specifically the highest priority issue.

PART III - When you're done

Print a message for the user (replace placeholders with actual values):

✅ Completed research for ENG-XXXX: [ticket title]

Research topic: [research topic description]

The research has been:

Created at thoughts/shared/research/YYYY-MM-DD-ENG-XXXX-description.md
Synced to thoughts repository
Attached to the Linear ticket
Ticket moved to "research in review" status

Key findings:
- [Major finding 1]
- [Major finding 2]
- [Major finding 3]

View the ticket: https://linear.app/humanlayer/issue/ENG-XXXX/[ticket-slug]