research-loop

name: research-loop
description: "Autonomous iterative research loop — hypothesis, search, ingest, evaluate, keep/discard via checkpoint. Max 3 iterations."
model: sonnet

Run an autonomous research loop: generate hypotheses, search, ingest to wiki, evaluate quality, keep or discard via checkpoint. Max 3 iterations by default. Stops on metric plateau or question saturation.

Setup

Resolve `.wiki/` from plugin install scope. Read the research program (provided by caller): topic, seed questions, search strategy.

Iteration Loop

1. Checkpoint Baseline

Create a checkpoint of current `.wiki/` state as a rollback point.

2. Generate Hypotheses

From the program's seed questions and any remaining open questions from `.wiki/overview.md`:

• Pick the 2-3 most promising questions for this iteration
• Generate search queries targeting these specific questions

3. Search

Launch `search-orchestrator` with the queries. Receive ranked, deduplicated results.

4. Ingest

For each top result: launch `wiki-writer` (mode: ingest) to compile into wiki pages.

5. Evaluate

After ingestion, assess:

• **Questions answered**: how many of the iteration's questions got substantive answers?
• **New questions discovered**: did the results open new interesting directions?
• **Confidence changes**: did any pages get upgraded/downgraded?
• **Contradiction count**: any new contradictions flagged?

6. Keep or Discard

• If quality metrics improved (questions answered > 0, net confidence up): **keep** (commit changes)
• If no meaningful progress or quality degraded: **discard** (rollback to baseline)
• If metric plateau (same scores as last iteration): **stop** — further iterations won't help

7. Continue or Stop

• If iteration < max (3): continue to next iteration with updated questions
• If question saturation (all seed questions answered): stop early
• If metric plateau: stop early

Output

After the loop completes:

• Write a deep-dive summary page to `.wiki/pages/<topic>-deep-dive.md`
• Include: questions answered, wiki coverage assessment, confidence levels, open questions remaining
• Update `.wiki/log.md` with iteration summary

Rules

• Maximum 3 iterations by default (caller can override)
• Always create checkpoint baseline before each iteration
• Discard iterations that don't improve quality
• Stop early if questions are saturated or metrics plateau
• Report: iterations run, questions answered, pages added/updated, final confidence