/research
Deep research creating persistent documentation for future reference. Uses Ultrathink for comprehensive analysis.
Usage
bash
/research "authentication patterns for multi-tenant SaaS" /research "real-time collaboration architectures" /research "Jira vs Linear competitive analysis" /research "WebSocket vs SSE trade-offs"
Output Locations
code
ideas/ ├── [project]/notes/research/ # Project-specific ├── shared/docs/research/ # Cross-project └── resources/research/ # General reference
Location rules:
- •Project-specific:
ideas/{project}/notes/research/ - •Cross-project:
shared/docs/research/ - •General reference:
resources/research/
Process
1. Check Existing Research
bash
grep -r "authentication" ideas/*/notes/research/ grep -r "authentication" shared/docs/research/
If found, ask: "Research exists. Update, view, or create new?"
2. Deep Research Phase
Invoke research-specialist agent:
Research scope:
- •Official documentation (via Context7)
- •Technical blogs and tutorials
- •Stack Overflow (high-vote answers)
- •GitHub discussions and issues
- •Community forums
- •Existing solutions/products
Volume: Read 20-30+ sources, distill to 3-5 pages
3. Create Research Document
Naming: lowercase kebab-case (e.g., auth-patterns-saas.md)
Structure:
markdown
--- created: YYYY-MM-DD updated: YYYY-MM-DD sources: NUMBER related: - path/to/related/file.md tags: ["primary-tag", "secondary-tag"] --- # Research: [Topic] ## Executive Summary [2-3 paragraphs of key findings] ## Detailed Findings ### [Subtopic 1] [Analysis] ### [Subtopic 2] [Analysis] ## Recommendations [What to do based on research] ## Must-Read Resources 1. **[Title]** - [url] - Why: [Reason] - Key point: [Takeaway] ## Additional Resources - [Title] - [url] ## Gotchas & Warnings - [Warning 1] ## Decision Matrix (if comparing) | Criteria | Option A | Option B | |----------|----------|----------| | Ease of use | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | | Scalability | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
4. Link to Related Work
If research relates to a spec or issue:
- •Add reference in research doc
- •Update spec/issue to reference research
When to Use
Good candidates:
- •Technology decisions affecting architecture
- •Competitive analysis for product positioning
- •Complex topics with many options
- •Best practices you'll reference multiple times
- •Market research for product ideas
Not needed for:
- •Quick one-off questions (just ask)
- •Simple API lookups (use Context7)
- •Project-specific debugging
Updating Research
If research exists but is outdated:
code
Options: 1. Update existing (add new findings) 2. Replace entirely (fresh research) 3. View existing 4. Cancel
Integration
Research documents are discovered by:
- •
/plan- Checks for relevant research before planning - •
/spec- References research in technical notes - •Future sessions - Research persists for reference
code
/research "topic" → ideas/{project}/notes/research/topic.md
↓
Future work automatically references this