Write Research Document

Create structured research documents following project conventions.

Document Structure

Use the template from templates/research-document.md:

1. •

   Frontmatter (YAML):

   • •date, researcher, git info, topic, tags, status
   • •feature_slug (e.g., "erik/0005-authentication" for personal, "0042-authentication" for shared)
   • •Optional: shared_as, shared_date (added by share-docs skill)
2. •

   Research Question:

   • •Original user query verbatim
3. •

   Summary:

   • •High-level findings (2-3 paragraphs)
4. •

   Detailed Findings:

   • •Organized by component/area
   • •Include file:line references
   • •Explain purpose and implementation
5. •

   Key Discoveries:

   • •Bullet list of important findings
6. •

   Implementation Patterns:

   • •Common patterns found
7. •

   References:

   • •Links to source files and related docs

File Path and Naming

Determine feature slug first using determine-feature-slug skill:

• •Auto-detects namespace from git user.name
• •Auto-detects next number in personal namespace (0001, 0002, etc.)
• •Suggests description from research question
• •Prompts user to accept or customize

Save to: thoughts/{namespace}/NNNN-description/research.md

Example workflow:

1. •User provides research question: "How does authentication work?"
2. •Skill detects namespace: erik (from git config)
3. •Skill suggests: erik/0005-authentication
4. •User accepts or modifies
5. •Document saved to: thoughts/erik/0005-authentication/research.md

Collaboration: Documents start in personal namespace. Use share-docs skill to promote to thoughts/shared/ when ready for team review.

Backward compatibility: Old path thoughts/shared/research/YYYY-MM-DD-NN-description.md still recognized by all commands.

Metadata Collection

Use gather-project-metadata skill to get:

• •Timestamp
• •Git commit and branch
• •Repository name

File References

Always include specific file:line references:

• •src/auth/handler.go:45 - Format for references
• •Use actual line numbers where functions/types are defined

Path Corrections

Watch for these common mistakes:

• •✅ thoughts/shared/research/ - Correct for shared research
• •❌ thoughts/searchable/ - Old path, don't use
• •✅ thoughts/notes/ - Correct for reference documents