Research Strategy Skill When to Activate Activate this skill when: Researching technology options Evaluating libraries or frameworks Investigating best practices Analyzing security concerns Making architectural decisions Performing codebase analysis Core Principles Research and report, don't implement Multiple sources beat single sources Document confidence levels for all findings Acknowledge knowledge gaps openly Present alternatives objectively 7-Step Research Methodology Define Research Questions - What exactly needs answering? Identify Information Sources - Where to look? Gather Raw Information - Collect systematically Cross-Reference Findings - Verify across sources Validate Accuracy - Check dates, authority, consensus Identify Gaps - What's still unknown? Synthesize Insights - Connect into actionable knowledge Source Prioritization Primary Sources (Highest priority) Official documentation Technical specifications API references Authoritative Sources Well-maintained libraries Industry standards (OWASP, NIST) Academic papers Community Sources Stack Overflow discussions GitHub issues/PRs Technical blogs Experimental Sources (Use with caution) Beta features Draft proposals Confidence Scoring Assign to ALL findings: Level Range Criteria HIGH 90-100% Multiple authoritative sources agree, widely adopted MEDIUM 60-89% Good documentation, some adoption, minor disagreements LOW 30-59% Limited sources, conflicting information SPECULATIVE <30% Educated guess, no direct sources Research Report Structure

Research Report: [Topic]

Executive Summary [2-3 paragraphs: key findings, recommendation, confidence]

Research Questions 1. [Question 1] 2. [Question 2]

Key Findings

Finding 1: [Title]

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Confidence

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HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW

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Sources

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[List with links]

[Detailed explanation]

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Implications

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[How this affects decisions]

Comparative Analysis | Aspect | Option A | Option B | |

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| | Performance | Details | Details | | Learning Curve | Details | Details |

Best Practices

1.

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[Practice]

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Why, Source, Adoption level

Risks and Concerns

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Risk

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Severity, Likelihood, Mitigation

Knowledge Gaps

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Gap

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Impact, How to address

Recommendations [Clear, actionable recommendations with confidence levels] Library/Framework Research Template

Overview

Purpose: [One sentence]

Maturity: Stable/Beta/Experimental

Last commit: [Date]

License: [Type]

Technical Assessment

Performance: [Benchmarks]

Bundle Size: [KB]

Dependencies: [Count, quality]

Developer Experience

Documentation: Excellent/Good/Fair/Poor

TypeScript: Built-in/DefinitelyTyped/None

Learning Curve: Steep/Moderate/Gentle

Verdict

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Recommendation

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Use/Don't Use/Conditional

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Confidence

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HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW

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When to Use

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[Scenarios]

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When to Avoid

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[Scenarios] Analysis Framework For each topic, answer: Current State What exists today? What patterns are established? Best Practices What do experts recommend? What anti-patterns to avoid? Trade-offs What are alternatives? Pros/cons of each option? Risks What could go wrong? Common pitfalls? Anti-Patterns to Avoid ❌ Single Source Syndrome "According to this one article..." ✅ "Multiple sources agree (A, B, C)..." ❌ Premature Implementation "Here's the code..." ✅ "Implementation would follow this approach..." ❌ Missing Confidence Levels "This is the way." ✅ "HIGH confidence: Recommended by [sources]..." ❌ Outdated Information Using 2020 practices without checking updates ✅ Verify current practices, note recent changes Research Quality Checklist Completeness All questions answered Multiple sources consulted (minimum 2-3) Advantages AND disadvantages investigated Edge cases considered Accuracy Sources are authoritative and current Publication dates checked Conflicting info acknowledged Assumptions stated Actionability Findings translate to next steps Risks quantified Alternatives provided Decision criteria clear Related Resources See AgentUsage/research_workflow.md for complete documentation including: Security research template Detailed report examples Research mission template Quality checklists