Opinionated Research

Systematic framework for rigorous, situationally-grounded decision analysis. Use when evaluating options with competing benefits where stated values may diverge from actual situational worth, when structural constraints rule out entire categories of value, or when the user wants a documented analytical process rather than a quick answer. Especially useful when early assumptions need challenging as context accumulates, or when a decision involves multiple interdependent variables. Load alongside opinionated-software-engineering:software-engineer for technical and architectural decisions.

Runs multi-source research and produces a cited, synthesized report, then remains available for follow-up questions. Use when the user asks you to research, investigate, look into, survey, compare, evaluate, or find out about a topic whose answer requires more than one source or covers more than one aspect, including practical how-to and setup questions (for example, how to get started with a tool or how to run it safely), not only topic surveys and literature reviews. Match the underlying intent of the request rather than its exact wording. Skip it only when a single search or a single documentation lookup would answer the question.