Skill Nix Research

Nix Research Skill

Thin wrapper that delegates Nix research to nix-research-agent subagent.

Trigger Conditions

This skill activates when:

• Task type is "nix"
• Research is needed for Nix, NixOS, or Home Manager configuration
• Package definitions or module patterns need to be gathered

Execution Flow

Stage 1: Input Validation

Validate task_number exists and task_type is "nix".

Stage 2 + Stage 3: Preflight Status Update and Postflight Marker

Source skill-base.sh once, then follow @.claude/context/patterns/skill-preflight-flow.md in full for Stage 2 (preflight status update) and Stage 3 (marker creation):

source .claude/scripts/skill-base.sh
padded_num=$(printf "%03d" "$task_number")
skill_name="skill-nix-research"
operation="research"

Intentional behavior fix: this skill previously wrote no .postflight-pending marker at all — zero premature-termination protection. This import gives it one.

Stage 4a: Memory Retrieval and Literature Detection

Skip memory retrieval if: clean_flag is true (from --clean).

if [ "$clean_flag" != "true" ]; then
  memory_context=$(bash .claude/scripts/memory-retrieve.sh "$description" "$task_type" "$focus_prompt" 2>/dev/null) || memory_context=""
fi

Follow @.claude/context/patterns/lit-stage4a-flow.md in full to resolve --lit and set lit_context, exactly as skill-researcher does. This skill supplies the shared block's preconditions: lit_flag, description, orchestrator_mode (default "false" when unset).

Stage 4: Prepare Delegation Context

Domain-specific context for the nix-research-agent:

• MCP-NixOS tools for package/option lookup (when available)
• NixOS module patterns from .claude/extensions/nix/context/
• Local .nix files (flake.nix, home.nix, modules/)

{
  "session_id": "sess_{timestamp}_{random}",
  "delegation_depth": 1,
  "delegation_path": ["orchestrator", "research", "skill-nix-research"],
  "timeout": 3600,
  "task_context": {
    "task_number": N,
    "task_name": "{project_name}",
    "description": "{description}",
    "task_type": "nix"
  },
  "focus_prompt": "{optional focus}",
  "metadata_file_path": "specs/{NNN}_{SLUG}/.return-meta.json"
}

If memory_context and/or lit_context from Stage 4a are non-empty, include them in the prompt (memory context first, then literature briefing), after the delegation context and before task-specific instructions. Do NOT inject an empty block for either.

Stage 5: Invoke Subagent

Use Agent tool with subagent_type: "nix-research-agent".

Stage 5b: Self-Execution Fallback

Follow @.claude/context/patterns/skill-self-execution-fallback.md in full. This skill's success status value for that block's write obligation is "researched".

Postflight (ALWAYS EXECUTE)

The following stages MUST execute after work is complete, whether the work was done by a subagent or inline (Stage 5b). Do NOT skip these stages for any reason.

Stage 6: Parse Subagent Return

Read the metadata file from specs/{N}_{SLUG}/.return-meta.json.

metadata_file="specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}/.return-meta.json"
if [ -f "$metadata_file" ] && jq empty "$metadata_file" 2>/dev/null; then
    status=$(jq -r '.status' "$metadata_file")
    artifact_path=$(jq -r '.artifacts[0].path // ""' "$metadata_file")
    artifact_type=$(jq -r '.artifacts[0].type // ""' "$metadata_file")
    artifact_summary=$(jq -r '.artifacts[0].summary // ""' "$metadata_file")
    memory_candidates=$(jq -c '.memory_candidates // []' "$metadata_file")
else
    echo "Error: Invalid or missing metadata file"
    status="failed"
fi

Stage 7, 7a, 8, 8a, 9: Postflight Status, Memory Candidates, Artifact Linking, Notify, Cleanup

Follow @.claude/context/patterns/skill-postflight-flow.md in full:

field_name='**Research**'
next_field='**Plan**'

Error Handling

Input Validation Errors

Return immediately if task not found.

Metadata File Missing

Keep status as "researching", report error.

Git Commit Failure

Non-blocking: Log failure but continue.

MUST NOT (Postflight Boundary)

After the agent returns, this skill MUST NOT:

1. Edit source files - All research work is done by agent
2. Run build/test commands - Verification is done by agent
3. Use MCP-NixOS/WebSearch tools - Research tools are for agent use only
4. Analyze or grep source - Analysis is agent work
5. Write reports - Artifact creation is agent work

The postflight phase is LIMITED TO:

• Reading agent metadata file
• Calling update-task-status.sh for status updates (state.json + TODO.md)
• Linking artifacts in state.json
• Cleanup of temp/marker files

Reference: @.claude/context/standards/postflight-tool-restrictions.md

Return Format

Brief text summary (NOT JSON).