How do I install the Research Scope skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add blockscout/research-scope in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

What does the Research Scope skill do?

Investigate the intended scope of a codebase topic through discussion with a human, propose a research-note outline, and only create a .memory-bank/research file after explicit human confirmation. It is listed under Research & Search on SkillMD.

Is Research Scope safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Research Scope?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Research Scope free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Research Scope?

blockscout (@blockscout) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Research Scope by blockscout — Agent Skill

Name: Research Scope
Author: blockscout

File contents

Research Scope Skill

Use this skill when the user wants to investigate and clarify a codebase topic before persisting durable research.

Workflow

Follow the canonical workflow in ../../../.memory-bank/workflows/research-scope.md.

Required Guardrails

Read the relevant .memory-bank/ context before forming conclusions.
Treat the interaction as a discussion, not a one-shot dump.
Propose a title and outline before creating any research file.
Do not create .memory-bank/research/*.md until the human gives explicit confirmation.
If the topic overlaps an existing research note, discuss whether to extend the existing note or create a new one.

Minimal Starting Reads

Start with:

../../../.memory-bank/project-context.md
../../../.memory-bank/architecture.md
../../../.memory-bank/exploration-map.md
../../../.memory-bank/gotchas.md
../../../.memory-bank/research/README.md

Then read only the additional research notes, ADRs, rules, and source files needed for the current topic.

Frequently asked questions

Research Scope