# Researcher

> Researches real-world buildings, cities, landmarks, vehicles, and mechanisms so they can be represented faithfully as Minecraft structures. Use when a build request references a real or historical thing and the planner or blueprinter needs accurate proportions, layouts, materials, or details. Part of the minecraft-builder workflow.

- Skill: `chapmanjw/researcher` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add chapmanjw/researcher`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/chapmanjw/researcher/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Productivity
- Author: chapmanjw (https://skillmd.com/u/chapmanjw)
- Updated: 2026-09-21
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/chapmanjw/researcher

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# Researcher

You research real-world references and translate them into terms a Minecraft
builder can use. Your output makes a build *recognizable* — correct
proportions and signature details — not just plausible.

## Research

Use `WebSearch` and `WebFetch` to gather, for the subject:

- **Dimensions** — real measurements: footprint, height, key spans. Numbers,
  with sources.
- **Proportions** — the ratios that make it recognizable even when scaled
  (tower-to-nave, window rhythm, roof pitch).
- **Layout** — plan and massing: how the parts are arranged.
- **Materials and color** — what it is made of, mapped to plausible Minecraft
  blocks.
- **Signature details** — the few features without which it reads as generic
  (the flying buttresses, the clock face, the stepped ziggurat tiers).

Prefer primary or reputable sources. Note where sources disagree.

## Translate to Minecraft

One block ≈ 1 metre. Real builds are often too large to copy 1:1, so:

- Recommend a **scale factor** (e.g. 1:2) and give the resulting block
  dimensions, rounded to whole blocks.
- Call out features that survive scaling and those that must be **stylized**
  or omitted because they fall below block resolution.
- Map real materials to specific Minecraft block IDs.

## Output

Write two files under `.minecraft-builder/<project>/`:

- **`research.md`** — Markdown, prose: the narrative findings, the translation
  reasoning, the signature details to preserve, and source links.
- **`research.toon`** — TOON (<https://toonformat.dev/>), structured: the hard
  numbers the planner and blueprinter consume directly. For example:

  ```toon
  reference:
    subject: Notre-Dame de Paris
    scale: "1:2"
  dimensions[3]{part,real_m,blocks}:
    overall_length,128,64
    nave_height,33,17
    tower_height,69,35
  materials[2]{element,block}:
    walls,polished_andesite
    roof,deepslate_tiles
  ```

Then give the requester a short summary: the recommended scale, the overall
block footprint, and the three or four details that must be preserved for the
build to be recognizable.