Dev Loop Research

dev-loop-research

Standalone invocable research agent. Scans two parallel tracks — code health and vault health — cross-references findings, and outputs a prioritized work-item recommendation list.

When This Skill Activates

• User runs /dev-loop-research or /dev-loop-research high
• User wants a one-shot research scan of repo and vault health
• User schedules recurring background scans: /loop 1h dev-loop-research
• Dev-loop idle path delegates here (same logic, different trigger)

Intensity

Parse arguments for high (case-insensitive). If present, intensity = high; otherwise intensity = normal.

• normal: Output top-3 items. Suppress recurring findings that haven't changed since last pass. Respect priority gates.
• high: Output top-5 items. Never suppress recurring findings. Every finding is actionable regardless of priority tier. P4+ items are first-class.

Prerequisites

1. Project config — load ./.claude/dev-loop.config.md. Required fields: slug. Optional: vault, cli_src, cli_test, skills_glob. If missing, prompt user to bootstrap via dev-loop.
2. Resolve BACKEND_CAPS from knowledge_layer config field (default: skillwiki if vault exists, none otherwise).
3. Resolve VAULT_TYPES from {vault}/SCHEMA.md ## Layers section — extract backtick-wrapped directory names ending in /, exclude raw and project. Store for Track B.
4. Read CLAUDE.md and user MEMORY.md fresh.

Single-Pass Cycle

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 0. REFRESH                                                │
│    Load project config + read CLAUDE.md/MEMORY.md fresh   │
├─────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────┤
│ TRACK A: CODE HEALTH    │ TRACK B: VAULT HEALTH           │
│                         │                                 │
│ A1. CLI COVERAGE GAPS   │ B1. RAW-TO-PAGE COVERAGE        │
│ A2. SKILLS AUDIT        │ B2. CROSS-LINK DENSITY          │
│ A3. SPEC DRIFT          │ B3. PAGE QUALITY                 │
│ A4. UNPUSHED COMMITS    │ B4. TYPE COVERAGE                │
├─────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────┤
│ 1. VAULT RETROS (cross-cutting)                           │
│ 2. SYNTHESIZE — merge + score (P0–P3, +P4 in high)       │
│ 3. SAVE & EXIT                                            │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Skip Track B entirely when query_vault not in BACKEND_CAPS or vault is empty. Skip Track A when cli_src is empty.

Track A: Code Health

A1. CLI Coverage Gaps

• List {cli_src}/*.ts. For each: test file in {cli_test}/? --human flag? Stable exit codes? TODO/FIXME/HACK markers?
• Compare counts against CLAUDE.md documented counts. Flag drift.

A2. Skills Audit

• List SKILL.md files from skills_glob. Check: CLI subcommand references exist? Description matches current behavior? Skill maps list all skills correctly?

A3. Spec Drift

• If canonical spec is declared, verify scope fields against current code. New commands not in spec? Changed counts? New schema changes?

A4. Unpushed Commits

• git log origin/$RELEASE_BRANCH..HEAD --oneline. Priority: ≥10→P1, 5-9→P2, 1-4→P4+.

Track B: Vault Health

B1. Raw-to-Page Coverage

• Run skillwiki lint for wikilink_citation warnings.
• Count raw files vs typed pages vs cited sources. Flag: normal: uncited >50%→P1; high: uncited >20%→P1.
• Single-source pages: normal→P2, high→P2 always.

B2. Cross-Link Density

• Count outbound [[wikilink]] in body region per page.
• normal: <2 links→P2; high: <3 links→P2.
• Orphan and overlap detection via skillwiki orphans/overlap.

B3. Page Quality

• Count non-blank body lines (exclude headings and ---).
• normal: <40 lines→thin; high: <60 lines→thin.
• Flag missing Overview or Related sections.

B4. Type Coverage

• Page counts per type directory. Flag: entities <3, empty comparisons, empty queries when >30 pages exist, empty meta when 2+ projects active.
• High: flag any empty type dir.

Vault Retros (Track 1)

Scan {vault}/log.md for recent Improve: and Generalize?: yes entries. Check {vault}/projects/{slug}/compound/ for pending distillation work. A retro's Improve: field that names a concrete action is a direct work-item candidate.

Synthesize (Track 2)

Score each finding:

normal: top-3, P0–P3 only, suppress unchanged recurring. high: top-5, P0–P4+, never suppress recurring.

Output format per item:

### #N: [title] (Px)

**Source**: [track source]
**What**: One-paragraph spec.
**Acceptance**: Bullet list of verifiable outcomes.
**Files**: Likely files to touch (omit for vault-only items).

Save & Exit (Track 3)

1. Append research observation to {vault}/log.md:

   ## [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM] research | dev-loop-research cycle [normal|high]
   - Findings: [N] new, [N] recurring
   - Vault health: raw=[N] pages=[N] cited=[N]% isolated=[N] thin=[N]
   - Top-N: [titles]
   

2. If ranked list changed since last cycle, update user MEMORY.md with research-backlog entry.
3. Exit with one-line summary.

Idle Fast-Path

Pre-idle gate (mandatory): Before declaring idle, collect actual vault health metrics from B1–B4. If any metric exceeds thresholds below, do NOT report idle:

Three exit states:

1. Truly idle — zero new findings, all metrics healthy. Exit: "Research idle — no new findings."
2. Steady backlog — no new findings, but known gaps persist. Exit: "Research steady — [N] recurring: [titles]"
3. High mode never idle — always produce recommendations. If standard checks find nothing, generate proactive suggestions.

NEVER report idle when vault health metrics show actionable gaps.