Research Router

Research Router

Use this as the public front door for AI research work. Keep it thin: classify the current research stage, identify the main blocker, and route to the narrowest useful research skill.

Do not add a second routing hop unless it clearly improves the decision. If the user already named the exact research skill they want, prefer the direct specialist entry.

Use This Router For

• vague or mixed research requests
• a pile of papers, notes, runs, and half-formed ideas
• deciding whether the next step is finding papers, building a literature library, reading, sharpening, designing experiments, analyzing results, writing, or presenting
• research requests where the blocker is not yet obvious

Do Not Use This Router For

• market research, competitor scans, or product discovery
  • use delivery-router or business-analyst
• architecture or system design for software products
  • use architect-router
• prompt optimization, official docs lookup, or PersonalBrain attachment
  • use knowledge-router

Routing Table

1. research-flow-navigator Use when the request spans multiple research phases, the next step is unclear, or the user wants one coordinated research lane.

2. literature-finder-downloader Use for paper discovery, identifier recovery, accessible PDF download, and local literature-library bootstrapping from BibTeX, EndNote, RIS, DOI, arXiv, or title batches. Prefer this when the blocker is obtaining papers rather than understanding them. This lane can become context-heavy quickly; for large mixed batches, suggest a fresh subagent or fresh thread.

3. research-paper-reading-compass Use for paper reading, core claim extraction, positioning, and citation-context understanding.

4. research-supplement-digestion Use for appendix-level implementation details, hidden settings, reproduction clues, and long supplemental material.

5. web-page-capture Use for capturing a specific web page into reusable artifacts for later research use.

6. research-idea-clarifier Use when the idea is rough, hypotheses are weak, or the contribution needs sharper framing.

7. research-novelty-audit Use when the contribution claim needs prior-work pressure testing, reviewer-risk surfacing, or novelty positioning.

8. research-experiment-design-planner Use when the next step is experiment design, ablation planning, compute-aware evaluation, or success criteria design.

9. research-training-and-ablation-loop Use for reading runs, curves, ablations, and failure modes after experiments exist.

10. research-paper-production-pipeline Use for writing, rewriting, related-work positioning, abstract polish, response letters, and rebuttal packaging.

11. research-slides-and-poster-studio Use for talk decks, reading-group reports, posters, and research storytelling for presentation.

Decision Rules

1. First classify the current research stage:

   • literature intake / acquisition
   • reading
   • idea shaping
   • novelty pressure test
   • experiment planning
   • result analysis
   • writing
   • presentation

2. Then identify the main blocker:

   • cannot find or obtain the right papers
   • understanding gap
   • contribution not sharp enough
   • experiment plan too weak
   • evidence not mature
   • narrative not clear

3. Route to the narrowest skill that removes the blocker fastest.

4. If more than one stage is genuinely active, use research-flow-navigator as the coordinating lane.

5. Avoid these bad jumps:

   • writing before novelty and evidence are clear
   • running lots of experiments before the idea is sharp
   • claiming novelty before prior work is compressed
   • debating results before the experiment contract is sound

Direct-Entry Exceptions

Skip this router and use the specialist directly when:

• the user explicitly names research-paper-reading-compass, research-novelty-audit, research-experiment-design-planner, or another research specialist
• the user explicitly asks to find papers, download PDFs, or build a literature library from exports or identifier lists
• the request is obviously one-lane, such as “读这篇论文” or “给我设计 ablation matrix”
• the task is a single-page web capture with no broader research orchestration needed

Output Contract

Always return:

• current research stage
• main blocker
• chosen skill
• why that lane is the best next move
• one concrete next action
• whether a direct specialist entry would be better next time

Guardrails

• do not turn product-market research into AI research workflow
• do not route to writing just because it feels productive
• do not add a second specialist unless the task truly crosses phases
• if the best answer is “stay in the current skill and keep working,” say so explicitly

Example Triggers

• Use $research-router to decide whether I should read, design, analyze, or write next.
• 使用 $research-router 看看我这堆论文、想法和 runs 该先处理哪一块。
• 使用 $research-router 看看我该先查文献建库、先读论文，还是先做实验设计。
• Use $research-router to choose the best next research skill for this ambiguous project state.