TRIP-research

Research Mode

You are now in research mode - for exploratory investigations that don't directly produce production code.

Use this for:

• Technology evaluation
• Feasibility studies
• Architecture exploration
• Performance investigation
• Bug root cause analysis
• Proof of concept

Your Task

Research: $ARGUMENTS

Step 0: Read fully @docs/ARCHI.md

Step 1: Define Scope

1.1 Clarify the Question

"What specific question(s) are we trying to answer?"

Document the research question(s) clearly:

• What do we need to find out?
• What would a successful outcome look like?
• What decisions will this research inform?

1.2 Compute Box

"How much thinking effort does this research require?"

Based on the complexity of the question(s), suggest an appropriate thinking level:

Use the AskUserQuestion tool to confirm the thinking level:

• Question: "Based on this research scope, I suggest using [level] thinking. Does that seem appropriate?"
• Options: "Yes, use [level]" (proceed with suggested level), "Use a different level" (I want to adjust the thinking effort)

Once confirmed, the agent should apply the corresponding thinking effort throughout the investigation.

Step 2: Research Plan

Create a lightweight research plan (not a full TRIP plan):

# Research: [Topic]

## Question(s)

- [Primary question]
- [Secondary questions if any]

## Approach

1. [First thing to investigate]
2. [Second thing to investigate]
3. [...]

## Success Criteria

- [ ] [What we need to determine]
- [ ] [What we need to determine]

## Compute Level

[quick / brief / think / think hard / think harder / ultrathink]

Step 3: Confirm & Start

Present the research plan summary to the user, then use the AskUserQuestion tool with two questions:

Question 1 (header: "Start"):

• Question: "Research plan ready — Question: [primary question], Approach: [brief summary], Compute: [level]. Ready to start?"
• Options: "Yes, start research" (proceed with investigation), "Adjust the plan" (I have changes to the research scope or approach)

Question 2 (header: "Output"):

• Question: "How do you want the findings delivered?"
• Options: "Chat only" (respond directly in the conversation), "Write a memo" (create a file in docs/6-memo/)

If "Adjust": Modify the plan based on user feedback, then re-present using AskUserQuestion.

If "Yes": Proceed with investigation. Remember the output preference for Step 5.

Step 4: Investigation

Conduct the research:

For Technology Evaluation

• Review documentation
• Check community/ecosystem health
• Look at alternatives
• Consider maintenance burden
• Assess learning curve

For Feasibility Study

• Identify constraints
• Prototype critical parts (throwaway code OK)
• Identify risks and unknowns
• Estimate effort

For Performance Investigation

• Establish baseline metrics
• Identify bottlenecks
• Test hypotheses
• Measure improvements

For Bug Investigation

• Reproduce the issue
• Trace the root cause
• Identify contributing factors
• Consider similar vulnerabilities

Step 4b: Codex Cross-Check

For decision-grade findings — architecture recommendations, technology choices, anything the user will build on (typically compute level think hard and above) — red-team the draft conclusion with the codex-ask skill before presenting. Skip for quick lookups.

bash .claude/skills/codex-ask/scripts/start.sh \
    --prompt-file .claude/skills/codex-ask/prompts/ask.tpl \
    <topic-label> "Here is my draft recommendation: <summary + key rationale>. Red-team it: what am I missing, what would you choose instead, and why?"

Follow up in the same thread (resume.sh + followup.tpl) if the answer raises points worth probing. Then:

• Incorporate legitimate points into the findings (adjust the recommendation or add caveats).
• Record real disagreements in the memo's Open Questions section with both positions — the user decides.
• This is advisory, not gating: you own the final recommendation.

Step 5: Present Findings

If "Chat only" was selected

Present the findings directly in the conversation, structured as:

1. Summary (2-3 sentences)
2. Key Findings (numbered list)
3. Recommendations (what to do, rationale, alternatives)
4. Open Questions (if any)

Then use the AskUserQuestion tool:

• Question: "Research complete. What would you like to do next?"
• Options: "Elaborate on findings" (dive deeper into specific results), "Save as memo" (write findings to docs/6-memo/ after all), "Plan implementation" (create a TRIP plan based on these results), "Done" (no further action needed)

If "Save as memo": write the memo using the template below, then confirm the file location.

If "Write a memo" was selected

Create findings document in docs/6-memo/:

File: docs/6-memo/research_[date]_[topic].md

# Research: [Topic]

**Date**: DD-MM-YYYY
**Author**: [Name]

## Summary

[2-3 sentence executive summary]

## Questions Investigated

### Q1: [Question]

**Finding**: [Answer]
**Confidence**: [High/Medium/Low]
**Evidence**: [What supports this conclusion]

### Q2: [Question]

[...]

## Key Findings

1. **[Finding 1]**: [Details]
2. **[Finding 2]**: [Details]
3. **[Finding 3]**: [Details]

## Recommendations

- **Recommended**: [What we should do]
- **Rationale**: [Why]
- **Alternatives Considered**: [What else was evaluated]

## Open Questions

- [Questions that remain unanswered]
- [Areas needing further investigation]

## Next Steps

- [ ] [Action item 1]
- [ ] [Action item 2]

## Appendix (optional)

### Code Snippets / Prototypes

[Any throwaway code created during research]

### References

- [Links to documentation, articles, etc.]

Then use the AskUserQuestion tool:

• Question: "Research documented at docs/6-memo/research_[date]_[topic].md. What would you like to do next?"
• Options: "Elaborate on findings" (dive deeper into specific results), "Plan implementation" (create a TRIP plan based on these results), "Done" (no further action needed)

What This Workflow Produces

• Clear recommendations
• Basis for future TRIP planning
• Optionally: documented findings in docs/6-memo/

What This Workflow Does NOT Produce

• No production code
• No version bump
• No changelog entry
• No commits to main

Transition to Implementation

If research concludes that implementation should proceed, use the AskUserQuestion tool:

• Question: "Based on this research, would you like me to create a TRIP plan for implementation?"
• Options: "Yes, create a plan" (use findings to inform TRIP-1-plan), "Not yet" (I'll decide later)

If yes, use findings to inform TRIP-1-plan.