Research

Parallax Research Skill

You are launching a Parallax multi-agent research session. The user's request is: $ARGUMENTS

Step 1: Pre-Flight Checks

Run ALL of these checks before proceeding. If any fail, stop and tell the user how to fix it.

1a. Environment Variables

Check that these are set (or configured in ~/.config/parallax/config.toml):

echo "S2_ACCESS_TOKEN: ${S2_ACCESS_TOKEN:+SET}"
echo "PARALLAX_BASIN: ${PARALLAX_BASIN:+SET}"
echo "PARALLAX_MODEL: ${PARALLAX_MODEL:+SET}"

• S2_ACCESS_TOKEN - REQUIRED. Without this, Parallax cannot connect to S2 streams.
• PARALLAX_BASIN - REQUIRED (unless --basin is passed). The S2 basin for storing research streams.
• PARALLAX_MODEL - Optional model override for local Claude backend.
• Backend CLIs (claude and/or codex) must be installed for whichever planner/agent backend the run uses.

If any are missing, tell the user:

Missing: S2_ACCESS_TOKEN
Set it with: export S2_ACCESS_TOKEN="your-token"
Or add to ~/.config/parallax/config.toml under [s2] access_token = "..."

1b. Binary Build Check

ls -la ./target/release/parallax 2>/dev/null

If the binary doesn't exist or is older than any src/*.rs file, rebuild:

cargo build --release 2>&1

If the build fails, show the errors and stop.

1c. Process Check

# Make sure no existing parallax research processes are running
pgrep -af "parallax research" || true

If there are existing parallax research processes, WARN the user:

There's already a parallax research process running (PID XXXX). Running another one simultaneously can spawn many agent processes and may be expensive. Kill it first with kill <pid> or wait for it to finish.

Step 2: Parse User Intent

From the user's $ARGUMENTS, determine:

1. Question (required) - The research topic/question
2. Hint (optional) - Strategy guidance for the planner
3. Groups (default: 4) - Number of research groups
4. Agents per group (default: 3) - Agents in each group
5. Max messages (default: 25) - Per-agent message budget
6. Timeout (default: 20 minutes) - Wall-clock timeout
7. Max phase transitions (default: 3) - Moderator phase limit
8. Max dynamic streams (optional) - Cap on moderator-created streams
9. Model (optional) - Override agent model
10. Output file (optional) - Where to save the report

If the user only provided a bare question with no flags, use sensible defaults and ASK if they want to customize anything before launching.

Step 3: Cost & Scale Warnings

Before launching, calculate and display estimates:

Warning Thresholds:

• Total agents > 20: Warn "This will spawn {N} agent processes simultaneously. Each consumes memory and model credits. Proceed?"
• Total agents > 40: Strong warning "This is a large research run ({N} agents). Estimated cost could be significant. Consider reducing groups or agents-per-group."
• No timeout set: Warn "No timeout specified. Adding --timeout 20 as a safety net to prevent runaway costs."
• Max messages > 30: Warn "High message budget ({X}/agent). Total possible messages: {total}. Consider --max-messages 20 for a lighter run."

Step 4: Execute

Run the research in the background so the user can continue working:

./target/release/parallax research \
  "<question>" \
  [--hint "<hint>"] \
  -g <groups> \
  -n <agents_per_group> \
  --max-messages <max_messages> \
  [--max-dynamic-streams <N>] \
  --max-phase-transitions <max_phase_transitions> \
  [--timeout <timeout_minutes>] \
  [--agent <claude|codex>] \
  [--planner-agent <claude|codex>] \
  [--model <model>] \
  2>&1

Run this as a background task and periodically check on progress by tailing the output.

Step 5: Post-Run

When the research completes:

1. Check exit code - 0 = success, non-zero = check for errors
2. Extract the report - The final synthesis is between the last pair of ━━━━ separator lines
3. Save to file - Save the report as a .md file in the project root. Name it based on the topic (kebab-case, e.g., kubernetes-migration-analysis.md)
4. Show summary - Display a brief summary of what was produced (number of groups, continents covered, key findings)

Common Patterns & Examples

Quick research (small, fast):

/research "What are the best practices for Rust error handling?" --groups 3 --agents 2 --timeout 10

Deep research (thorough, expensive):

/research "Compare Kafka vs S2 vs Redpanda for event streaming" --hint "Create pro/con groups for each technology plus a neutral evaluation group" --groups 6 --agents 3 --timeout 30

Continental research pattern (like the remedies run):

/research "Traditional cooking techniques by continent" --hint "Create pairs of groups per continent: research (claude) + fact-check (codex)" --groups 12 --agents 2 --timeout 30

Troubleshooting

Important Notes

• Each Claude agent is a separate claude CLI process with tool access.
• Codex agents run with full local permissions in this integration.
• Planner uses a local CLI backend (claude by default, switch with --planner-agent codex).
• The --timeout flag is a wall-clock safety net - always set one to prevent runaway sessions
• Research output is stored durably in S2 streams even after the process exits. Use parallax watch to see events.
• Shutdown signals (Ctrl+C, terminate/quit/stop signals) trigger coordinated cleanup of spawned agent process groups.