Investigation

Set up an investigation

Instructions

1. Create a folder in {REPO_ROOT}/scratch/ with the format {YYYY-MM-DD}-{descriptive-name}. You will mainly work inside this folder.
2. Create a README.md in this folder where you will:
   1. Describe the task.
   2. Take background notes for context.
   3. Create a task list for progress tracking.
   4. Summarize results and outcomes.
3. Create scripts and testing data files in this folder to conduct an empirical investigation.
4. For multi-step investigations with sub-experiments, consider generating individual markdown files to take interediate notes.
5. The README.md should contain actionable findings to support a subsequent implementation or design decision.

Best practices

• Both for this library and other ones, it's worth writing a simple script or calling the library interactively to list its members or try out different constructions to explore the API and document it in a markdown file called API.md.
• Generate figures when applicable (e.g., plots, data visualizations) and reference them inline in the markdown files.
• Always use uv with self-contained dependencies when using Python.
• When you need a local web server, use npx serve -p 8080 --cors --no-clipboard & (run in background to avoid blocking).
• Prefer self-contained HTML+JS pages (without React if possible) and use Playwright MCP for rendering screenshots.
• Use subagents whenever possible to save context and delegate tasks in parallel.

Important: Scratch work is gitignored

The scratch/ directory is in .gitignore and will NOT be committed. When distilling findings into PRs:

• Do NOT assume local scratch notes will be checked in
• Include all relevant information inline in PR descriptions or code comments
• Copy key findings, code snippets, benchmark results, or data directly into the PR
• The PR should be self-contained and not rely on scratch files for context

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