Research Hypothesis

Hypothesis Management

Create, update, and manage hypothesis cards and the hypothesis graph for an research project.

Context

The hypothesis is the atomic unit of work in the methodology. Hypotheses are organized as a directed acyclic graph (DAG) where edges represent the relationship "result of X led to formulation of Y." The graph grows as the research progresses — only initial hypotheses are known at the start.

Each hypothesis has a card (a dedicated .md file) and an entry in the graph page (hypotheses/graph.md).

Hypothesis Card Fields

Every hypothesis card contains these fields:

Operations

Create a New Hypothesis

Step 1 — Gather information

Collect from the researcher:

1. Statement — a clear, falsifiable assertion. Good: "Static analysis of webpack bundles can extract >= 90% of API endpoints." Bad: "Look at webpack bundles."
2. Verification criterion — what constitutes confirmation. Must be specific and measurable.
3. Timebox — maximum time for this hypothesis. Push back if the timebox seems too generous (encourages scope creep) or too tight (guarantees inconclusive results).
4. Parents — which existing hypothesis results motivated this one. For root hypotheses (formulated during Exploration), parents are empty.

If the statement is vague, help the researcher sharpen it. A hypothesis must be an assertion that can be confirmed or refuted, not a topic or direction.

Step 2 — Assign identifier

Read hypotheses/graph.md to find the highest existing H-NNN. Assign H-(N+1), zero-padded to three digits.

Step 3 — Create the card file

Create hypotheses/H-NNN.md using the template at assets/hypothesis-card-template.md. Fill in all collected fields. Set status to open.

Step 4 — Update the graph

Update hypotheses/graph.md in two places:

1. Mermaid diagram: Add a new node with the appropriate CSS class (open for new hypotheses). If the hypothesis has parents, add edges from each parent node to the new node.

2. Catalog table: Add a row with ID (linked to the card file), statement summary, status, decision (empty for new), and parent IDs.

Update Hypothesis Status

When a hypothesis transitions between statuses, update:

1. The card file (H-NNN.md): change the Status field.
2. The graph diagram: change the CSS class of the node.
3. The catalog table: update the Status column.

Valid transitions:

open → in-progress → confirmed
                   → refuted
                   → cancelled
open → cancelled

A hypothesis cannot transition backwards. If rework is needed, create a new hypothesis with the original as parent.

Record Results

When an experiment completes (see research-experiment skill), update the hypothesis card:

1. Set Status to confirmed, refuted, or leave as in-progress if the result is inconclusive.
2. Fill the Result section with:
   • What was discovered.
   • Link to the prototype, proof, or experiment artifacts.
   • If inconclusive: why, and what would be needed for a definitive result.
3. Update the graph diagram and catalog table accordingly.

Fork Hypotheses

When a fork decision is made (see research-decision skill), create multiple child hypotheses from the same parent. Each competing approach becomes its own hypothesis with its own timebox and verification criteria. Document in each card that it is part of a fork and which hypotheses are its siblings.

Mermaid Diagram Conventions

Use this node styling:

classDef confirmed fill:#4CAF50,color:#fff
classDef refuted fill:#F44336,color:#fff
classDef in_progress fill:#FF9800,color:#fff
classDef open fill:#2196F3,color:#fff
classDef cancelled fill:#9E9E9E,color:#fff

Node IDs use the pattern H001, H002, etc. (no hyphen, for Mermaid compatibility). Display labels include the hyphen: H-001: Short title.

Edges represent "result led to formulation":

H001 --> H003
H002 --> H003

Important Notes

• One hypothesis at a time is the default. Fork (parallel hypotheses) is the exception, used only when competing approaches are discovered and resources allow parallel investigation.
• Timebox is a hard ceiling: if the timebox expires without a result, that is itself a result (hypothesis not confirmed in allocated time) and a signal for kill or pivot.
• Keep hypothesis statements atomic. If a statement contains "and," consider splitting into two hypotheses.
• The graph is the primary navigation tool for the research. Keep it accurate and up to date at all times.

Relation to Other Skills

• Invoked by research-init to create the first hypothesis.
• Works closely with research-experiment (records results) and research-decision (determines next hypotheses after a result).
• research-status reads the graph to generate overviews.
• research-synthesis uses the graph to produce the final report.