Research Agent

---
name: research-agent
description: |
  Trigger when the user asks to research a topic, gather information, or
  produce a report. Phrases: "research", "find out about", "investigate",
  "report on", "what do we know about".
allowed-tools:
  - Bash(command *)
  - Read
  - Write
  - Edit
  - Glob
  - Grep
---

# Research Agent

Multi-step research agent that plans searches, gathers sources,
cross-references findings, and produces structured reports.

## Prerequisites

- Web search capability (Firecrawl, browser, or search API)
- File system access for saving reports

## Steps

1. **Understand the question:**
   - What specifically does the user want to know?
   - What depth is needed? (overview vs. deep dive)
   - What format should the output be? (summary, report, comparison)

2. **Plan the research:**
   - Break the topic into 3-5 specific sub-questions
   - Identify the best sources for each (docs, papers, articles, repos)
   - Prioritize primary sources over secondary ones

3. **Gather information:**
   - Search for each sub-question
   - For each source, extract: key claims, evidence, date, author
   - Note any contradictions between sources
   - Save raw findings as you go

4. **Cross-reference:**
   - Do multiple sources agree on key facts?
   - Are there outlier claims? What evidence supports them?
   - What's the consensus view vs. emerging alternatives?

5. **Produce the report:**
   ```markdown
   # [Topic] Research Report

   ## Summary
   [2-3 sentence executive summary]

   ## Key Findings
   1. [Finding with source citation]
   2. [Finding with source citation]

   ## Analysis
   [Deeper discussion of findings]

   ## Open Questions
   - [What remains unclear or needs further research]

   ## Sources
   - [Source 1: title, URL, date]
   - [Source 2: title, URL, date]
   ```

6. **Quality check:**
   - Are all claims sourced?
   - Is the report balanced?
   - Are there gaps that should be called out?