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Pre-implementation research for design, architecture, and impact analysis. Use during brainstorming, architectural design, or before implementation to understand dependencies and integration points. Triggers on (1) designing or architecting a feature, (2) brainstorming implementation approaches, (3) analyzing impact of proposed changes, (4) exploring reference materials in extra/, (5) creating research reports before planning.

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1.2k downloads
Updated 2/15/2026

Package Files

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SKILL.md
  • Read the 'Guidelines'.
  • Check extra/ for required reference materials. HALT if missing.
  • Analyze the user's research request.
  • Discover project dependencies and existing patterns.
  • Study reference implementations in extra/.
  • Identify all files requiring changes (with line numbers).
  • Invoke Skill(Planning Documents) to determine document naming (NNN-concept_report.md pattern).
  • Write research findings to prompts/NNN-concept_report.md.
  • Present final output summary to user.

Guidelines

Reference Material First

All research relies on materials in the extra/ directory. This includes reference codebases, documentation, and specifications.

Before proceeding with any research:

  1. Identify what reference materials are needed
  2. Check if they exist in extra/
  3. If missing, HALT and request them (see HALT Behavior below)
  4. Only proceed after all materials are available

Never use web fetch or web search as the primary research method. The extra/ directory should contain everything needed.

HALT Behavior

If required documentation or codebase is not in extra/, you must:

  1. Stop immediately
  2. Report what is missing
  3. Suggest how the user can add it

Example HALT message:

HALT: Missing reference material.

Required: Textual compositor implementation
Suggestion: Clone to extra/textual:
  git clone https://github.com/Textualize/textual extra/textual

Required: Ratatui border symbols
Location needed: extra/ratatui/ratatui-core/src/symbols/
Suggestion: If not present, clone:
  git clone https://github.com/ratatui/ratatui extra/ratatui

Do not attempt to work around missing materials. Do not use web search as a substitute. Wait for the user to add the required materials.

At Start of Research

  1. Identify next NNN number by checking existing files in prompts/
  2. Extract concept-label from user request (e.g., "compositor", "event-parsing")
  3. Create epic for the feature:
    bd create "<concept>" -t epic --from-template epic --json
    
  4. Create research task under the epic:
    bd create "Research: <concept>" -t task --from-template research --parent <epic-id> --json
    
  5. Store the epic ID and research task ID for output

At End of Research

  1. After writing the research document, close the task:
    bd close <research-task-id> --reason "Research complete: prompts/NNN-concept_report.md"
    
  2. Output the epic ID and document path for the next phase

Project-First Approach

Discover what the project already uses:

  • Analyze deps.edn/bb.edn for actual dependencies
  • Find documentation for the ACTUAL versions in use
  • Use existing patterns and conventions found in the codebase

Never:

  • Assume specific libraries are available
  • Introduce new dependencies without explicit user approval
  • Suggest patterns not already established in the project

Mandatory Agent Consultation

These agents are READ-ONLY - they return information and suggestions only. You are the orchestrator: guide these agents, synthesize their outputs into the final research document.

AgentWhen to ConsultWhat They Return
ExploreFor codebase exploration and searchFile locations, code patterns, structural understanding
clojure-expertFor Clojure patterns and idiomsIdiomatic approaches, style guidance
research-agentFor analyzing extra/ materialsExtracted patterns, API summaries

Use Explore agents extensively to:

  • Find files matching patterns
  • Search for keywords and implementations
  • Understand codebase structure
  • Locate integration points

Research Document Structure

1. Reference Materials Used

List materials from extra/ that were analyzed:

  • extra/textual/src/textual/_compositor.py - Compositor implementation
  • extra/ratatui/ratatui-widgets/src/borders.rs - Border symbols

2. Project Dependencies Discovered

From deps.edn:

3. Existing Patterns Found

Document patterns already in use:

  • Namespace pattern: [description]
    • Example: src/ol/bramble/widgets/text.clj:15
  • Protocol pattern: [description]
    • Example: src/ol/bramble/protocols.clj:20

4. Files Requiring Changes

  • path/to/file.clj:line - [specific change needed]
  • path/to/file.clj:line - [specific change needed]

5. Integration Points

  • External APIs: [list]
  • Database changes: [list]
  • Configuration changes: [list]

6. Risk Assessment

  • Breaking changes: [list with severity]
  • Performance implications: [concerns]
  • Security touchpoints: [areas]

7. Unclear Areas

Questions for the user:

  • [specific question about requirements]
  • [ambiguous pattern that needs clarification]

Git Constraints

You have READ-ONLY git access.

Allowed:

  • git status
  • git log
  • git diff
  • git show

Never allowed:

  • git add, git commit, git push
  • Any command that modifies the repository

Output Location

Save research to: prompts/NNN-concept_report.md

Or for specific library research: prompts/NNN-concept_library_report.md

Check existing files in prompts/ to determine the next NNN number. Follow the naming convention: three digits, hyphenated concept label, underscore report suffix.

Final Output

After completing research, output one of the following:

## Research Complete

Document: prompts/NNN-concept_report.md

Ready for implementation planning.

Install

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Requires askill CLI v1.0+

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Metadata

Licenseunknown
Version-
Updated2/15/2026
PublisherRamblurr

Tags

apidatabasegithubsecurity