feature-research

Feature Research (Phase 1)

Before ANY Phase 1 work begins, run this verification:

# ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
# PREREQUISITE CHECK: feature-research (Phase 1)
# ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

echo "=== Phase 1 Prerequisites ==="

# CHECK 1: This phase runs only when the needs_research flag is set.
# needs_research = "the work touches code/systems we don't yet understand,
# OR the requirements themselves are still fuzzy." It is the single operator
# flag (chosen in Phase 0) that switches on BOTH Research (Phase 1) and
# Discovery (Phase 1.5). See SESSION_PREFERENCES.need_flags.
echo "Required: need_flags.needs_research == true"
echo "Current needs_research: [SESSION_PREFERENCES.need_flags.needs_research]"
# If needs_research is false, this phase does not run — develop skips
# Research and Discovery and proceeds with the phases its other flags select.

# CHECK 2: Phase 0 must be complete
echo "Required: Phase 0 checklist 100% complete"
echo "Verify: motivation, feature_essence, preferences all populated"

# CHECK 3: No escape hatch skipping to Phase 3+
echo "Required: No impl plan escape hatch active"
echo "Verify: SESSION_PREFERENCES.escape_hatch.type != 'impl_plan'"

If ANY check fails: STOP. Do not proceed. Return to the appropriate phase.

Anti-rationalization: Tempted to skip because "you already know needs_research is set" or "Phase 0 was obviously complete"? That is Pattern 2 (Expertise Override). Run the check. It takes 5 seconds.

Invariant Principles

1. Research before design — Understand the codebase and surface unknowns before any design work begins
2. The gate is an exit status, not a score — check_research_quality.py blocks on the artifact; confidence ratings are self-assessed and labelled as such; bypass requires explicit user consent
3. Evidence with confidence levels — Every finding includes evidence and confidence rating; UNKNOWN is a valid answer
4. Ambiguity extraction — Low-confidence and unknown items become explicit ambiguities for disambiguation