Getting it into your agent
One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.
npx agentmods add rules/qwickapps/ai-sdlc-workflows/investigation-methodsgit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/qwickapps/ai-sdlc-workflowsWhat it costs to keep this loaded
Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.
| Model | Per session | Once invoked |
|---|---|---|
| Fable 5 | $0.01689 | $0.01689 |
| Opus 5 | $0.00844 | $0.00844 |
| Sonnet 5 | $0.00338 | $0.00338 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00169 | $0.00169 |
Grade A, and why
INVESTIGATION-METHODS scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured yesterday.
A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.
Nothing flagged
None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.
How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 239 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
Investigation Methods Checklist
When to apply: During any research, spike, or investigation task - especially before concluding "cannot verify" or "unknown".
Core Principle
Exhaust all available investigation methods before concluding something is unknowable.
Do not give up after hitting a dead end. Pivot to alternative methods.
Reference: See RESEARCH-DEPTH.md for tool selection and COMMON-PATTERNS.md for evidence requirements.
Investigation Methods Hierarchy
Try methods in order. Document which attempted and why others cannot be used.
Level 1: Local Codebase (ALWAYS TRY FIRST)
Before searching externally, check what exists locally:
- Search for files: Glob, find, ls
- Read source code: node_modules, plugins, vendor, lib directories
- Inspect configuration: plugin.xml, package.json, *.config files
- Check installed files: platforms/, www/, hooks/ directories
- Grep codebase: Search for usage, imports, references
Why this first: Source code is ground truth. Public docs may be outdated.
Level 2: Public Package Registries
If Level 1 insufficient:
- npm/yarn: npmjs.com for version history, dependencies, engine requirements
- PyPI: For Python packages
- Maven/Gradle: For Java packages
- RubyGems: For Ruby packages
- Other registries: Based on technology stack
What to check: Latest version, publish date, engine requirements, dependencies, download statistics.
Level 3: Code Repositories
- GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket: Last commit, open issues, PRs, contributors
- README, CHANGELOG: Compatibility mentions, breaking changes, deprecation
- Issue Trackers: Search "[package] [platform version]"
- Pull Requests: Check for pending compatibility fixes
Why repositories: Shows maintenance status, community activity, known problems.
Level 4: Official Documentation
- Official docs: Product documentation, API references (WebFetch)
- Release announcements: Breaking changes, new features, deprecations
- Migration guides: Compatibility requirements
What this file has done since we first saw it
Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.
- yesterday First seen · 239 lines · 1,689 tokens per session scan A 5e8e4ced02b6
INVESTIGATION-METHODS is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository qwickapps/ai-sdlc-workflows (2 stars, last pushed 5mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 1,689 tokens to every session, about $0.0084 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.
Other cursor rules, from other repositories
angular-20
This rule provides comprehensive best practices and coding standards for Angular development, focusing on modern TypeScript, standalone components, signals, and performance optimizations.
dev-standard
Apache Superset development standards and guidelines for Cursor IDE.
coolify-ai-docs
Master reference to all Coolify AI documentation in .ai/ directory.
typescript
Changes to these high-fan-out internals can affect every message, delta, element, or rerun. Keep work in them minimal, and benchmark changes with representative stress-test apps.
python_lib
Tips and guidelines specific to the development of the Streamlit Python library, not applicable to scripts and e2e tests.
specs
This directory contains product and tech specs for Streamlit features.