research-and-source-capture

Research and Source Capture Skill

When to Use

Use this skill to build an evidence library from public web research:

• Documentation pages and API references
• Code examples and configuration snippets
• Diagrams, charts, and architecture figures
• Release notes and changelogs
• Any task needing verifiable, attributable sources

Instructions

Collection Workflow

1. navigate(url) to each source page
2. inspect_page() to extract headings, body text, and code blocks
3. Write extracted content to the evidence library as markdown/plain text
4. download_file(url) for binary assets (images, PDFs, archives)
5. Record source URL + timestamp for EVERY captured item

Evidence Library Layout

Organize by topic so the library stays searchable:

evidence-library/
  <topic>/
    index.json      # searchable metadata for every item
    docs/           # extracted markdown/text/code
    assets/         # downloaded diagrams, PDFs, images
    screenshots/    # only when visuals matter

Item Metadata

Every entry in index.json must include:

• sourceUrl - canonical URL of the page
• capturedAt - ISO 8601 timestamp of capture
• title and itemType (doc | code | diagram | release-note)
• filePath - local path where the content was saved

Screenshot Policy

Capture screenshots ONLY when they add information beyond the text:

• Good: visual layouts, rendered diagrams, UI states, charts
• Avoid: plain prose or code blocks (extract text instead)
• Use descriptive names: <topic>-<slug>-<sequence>.png

Searchability Rules

• Keep index.json keys stable across topics for easy aggregation
• Prefer extracted text over images so content stays grep-able
• Never silently overwrite an item - append a new versioned entry

Output

{
  "topic": "auth-patterns",
  "items": [
    {
      "sourceUrl": "https://example.com/docs/oauth",
      "capturedAt": "2026-08-23T10:15:00Z",
      "title": "OAuth 2.0 flow overview",
      "itemType": "doc",
      "filePath": "evidence-library/auth-patterns/docs/oauth-overview.md",
      "screenshot": null
    }
  ]
}