grounded-research

Grounded research

Leading word: audit

Run research as an audit: every conclusion must trace to exact evidence, survive a counter-case, and expose its weak spots. The goal is not maximal length; the goal is a source-backed answer the user can inspect.

Load a reference only when it applies:

• references/web.md — evidence is on the web.
• references/codebase.md — evidence is in a repo or local files.

For hybrid tasks load both branch files and keep web receipts separate from local receipts.

Step 1: Classify the branch and depth

Choose both a branch and a depth before researching. State the assumption only when it affects interpretation.

Branches

• Evidence branch: what is true, likely true, safest, best supported, most reliable, or most accurate.
• Opinion branch: what people think, user sentiment, complaints, reviews, Reddit/X/forum reactions, or community experience.
• Product/tool branch: whether to adopt, compare, trust, buy, configure, or rely on a tool, model, library, service, API, device, or workflow.
• Policy/legal/medical/financial branch: current rules or high-stakes guidance. Use current primary sources and disclose jurisdiction or scope limits.

Depths

• Light audit: simple fact-check, single narrow claim, or low-stakes answer. Use at least one strong source; include countercheck only if obvious.
• Standard audit: default for research. Use primary sources when available, one or more independent corroborating sources, an adversarial check, and concise confidence labels.

Completion criterion: branch and depth are chosen, and the evidence plan matches the user’s stakes instead of forcing every answer into the heaviest format.

Step 2: Researcher pass

Build the strongest source-backed answer. A material claim is one that affects the answer's conclusion, confidence, recommendation, or interpretation.

• Among sources in the same tier, prefer ones that support exact passage links, especially text fragment links. Never pick a weaker source because it has a fragment link.
• Use current sources when facts may have changed.
• Capture only evidence that directly supports or weakens a material claim.
• Separate findings from interpretation and recommendation.
• Track non-fragment links, unavailable primary sources, old sources, missing jurisdictions, missing versions, and uncertainty.