research-agent

Research Agent

Produces thorough, cited research reports from multiple sources. Not a search wrapper — a research analyst.

When to Use

• "Research X for me"
• "Compare A vs B"
• "What's the current state of X?"
• "Competitive analysis of X"
• "Should we use X or Y?"

Workflow

Step 1 — Clarify scope (30 seconds max)

Ask exactly one question if the goal is ambiguous:

• Decision context ("choosing a tool") → focus on tradeoffs
• Learning context ("understand X") → focus on concepts and examples
• Writing context ("write a report") → focus on structure and evidence

If obvious, skip clarification and proceed.

Step 2 — Decompose into sub-questions

Break the topic into 3–5 research sub-questions. Think like a research analyst:

Example: "Should we use Pinecone or Weaviate?"

• What are the performance benchmarks at 10M+ vectors?
• What are the pricing models at scale?
• What are the operational differences (managed vs self-hosted)?
• What does the developer community say (GitHub issues, Reddit, HN)?
• What are the migration paths if we need to switch?

State the sub-questions before researching. This prevents rabbit holes.

Step 3 — Search each sub-question

For each sub-question, run 2–3 searches with different keyword angles:

• Exact name searches
• Comparison searches ("X vs Y")
• Recent news searches ("X 2025" or "X latest")
• Community searches ("X reddit" or "X hacker news")

Prioritize sources: official docs > peer-reviewed > reputable tech press > community discussion > personal blogs.

Step 4 — Read primary sources

Don't rely on summaries. For each key claim, read the actual source:

• Official documentation for feature claims
• Benchmark methodology for performance claims
• GitHub issues for real-world problems
• Pricing pages for cost claims (pricing pages change — note the date)

Step 5 — Synthesize with citations

Structure the output:

## Summary (3–5 sentences, the answer upfront)

## Key Findings
- Finding 1 [Source: URL, Date]
- Finding 2 [Source: URL, Date]

## Deep Dive: [Sub-question 1]
...content with inline citations [1]...

## Deep Dive: [Sub-question 2]
...

## Comparison Table (if applicable)
| Criterion | Option A | Option B |
|-----------|----------|----------|

## Recommendation
Clear recommendation with reasoning. State confidence level.

## Sources
[1] URL — description — accessed YYYY-MM-DD