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 skills add fabioc-aloha/Alex_Skill_Mall --skill research-first-developmentgit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/fabioc-aloha/Alex_Skill_MallWrote this? Show the measurements
A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.
[](https://agentmods.dev/skills/fabioc-aloha/alex_skill_mall/research-first-development)<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/fabioc-aloha/alex_skill_mall/research-first-development"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/fabioc-aloha/alex_skill_mall/research-first-development/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/fabioc-aloha/alex_skill_mall/research-first-development"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/fabioc-aloha/alex_skill_mall/research-first-development.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>What 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 5.1 | $0.00018 | $0.04207 |
| Opus 5 | $0.00009 | $0.02103 |
| Sonnet 5 | $0.00004 | $0.00841 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00002 | $0.00421 |
Grade A, and why
research-first-development 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 9d ago.
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 — 451 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
Research-First Development
Build knowledge bases that build software — research before code, teach before execute
Methodology for AI-assisted development where investment in research, skill creation, and knowledge encoding precedes implementation. Discovered through the Dead Letter heir's masterclass on cognitive architecture utilization (February 2026).
When to Use
- Starting any new project with the AI assistant
- Entering a new implementation phase of an existing project
- Onboarding the AI assistant to an unfamiliar domain
- When AI output quality is inconsistent (symptom: insufficient context)
- Before any complex multi-subsystem implementation
Core Insight
Traditional software development: Requirements → Design → Code → Test
AI-assisted development with cognitive architecture: Research → Teach → Plan → Execute
The quality of AI output is directly proportional to the quality of knowledge in its context.
Instead of the human writing code with AI assistance, the human orchestrates intent while AI handles execution. But AI can only execute what it understands. Therefore: invest in teaching before asking for output.
The Research-First Paradigm
Phase 0: Research Sprint (Before Any Code)
| Step | Activity | Output |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Competitive landscape analysis | Understanding of prior art |
| 2 | Technical feasibility research | Deep research documents (3-5 minimum) |
| 3 | Architecture decision records | ADRs documenting key choices |
| 4 | Core domain research | Comprehensive domain knowledge |
| 5 | Branding/identity decisions | Project character and voice |
Each research document should:
- Explore one domain exhaustively
- Cite sources: academic papers, industry best practices, competitive analysis
- Be structured with clear sections, code examples, decision rationales
- Live in a
/docs/or/research/directory
Phase 1: Knowledge Encoding (Research → Skills)
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.
- 9d ago First seen · 451 lines · 18 tokens per session scan A 3b1a1f4b74bb
research-first-development is a skill published in the GitHub repository fabioc-aloha/Alex_Skill_Mall (4 stars, last pushed 2d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 18 tokens to every session and 4,207 once invoked, about $0.0001 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.
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