claude-skills/research/deep-research/README.md
Claude 8d6213280c
feat(research): add deep-research skill (hardened from #851)
Adds a disciplined multi-source meta-research skill — the heavyweight,
rigor-first alternative to the fast research router. 9-phase pipeline
(reframe into falsifiable hypotheses -> plan -> capability discovery ->
parallel sub-agent fan-out -> score & triangulate -> synthesize + adversarial
pass -> verify -> refresh targets), triangulation against >=3 independent
differently-typed sources, per-source files with verbatim quotes, and a
hard no-fabricated-citations rule.

Concept + SKILL.md contributed by @Socialpranker in PR #851. Hardened for the
research/ per-skill-plugin convention (the PR shipped only the SKILL.md):
- Packaged as a full plugin to match every sibling (pulse/litreview/dossier/...):
  added .claude-plugin/plugin.json, marketplace.json entry, cs-deep-research
  agent, /cs:deep-research command, and README.
- Dropped a dangling claude-api cross-reference (not a repo skill); the other
  cross-refs (research router, competitive-teardown, litreview/dossier/patent)
  are all real.
- Preserved the contributed SKILL.md + references/full-catalog.md (the upstream
  source-catalog pointer) verbatim otherwise; attribution + upstream link in
  plugin.json and README.

Counters trued up via scripts/derive_counters.py --check (passes):
354 skills, 722 references, 96 agents, 102 commands, 82 plugins.

Co-authored-by: Socialpranker <273312799+Socialpranker@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Kmw1eZQoSMDr2diHbCcUkF
2026-07-01 05:46:54 +00:00

2.9 KiB

deep-research — Disciplined Meta-Research

The heavyweight end of the research domain: an auditable, reusable, triangulated investigation — for when a wrong answer costs more than the tokens spent getting it right.

deep-research is the rigor-first alternative to the fast research router. Where the router does keyword-classify → delegate → short brief for low-decision-risk questions, deep-research pays for rigor: falsifiable hypotheses, parallel sub-agent fan-out, source triangulation, a mandatory adversarial pass, and per-source files with verbatim quotes.

The 9-phase pipeline

# Phase What it does
1 Reframe Fix the underlying decision; state 2-4 falsifiable hypotheses
2 Genre & blocks Pick report genre + building blocks
3 Plan plan.md: scope, sourcing strategy, opposition queries, risk register, stop-criteria
3.5 Capability discovery Audit available API keys/channels; map subtopics to sources
4 Search (parallel) Fan out sub-agents → fetch & dedup → save each to sources/NN.md
5 Score & triangulate Rate Credibility/Recency/Bias; require >=3 independent, differently-typed sources per thesis
6 Synthesize + adversarial Assemble from blocks; 4 self-critique questions; steel-man counter-arguments
6.5 Verify Lightweight citation check
7 Refresh targets Emit refresh_targets.md for delta-updates

Core discipline

  • No fabricated citations — empty fetch = empty claim; every assertion binds to a saved verbatim quote.
  • Triangulation mandatory — a thesis with < 3 independent, differently-typed sources is "insufficient evidence," not fact.
  • Adversarial pass required on medium/deep investigations.
  • Persist to files — output is a reusable folder, not a chat wall.

Use / don't use

Use for: strategy, comparing N options, hypothesis validation, mapping a field. Not for: quick fact-checks (answer directly), 12-dimension competitor scoring (competitive-teardown), or fast low-risk overviews (the research router).

What's in the box

Attribution

Methodology contributed by @Socialpranker (PR #851). The continuously-maintained source catalog (29 channels, 460+ statistical sources, 39 validated APIs, 103 report blocks) lives upstream at claude-deep-research; the methodology here is self-contained. MIT.