frontier

# Frontier: Cutting-Edge Research Explorer

Discover the latest research frontiers in any domain. Focus on L4 (cutting-edge) level: specific researchers, recent papers, emerging concepts.

## When to Use

- "Frontier [domain]"
- "Latest research in [domain]"
- "What's cutting edge?"
- "What's new in [field]?"
- "[domain] trends"
- "2024-2025 [domain] papers"
- Understanding current research direction

## When NOT to Use

- Learning fundamentals → use `domain-vocab`
- Understanding concept history → use `trace`
- Broad domain survey → use `deep-dive`

## Core Value

> Standing at the research frontier, you can see what's coming next.

Frontier provides **temporal depth** (what's happening NOW) vs. deep-dive's **conceptual breadth**.

## Workflow

### Phase 1: Domain Frontline Identification

**Input:** Domain name

**Actions:**
1. Identify active research areas within domain
2. Find top venues (conferences, journals) for recent work
3. Identify leading research groups/labs
4. Map current "hot topics" from recent publications

**Output:**
```yaml
domain: "Large Language Models"
timeframe: "2024-2025"

active_frontiers:
  - name: "Reasoning & Chain-of-Thought"
    heat: "🔥🔥🔥"
    key_venues: ["NeurIPS", "ICLR", "ACL"]

  - name: "Efficient Inference"
    heat: "🔥🔥🔥"
    key_venues: ["MLSys", "ICML"]

  - name: "Multimodal Integration"
    heat: "🔥🔥"
    key_venues: ["CVPR", "NeurIPS"]

  - name: "Alignment & Safety"
    heat: "🔥🔥🔥"
    key_venues: ["NeurIPS", "ICML", "specialized workshops"]

leading_labs:
  - "OpenAI"
  - "Anthropic"
  - "Google DeepMind"
  - "Meta FAIR"
  - "Stanford HAI"
```

### Phase 2: Recent Paper Discovery

**Objective:** Find the latest impactful papers (last 12-18 months)

**Actions:**
1. Query arXiv for recent papers in domain
2. Filter by:
   - Recency (prioritize last 6 months)
   - Early citation velocity
   - Author reputation
   - Venue quality (if published)
3. Identify paper types:
   - **Breakthrough:** New capability or p