general-research

# General Research

## Overview

**Purpose:** Systematic internet research on any topic through methodical questioning and multi-source analysis

**Approach:**
- Understand context first - clarify what's truly needed before starting
- Ask strategic questions - research direction must be clear
- Use multiple sources - never rely on single page (minimum 5-8 sources)
- Identify patterns - analyze and synthesize, don't just collect
- Evaluate credibility - use tier system for source quality
- Cross-reference claims - verify key information across sources
- Document systematically - capture process and conclusions

**Output:** Research report saved in `.research/[topic-slug]-[date].md`

**Note:** Research is iterative - you can return to earlier phases when discovering new information or when scope needs adjustment.

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## Guidelines

### What Makes Good Research

**Quality indicators:**
- **Multiple perspectives** - Minimum 5-8 different sources from various tiers
- **Cross-verification** - Key claims confirmed by multiple independent sources
- **Pattern recognition** - Identifying consensus and common themes across sources
- **Critical evaluation** - Assessing source credibility and potential biases
- **Analysis over collection** - Drawing insights and conclusions, not just gathering facts
- **Practical focus** - Actionable recommendations over theoretical information
- **Systematic documentation** - Clear trail from sources to conclusions

### Key Principles

**Source evaluation:**
- Use tier system (see `references/source-evaluation.md`)
- Tier 1 (highest): Official documentation, API references
- Tier 2: Expert blogs, engineering blogs, conference talks
- Tier 3: StackOverflow, GitHub issues, technical subreddits
- Always verify lower-tier sources with higher-tier ones

**Research process:**
- Start with WebSearch to identify best sources
- Extract information with WebFetch using specific prompts
- Cross-reference all key claims
- Note both consensus and disagreem