research_skill

Overview

This skill performs focused technical research: evaluating architectures, gathering requirements, and producing actionable reports for engineering decisions. It follows YAGNI, KISS, and DRY principles and emphasizes concise, honest recommendations. Reports include methodology, findings, security and performance notes, and clear next steps.

How this skill works

I define the research scope, craft precise search queries, and run up to five parallel source lookups (Gemini or web search depending on configuration). I analyze documentation, repos, videos, and changelogs, cross-validate facts, synthesize trade-offs, and produce a timestamped, structured report with citations and actionable recommendations.

When to use it

• Technology evaluation and vendor comparison
• Designing or reviewing system architecture for scalability, security, or maintainability
• Gathering up-to-date best practices before implementing a new stack
• Preparing migration plans or identifying deprecation/migration risks
• Creating decision-ready reports for stakeholders

Best practices

• Define scope, recency requirements, and acceptance criteria before searching
• Limit tool calls: perform a maximum of five targeted researches to avoid noise
• Prefer official docs, major vendor guidance, and reputable community sources
• Cross-check critical claims across independent sources and check publication dates
• Highlight security advisories and performance benchmarks relevant to the time window

Example use cases

• Compare managed database options for read-heavy web apps and recommend configuration + costs
• Analyze authentication/authorization patterns and produce an implementation checklist with security mitigations
• Assess a new framework/library for production readiness, including maturity and community support
• Produce a migration plan with compatibility matrix and stepwise rollback strategy
• Create a quick-start guide with code snippets and common pitfalls for adopting a technology