git:20261025.a1e86e0 to git:20261027.93e47a5

---

name: research

description: Use before building anything novel, modifying unfamiliar code, ranking unfamiliar tech, or whenever a library/API is involved. Logs every consultation to `.pipeline/read.log`. (Lineage: godmode/reference-engine, godmode/github-search, agent-skills/api-design)

phase: Any

---

# Research — read it before you build on it

## Prime directive

Documentation and prior art come first; implementation theory comes second.

## Steps (in order)

1. **Docs on every dependency** — quickstart, API ref, pitfalls. Docs tools over parametric memory. Never write against an API from memory.

2. **Log every consultation** to `.pipeline/read.log` (what, when, why). Audit trail; feeds read-check hook.

3. **Prior art before invention** — "could an existing tool/model/service do this?" is required. Provider-managed over hand-rolled.

4. **Read before modifying** — file, imports/callers, tests.

5. **Carry sources forward** into plan citations.

## Cognitive traps

- "This pattern is standard" — version drift breaks "standard" code.

- "Searching wastes tokens" — a failed implement-debug-revert cycle costs ten times a read.

- "Reading code is researching" — code says what it does; docs say what it's supposed to do.

## Guardrails

- No API in a plan without docs consulted.

- No new dependency without existing-solution check.