Deep Research
Core Purpose
Deliver citation-backed, verified research reports through a structured pipeline with source credibility scoring, evidence persistence, and progressive context management.
Autonomy Principle: Operate independently. Infer assumptions from context. Only stop for critical errors or incomprehensible queries.
Accessibility Principle: Make dense analysis easier to grasp. When a finding is abstract, architectural, process-heavy, or strategically subtle, ground it in a concrete example, mini-case, counterexample, implementation scenario, or failure mode. Prefer real source-grounded cases; if you use an illustrative hypothetical, label it clearly as hypothetical and do not cite it as if it were sourced fact.
Decision Tree
Request Analysis +-- Simple lookup? --> STOP: Use WebSearch +-- Debugging? --> STOP: Use standard tools +-- Complex analysis needed? --> CONTINUE Mode Selection +-- Initial exploration --> quick (3 phases, 2-5 min) +-- Standard research --> standard (6 phases, 5-10 min) [DEFAULT] +-- Critical decision --> deep (8 phases, 10-20 min) +-- Comprehensive review --> ultradeep (8+ phases, 20-45 min)
Default assumptions: Technical query = technical audience. Comparison = balanced perspective. Trend = recent 1-2 years.
Default readability rule: For Standard mode and above, try to include at least one concrete case/example for each major finding unless the topic is purely numeric, the source material provides no credible case material, or confidentiality/safety considerations make cases inappropriate.
Workflow Overview
| Phase | Name | Quick | Standard | Deep | UltraDeep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SCOPE | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 2 | PLAN | - | Y | Y | Y |
| 3 | RETRIEVE | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 4 | TRIANGULATE | - | Y | Y | Y |
| 4.5 | OUTLINE REFINEMENT | - | Y | Y | Y |
| 5 | SYNTHESIZE | - | Y | Y | Y |
| 6 | CRITIQUE | - | - | Y | Y |
| 7 | REFINE | - | - | Y | Y |
| 8 | PACKAGE | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Execution
On invocation, load relevant reference files:
- Phase 1-7: Load methodology.md for detailed phase instructions
- Phase 8 (Report): Load report-assembly.md for progressive generation
- HTML/PDF output: Load html-generation.md
- Quality checks: Load quality-gates.md
- Long reports (>18K words): Load continuation.md
Templates:
- Report structure: report_template.md
- HTML styling: mckinsey_report_template.html
Scripts:
python scripts/validate_report.py --report [path]python scripts/verify_citations.py --report [path]python scripts/md_to_html.py [markdown_path]
Output Contract
Required sections:
- Executive Summary (200-400 words)
- Introduction (scope, methodology, assumptions)
- Main Analysis (4-8 findings, 600-2,000 words each, cited, each grounded in concrete examples/cases when helpful)
- Synthesis & Insights (patterns, implications)
- Limitations & Caveats
- Recommendations
- Bibliography (COMPLETE - every citation, no placeholders)
- Methodology Appendix
Output files (all to ~/Documents/[Topic]_Research_[YYYYMMDD]/):
- Markdown (primary source)
- HTML (McKinsey style, auto-opened)
- PDF (professional print, auto-opened)
Quality standards:
- 10+ sources, 3+ per major claim
- All claims cited immediately [N]
- No placeholders, no fabricated citations
- Prose-first (>=80%), bullets sparingly
- Use concrete examples, mini-cases, counterexamples, or applied scenarios to make major findings easier to understand
- Source-ground real cases when available; clearly label hypothetical illustrative examples instead of citing them as factual evidence
When to Use / NOT Use
Use: Comprehensive analysis, technology comparisons, state-of-the-art reviews, multi-perspective investigation, market analysis.
Do NOT use: Simple lookups, debugging, 1-2 search answers, quick time-sensitive queries.
