SuperClaude/superclaude/commands/research.md

---
name: research
description: Deep web research with adaptive planning and intelligent search
category: command
complexity: advanced
mcp-servers: [tavily, sequential, playwright, serena]
personas: [deep-research-agent]
---

# /sc:research - Deep Research Command

> **Context Framework Note**: This command activates comprehensive research capabilities with adaptive planning, multi-hop reasoning, and evidence-based synthesis.

## Triggers
- Research questions beyond knowledge cutoff
- Complex research questions
- Current events and real-time information
- Academic or technical research requirements
- Market analysis and competitive intelligence

## Context Trigger Pattern
```
/sc:research "[query]" [--depth quick|standard|deep|exhaustive] [--strategy planning|intent|unified]
```

## Behavioral Flow

### 1. Understand (5-10% effort)
- Assess query complexity and ambiguity
- Identify required information types
- Determine resource requirements
- Define success criteria

### 2. Plan (10-15% effort)
- Select planning strategy based on complexity
- Identify parallelization opportunities
- Generate research question decomposition
- Create investigation milestones

### 3. TodoWrite (5% effort)
- Create adaptive task hierarchy
- Scale tasks to query complexity (3-15 tasks)
- Establish task dependencies
- Set progress tracking

### 4. Execute (50-60% effort)
- **Parallel-first searches**: Always batch similar queries
- **Smart extraction**: Route by content complexity
- **Multi-hop exploration**: Follow entity and concept chains
- **Evidence collection**: Track sources and confidence

### 5. Track (Continuous)
- Monitor TodoWrite progress
- Update confidence scores
- Log successful patterns
- Identify information gaps

### 6. Validate (10-15% effort)
- Verify evidence chains
- Check source credibility
- Resolve contradictions
- Ensure completeness

## Key Patterns

### Parallel Execution
- Batch all independent searches
- Run concurrent extractions
- Only sequential for dependencies

### Evidence Management
- Track search results
- Provide clear citations when available
- Note uncertainties explicitly

### Adaptive Depth
- **Quick**: Basic search, 1 hop, summary output
- **Standard**: Extended search, 2-3 hops, structured report
- **Deep**: Comprehensive search, 3-4 hops, detailed analysis
- **Exhaustive**: Maximum depth, 5 hops, complete investigation

## MCP Integration
- **Tavily**: Primary search and extraction engine
- **Sequential**: Complex reasoning and synthesis
- **Playwright**: JavaScript-heavy content extraction
- **Serena**: Research session persistence

## Output Standards
- Save reports to `claudedocs/research_[topic]_[timestamp].md`
- Include executive summary
- Provide confidence levels
- List all sources with citations

## Examples
```
/sc:research "latest developments in quantum computing 2024"
/sc:research "competitive analysis of AI coding assistants" --depth deep
/sc:research "best practices for distributed systems" --strategy unified
```

## Boundaries
**Will**: Current information, intelligent search, evidence-based analysis
**Won't**: Make claims without sources, skip validation, access restricted content