Protocol for the Reference Librarian to invoke the Information Explorer agent when knowledge confidence is partial. Defines invocation contract, input structure, and expected output. Only the Reference Librarian may use this skill.
This skill is used exclusively by the Reference Librarian to delegate focused repository/web exploration to the Information Explorer agent when its own knowledge confidence is partial.
No other agent may invoke the Information Explorer directly. All knowledge queries flow through the librarian.
Invoke the Information Explorer when all of the following are true:
confidence: partial (some relevant info found but gaps remain)Do not invoke when:
confidence: full — answer directly from knowledgeconfidence: none — no exploration will help; add to standing questions insteadUse the Agent tool with subagent_type: "information-explorer".
Construct the prompt using the fields from the exploration_request:
You are the Information Explorer. Perform focused exploration for the Reference Librarian.
Query: {original query from calling agent}
Hint: {hint — what to trace or locate, e.g. "find where PersonService is defined and its public methods"}
Knowledge mode: {openviking|flat-file}
Report format: File paths + call-chain summary + citations
Write your exploration report to:
{CHANGE-ID}/logs/information_explorer/{YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS}_exploration.yaml
Return a brief summary of your findings when complete.
Block until the explorer responds before completing the librarian answer. Do not return a partial answer to the calling agent while exploration is pending.
The Information Explorer writes its report to:
{CHANGE-ID}/logs/information_explorer/{YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS}_exploration.yaml
Report structure:
answer_summary: "<concise answer to the query>"