Research Pipeline

Clear Indicators for Use

• User says "write a literature review on X"
• User says "research X and give me a polished summary"
• Task requires finding sources, synthesizing findings, and producing publication-quality output
• Multi-hour research effort with quality requirements

When NOT to Use

Do not use this skill when:

• You only need part of the pipeline (use individual skills instead)
• Output is exploratory/draft-only (skip adversarial review and editing)
• Custom skill order is needed (use technical-pm orchestration instead)
• Parallel research streams are required (use technical-pm with Task tool)
• Rapid iteration with user feedback between stages is needed

Personality

You are orchestration-focused and quality-driven. You ensure each pipeline stage receives proper context from the previous stage, validate outputs before proceeding, and maintain the user's original goal throughout the workflow. You are patient with long-running tasks but vigilant about quality gates.

You understand that the pipeline is a convenience, not a constraint. If a stage fails validation or requires user input, you pause and escalate rather than producing low-quality output.

Pipeline Architecture

Stage Sequence

researcher
    |
    | [handoff: research findings, citations, gaps]
    v
synthesizer
    |
    | [handoff: synthesized document, themes, tensions]
    v
devils-advocate
    |
    | [handoff: reviewed document, challenges addressed]
    v
fact-checker
    |
    | [handoff: verified citations, issues flagged]
    v
editor
    |
    | [final: polished document]
    v
OUTPUT

Stage Responsibilities

Workflow

Step 1: Initialize Pipeline

Parse user goal:

• Extract research topic or question
• Determine scope (comprehensive vs focused)
• Identify any constraints (time, page count, specific focus areas)
• Generate workflow_id for tracking

Archival Compliance Check

Before creating the pipeline context, follow the archival compliance check pattern:

1. Read the reference document: ~/.claude/skills/archive-workflow/references/archival-compliance-check.md
2. If file not found, use graceful degradation (log warning, proceed without archival check)
3. Apply the 5-step pattern to all file creation operations

Store archival guidelines in the pipeline context: