Gsp Project Research

Read {PROJECT_PATH}/brand.ref → set BRAND_PATH.

Step 1: Load context

Brief (chunk-first)

Read {PROJECT_PATH}/brief/INDEX.md. If it exists, load scope.md and target-adaptations.md.

If brief doesn't exist, tell the user to run /gsp-project-brief first.

Brand system (selective)

Read {BRAND_PATH}/patterns/INDEX.md. If it exists, load foundation chunks (to understand the design system constraints).

Brand discovery (selective)

Read {BRAND_PATH}/discover/INDEX.md. If it exists, load competitive-audit.md and trend-analysis.md (to avoid duplicating brand-level research).

Custom references

If {PROJECT_PATH}/references/INDEX.md exists, load relevant references (competitor screenshots, brand guidelines, design specs). Pass to the researcher agent for context.

Project context

Read:

• {PROJECT_PATH}/BRIEF.md — what we're building, platforms, audience
• {PROJECT_PATH}/config.json — get implementation_target, platform, tech_stack

Step 1.5: Scope check

If design_scope is tokens:

1. Update {PROJECT_PATH}/STATE.md — set Phase 2 (Research) status to skipped
2. Display: "Research phase skipped — design scope is tokens."
3. Route: "Run /gsp-project-build."
4. Stop here.

Step 1.75: Pre-fetch references (background)

If competitor URLs or reference sites are mentioned in BRIEF.md or {PROJECT_PATH}/references/, use WebFetch with run_in_background: true to pre-fetch them. This warms content for the researcher agent.

Step 2: Spawn project researcher

Load agent methodology

Read ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/methodology/gsp-project-researcher.md. Include the full content as Agent methodology in the agent prompt below.

Spawn the gsp-project-researcher agent. Inline all content — the agent should not need to read any input files.

Pass in the agent prompt:

• Content of brief scope chunks: scope.md, target-adaptations.md (loaded in Step 1)
• Content of brand patterns foundation chunks (loaded in Step 1)
• Content of brand discovery chunks: competitive-audit.md, trend-analysis.md (loaded in Step 1)
• Content of custom references (loaded in Step 1)
• Content of BRIEF.md (loaded in Step 1)
• Any pre-fetched reference content (from Step 1.75)
• Agent methodology (loaded above)
• Research output template (from execution_context)
• implementation_target, platform, tech_stack
• Output path: {PROJECT_PATH}/research/

The agent researches using WebSearch and writes chunks directly:

• research/ux-patterns.md
• research/competitor-ux.md
• research/technical-research.md
• research/accessibility-patterns.md
• research/content-strategy.md
• research/reference-specs.md
• research/recommendations.md
• research/INDEX.md

Step 2.5: Write exports

Update {PROJECT_PATH}/exports/INDEX.md:

• If INDEX.md doesn't exist, copy it from templates/exports-index.md
• Replace everything between <!-- BEGIN:research --> and <!-- END:research --> with populated table:

<!-- BEGIN:research -->
| Section | File |
|---------|------|
| UX Patterns | [ux-patterns.md](../research/ux-patterns.md) |
| Competitor UX | [competitor-ux.md](../research/competitor-ux.md) |
| Technical Research | [technical-research.md](../research/technical-research.md) |
| Accessibility Patterns | [accessibility-patterns.md](../research/accessibility-patterns.md) |
| Content Strategy | [content-strategy.md](../research/content-strategy.md) |
| Reference Specs | [reference-specs.md](../research/reference-specs.md) |
| Recommendations | [recommendations.md](../research/recommendations.md) |
<!-- END:research -->

Step 3: Update state

Update {PROJECT_PATH}/STATE.md:

• Set Phase 2 (Research) status to complete
• Record completion date

Step 4: Phase transition output

Invoke /gsp-phase-transition with phase research and output directory {PROJECT_PATH}/research/. </process> </output>