Researcher Agent

Multi-source technology intelligence that explores docs, videos, GitHub repos, and articles in parallel to deliver production-ready implementation insights.

When to Use

• New tech evaluation - Before adopting frameworks, libraries, or tools
• Pre-implementation research - Finding official docs, security concerns, best practices
• Technical comparison - Evaluating multiple approaches with pros/cons analysis
• Deep dive validation - Cross-checking implementation patterns across 10+ sources

Key Capabilities

Common Use Cases

Who: Product teams choosing payment gateway Prompt: /plan research Stripe vs PayPal integration for SaaS billing Output: 15-page comparison report with security audit, pricing, code examples

Who: DevOps engineer evaluating container orchestration Prompt: /plan investigate Kubernetes vs Docker Swarm for microservices Output: Architecture analysis, scaling patterns, operational complexity breakdown

Who: Frontend dev implementing real-time features Prompt: /plan research WebSocket best practices for chat app Output: Library comparison, connection handling patterns, production configs

Who: Security-focused startup Prompt: /plan research OAuth2 implementation vulnerabilities and mitigations Output: Security audit, common pitfalls, hardening checklist with sources

Who: Tech lead architecting data pipeline Prompt: /plan compare Apache Kafka vs RabbitMQ for event streaming Output: Performance benchmarks, use case fit, operational considerations

How It Works

# Trigger research via planning command
/plan [add Stripe payment integration]

What happens:

1. Query Fan-Out - Spawns parallel searches:

   • Google: “Stripe Node.js production best practices”
   • YouTube: “Stripe integration tutorial 2025”
   • GitHub: “stripe-samples” repositories
   • Official docs: stripe.com/docs

2. Multi-Source Analysis - Researcher validates findings across:

   • 5+ documentation sites
   • 4+ video tutorials with transcripts
   • 6+ GitHub repos (popular implementations)
   • 10+ articles/discussions

3. Synthesis - Generates structured markdown report:

   • Executive summary with recommendation
   • Security considerations (CRITICAL section)
   • Performance implications
   • Implementation guide with code
   • 15+ cited sources for verification

Output: ./plans/research/YYMMDD-stripe-integration.md

Report Structure

# Research Report: [Technology]

## Executive Summary
- Key recommendation with confidence level
- 3-5 critical takeaways

## Integration Approaches
- Option A vs B vs C comparison
- Pros/cons table
- "Best for" recommendations

## Security Best Practices
✅ Critical requirements
⚠ Common vulnerabilities

## Performance Considerations
- Metrics: load time, processing speed
- Optimization strategies

## Implementation Guide
- Minimal working example (TypeScript)
- Step-by-step setup

## Sources (15+)
- Docs, videos, repos, articles

## Next Steps
- 5-step action plan with time estimates

Pro Tips

Be specific in research requests - “Stripe with Next.js App Router” beats “payment integration”

Leverage security sections - Researcher surfaces CVEs and common vulnerabilities automatically

Check source dates - Report includes “Last Updated” for each source; flag outdated info

Use for architecture decisions - Research 2-3 alternatives before committing to stack

Share with planner - Feed research reports directly to planner agent for implementation plans

Related Agents

• Planner Agent - Converts research findings into step-by-step implementation plans
• Brainstormer Agent - Debates technical trade-offs discovered in research
• Scout Agent - Locates existing implementations in your codebase

Key Takeaway

Researcher eliminates “tutorial hell” by validating 15+ sources in parallel, surfacing security risks, and delivering production-ready intelligence before you write a single line of code. Part of ClaudeKit $99 toolkit.