Research Orchestration Patterns

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│   Discovery is where great work begins.                     │
│   Explore broadly, synthesize clearly, answer confidently.  │
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Load when: Codebase exploration, technical investigation, dependency analysis, documentation research Common patterns: Breadth-First Discovery, Feature Tracing, Root Cause Analysis

Table of Contents

1. Codebase Exploration
2. Technical Investigation
3. Dependency Analysis
4. Documentation Research

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Codebase Exploration

Pattern: Breadth-First Discovery

User Request: "Help me understand this codebase"

Phase 1: FAN-OUT (Parallel surface scan)
├─ Explore agent: Project structure, entry points
├─ Explore agent: Package.json/requirements/build files
├─ Explore agent: README, docs folder
└─ Explore agent: Test structure and patterns

Phase 2: REDUCE
└─ General-purpose agent: Synthesize codebase overview

Phase 3: FAN-OUT (Deep dive areas of interest)
├─ Explore agent: Deep dive area 1
├─ Explore agent: Deep dive area 2
└─ Explore agent: Deep dive area 3

Pattern: Feature Tracing

User Request: "How does user authentication work?"

Phase 1: EXPLORE
└─ Explore agent: Find auth-related files (grep patterns)

Phase 2: PIPELINE (Follow the flow)
├─ Explore agent: Entry point (login route/component)
├─ Explore agent: Middleware/validation layer
├─ Explore agent: Session/token handling
└─ Explore agent: Database/storage layer

Phase 3: REDUCE
└─ General-purpose agent: Document complete auth flow

Pattern: Impact Analysis

User Request: "What would break if I change UserService?"

Phase 1: EXPLORE
└─ Explore agent: Find UserService definition and interface

Phase 2: FAN-OUT
├─ Explore agent: Find all imports of UserService
├─ Explore agent: Find all usages of each method
└─ Explore agent: Find tests depending on UserService

Phase 3: REDUCE
└─ General-purpose agent: Impact report with risk assessment

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Technical Investigation

Pattern: Root Cause Analysis

User Request: "Why is the API slow?"

Phase 1: FAN-OUT (Parallel hypothesis generation)
├─ Explore agent: Check database query patterns
├─ Explore agent: Check API middleware chain
├─ Explore agent: Check external service calls
└─ Explore agent: Check caching implementation

Phase 2: REDUCE
└─ General-purpose agent: Ranked hypotheses with evidence

Phase 3: PIPELINE (Validate top hypothesis)
└─ General-purpose agent: Instrument/test to confirm

Pattern: Technology Evaluation

User Request: "Should we use Redis or Memcached?"

Phase 1: FAN-OUT (Parallel research)
├─ Agent A (WebSearch): Redis features, use cases, benchmarks
├─ Agent B (WebSearch): Memcached features, use cases, benchmarks
└─ Explore agent: Current caching patterns in codebase

Phase 2: REDUCE
└─ Plan agent: Comparison matrix, recommendation with rationale

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Dependency Analysis

Pattern: Dependency Graph

User Request: "Map all dependencies for the auth module"

Phase 1: EXPLORE
└─ Explore agent: Find auth module entry points

Phase 2: FAN-OUT (Parallel tracing)
├─ Explore agent: Trace internal dependencies
├─ Explore agent: Trace external package dependencies
└─ Explore agent: Trace database/service dependencies

Phase 3: REDUCE
└─ General-purpose agent: Dependency graph visualization

Pattern: Dead Code Detection

Phase 1: EXPLORE
└─ Explore agent: Build export/import graph

Phase 2: FAN-OUT
├─ Explore agent: Find unreferenced exports
├─ Explore agent: Find unused internal functions
└─ Explore agent: Find commented/disabled code

Phase 3: REDUCE
└─ General-purpose agent: Dead code report with safe removal list

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Documentation Research

Pattern: API Discovery

User Request: "Document all API endpoints"

Phase 1: EXPLORE
└─ Explore agent: Find route definitions (express routes, decorators, etc.)

Phase 2: MAP (Per endpoint)
├─ Agent A: Document endpoint group 1 (params, responses)
├─ Agent B: Document endpoint group 2
└─ Agent C: Document endpoint group 3

Phase 3: REDUCE
└─ General-purpose agent: Unified API documentation

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Research Output Formats

Investigation Report Template

## Question

[Original question/request]

## Summary

[1-2 sentence answer]

## Evidence

1. [Finding 1 with file:line references]
2. [Finding 2 with file:line references]

## Analysis

[Interpretation of evidence]

## Recommendations

1. [Actionable recommendation]

## Open Questions

- [What wasn't answered]

Task Management for Research

For research tasks, structure as exploration followed by synthesis:

# Create research tasks
npx cc-mirror tasks create --subject "Define research scope" --description "Clarify questions, identify sources..."
npx cc-mirror tasks create --subject "Explore area 1" --description "Search for patterns in auth module..."
npx cc-mirror tasks create --subject "Explore area 2" --description "Search for patterns in API layer..."
npx cc-mirror tasks create --subject "Explore area 3" --description "Search for patterns in database..."
npx cc-mirror tasks create --subject "Synthesize findings" --description "Aggregate discoveries, form conclusions..."

# Exploration can run in parallel, synthesis waits
npx cc-mirror tasks update 2 --add-blocked-by 1
npx cc-mirror tasks update 3 --add-blocked-by 1
npx cc-mirror tasks update 4 --add-blocked-by 1
npx cc-mirror tasks update 5 --add-blocked-by 2,3,4

# Spawn Explore agents in parallel (haiku swarm for fast exploration)
Task(subagent_type="Explore", prompt="Task 2: Find auth patterns...",
     model="haiku", run_in_background=True)
Task(subagent_type="Explore", prompt="Task 3: Find API patterns...",
     model="haiku", run_in_background=True)
Task(subagent_type="Explore", prompt="Task 4: Find database patterns...",
     model="haiku", run_in_background=True)

Agent Selection for Research

| Research Type | Primary Agent | Secondary Agents | | ------------------ | ------------------ | ------------------------------- | | Codebase questions | Explore | General-purpose for synthesis | | External research | WebSearch-enabled | Explore for local context | | Architecture | Plan | Explore for discovery | | Impact analysis | Explore (parallel) | General-purpose for aggregation |

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─── ◈ Research ──────────────────────────