# Research Log

> Maintain a research log that acts as an advisor, not just a diary. Registers projects; records decisions with generalizable lesson extraction; saves session state; recalls cross-project lessons and prior solutions when stuck; checks proposed approaches against promoted anti-pattern rules; runs weekly review with lesson promotion and dashboard refresh. Use when the user asks to initialize a resear…

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-axect-skills-research-log`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [Axect](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/axect)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [AI & ML](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/ai-and-ml)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [Axect](https://github.com/Axect)
- **Source:** https://github.com/Axect/skills/tree/main/research-log

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-axect-skills-research-log
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# Research Log

This skill maintains a unified research-log workspace in `~/.research/` and uses it to actively
improve research, not merely to record it. The data model and all file schemas are defined in
`references/conventions.md` — read it first whenever you touch the store.

The skill earns its keep at three moments:

- **M1 — decision-time guardrail.** Surface relevant anti-patterns *before* the user commits to
  an approach. See "Decision guardrail" below — this fires from conversation, not only on command.
- **M3 — recall when stuck.** Search across all projects for prior lessons and solutions.
- **M4 — real-time drift.** Flag work that has drifted from the current Compass focus.

## Decision guardrail (M1) — always active

Whenever the user proposes a research approach — an architecture, model, loss function,
methodology, experimental design, or "let's do X" choice — **before agreeing, elaborating, or
helping execute it**:

1. Read `~/.research/rules.md` (small, promoted-rules-only; cheap to load).
2. Check whether any Rule's trigger/Check matches the proposed action.
3. If a Rule matches, surface it first: "You are about to {X}; this bit you in {projects} —
   {Check}." Include the evidence. Let the user decide; do not block.
4. If nothing matches, say nothing about rules and proceed normally.

This is a behavioral directive, not a hook. It applies in any registered project's working
directory. Keep it lightweight — only promoted Rules are checked, and only when an actual
approach choice is on the table (not for routine edits or questions).

## Workflow router

Read the matching workflow reference for the user's request:

- Project registration or onboarding → `references/initialize.md`
- Recording an experiment, debugging result, or design choice → `references/record.md`
- Saving current session context → `references/save-state.md`
- Recalling past lessons / how a blocker was solved before (M3) → `references/recall.md`
- Explicitly checking a planned approach against past mistakes (M1) → `references/check.md`
- Weekly review, dashboard refresh, lesson promotion, archive scan → `references/review.md`

## Working rules

- Match the current working directory against the Project Registry in `~/.research/dashboard.md`
  before acting on an existing project.
- Follow the file schemas defined in `references/conventions.md` exactly.
- Acquire the per-project lock (`~/.research/.locks/{slug}.lock`) before writing project state.
- Compass `← current focus` is the anchor for drift detection; keep exactly one.
- When recording a decision, always attempt lesson extraction; when a lesson recurs across ≥ 2
  projects, propose promoting it to a Rule and regenerate `rules.md`.
- Treat dashboard updates as review-time derived data unless a workflow says otherwise.
- When a workflow requires user approval before writing, draft first and wait for approval.
- Never write to a legacy `~/.research-log/` backup; it is read-only.

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [Axect](https://github.com/Axect)
- **Source:** [Axect/skills](https://github.com/Axect/skills)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-axect-skills-research-log
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/axect
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.