Vaultspec Code Research

Code research skill (vaultspec-code-research)

Use this skill:

• When auditing, researching, or implementing a specific technical implementation.
• When you need to identify a reference project.
• When you need source references that show how another project implements a feature.
• To avoid missing implementation details.
• To ground and de-risk complex coding tasks with actual code.

Invoke when the vaultspec-research -> vaultspec-adr -> vaultspec-write flow explicitly requires direct code referencing.

Announce at start: "I'm using the vaultspec-code-research skill to find out how {Reference} implements {Feature}."

Required steps

• Ground in existing intent first. Lead the code deep dive with semantic search:

vaultspec-rag search "" --type code locates the semantically matching implementation sites - read the epicenter or nearest analogue in full, then confirm exact symbols with a targeted grep, which is sharper at exact-symbol lookup. Retrieve the governing decisions with vaultspec-rag search "" --type vault --doc-type adr (the directed ADR filter, sharper than catch-all --type vault) to anchor the audit. Where vaultspec-rag is not installed, the vaultspec-core discovery verbs and grep carry the same sequence.

• Read and use the template at .vaultspec/templates/reference.md; its embedded

hint blocks govern the body structure.

• Load the vaultspec-reference-auditor agent persona for the focused code deep

dives. Instruct it to locate and audit the {Feature} implementation in the reference codebase; it returns its findings to you for persistence.

• Persist findings: scaffold the reference document with

vaultspec-core vault add reference --feature {feature}, then author the findings as body prose. The CLI owns the filename (.vault/reference/yyyy-mm-dd-{feature}-reference.md) and the frontmatter; never hand-write either. The full frontmatter schema is defined in the vaultspec rule; verify after scaffolding with vaultspec-core vault check all rather than hand-editing frontmatter.

Research and audit

Perform focused code deep dives.

Coordinate the loaded persona and any supporting agents to:

• Locate the code snippets and files.
• Analyze implementation patterns and architecture.
• Persist a Reference blueprint into the scaffolded document's body. If the document

exists already, assess and update its body prose.

Implementation plan

You MUST check if an implementation exists already. If it does:

• Do our findings alter the implementation? If so, report back to the user.
• Report possible issues or drift and leave notes in the Plan that reference the

{Feature} audit.

Source & license

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

• Author: nevenincs
• Source: nevenincs/vaultspec-core
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://neve.md/vaultspec

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