# Deep Research

> Use when the user asks to research a topic in depth, map a competitive/market landscape, run a multi-source investigation, or "fan out" parallel research agents — anything where many findings must be gathered and then NOT lost. Enforces durable, detail-preserving research (write full findings to disk; keep a full appendix beside the synthesis).

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-zernie-vigiles-deep-research`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [zernie](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/zernie)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Developer Tools](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/developer-tools)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [zernie](https://github.com/zernie)
- **Source:** https://github.com/zernie/vigiles/tree/main/.claude/skills/deep-research
- **Website:** https://vigiles.sh

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-zernie-vigiles-deep-research
```

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

## About

# Deep research — gather wide, lose nothing

The failure mode this skill exists to prevent: a big parallel research fan-out gathers
80–100K tokens of detail, each subagent returns a **trimmed summary**, the orchestrator
**compresses again** into a short brief, and the **raw findings live only in ephemeral
agent transcripts** (scratchpad task outputs) that vanish when the container is reclaimed.
Net: expensive research → a thin artifact, detail gone. Don't do that.

## The rule: two durable artifacts, never just one

Every nontrivial research effort produces, and SAVES to disk:

1. **A synthesis** — the brief / answer (tables, thesis, recommendation).
2. **A full appendix** — the per-source / per-company / per-angle DETAIL (raw numbers,
   funding histories, surfaces, dates, **verbatim source URLs**) the synthesis compressed.

If the saved synthesis is dramatically smaller than what was gathered, the appendix is how
you reconcile that — the detail must land **somewhere durable**, not only in chat or a
transcript. "I summarized it in chat" is not saved.

## Running a fan-out

1. **Plan the angles** — one subagent per distinct angle (company, source class, sub-question).
   Tell the user which model each runs on and why (the subagent-model-note rule).
2. **Mandate write-to-disk in the subagent prompt.** Every research subagent must WRITE its
   full findings to a durable file (e.g. the session scratchpad dir, one file per angle)
   **with sources verbatim**, and return only a short pointer + the headline findings. Do
   NOT rely on the agent's returned summary as the record — it is trimmed by construction
   and its transcript is ephemeral.
3. **Capture sources verbatim** — every claim carries [number] [source URL] [date]
   [reported vs estimate]. URLs are the first thing lost in compression; keep them.
4. **Synthesize from the files, not from memory** — read back the written files to build
   the synthesis, so nothing silently drops.
5. **Save both artifacts before declaring done** — commit/write the synthesis AND the
   appendix. Then it's saved.

## Where to save

- **Generic / technical research** → `research/.md` (+ appendix), referenced from a
  keyFile or `research/README.md` so it isn't an orphan doc.
- **Sensitive: competitive / VC / strategy / fundraising** → the encrypted `startup/` vault
  (see `startup/CLAUDE.md`). Verify the vault is UNLOCKED before writing, and keep the
  strategic vocabulary out of any public doc.
- When in doubt which, ask — but never let "unsure where" become "saved nowhere."

## Don't

- Don't present a one-paragraph chat summary as the deliverable for a 15-agent fan-out.
- Don't trim sources/URLs/dates to make the brief shorter — that detail goes in the appendix.
- Don't leave the only full copy in an ephemeral transcript or scratchpad you didn't commit.

## Source & license

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

- **Author:** [zernie](https://github.com/zernie)
- **Source:** [zernie/vigiles](https://github.com/zernie/vigiles)
- **License:** MIT
- **Homepage:** https://vigiles.sh

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-zernie-vigiles-deep-research
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/zernie
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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