research-and-synthesis
Fetch and summarize authoritative external sources into actionable guidance. EXCLUSIVE to researcher agent.
When & Why to Use This Skill
The Research and Synthesis skill empowers Claude's researcher agent to conduct deep, multi-source investigations by fetching and distilling authoritative external data. It leverages a sophisticated pipeline of web search, official documentation retrieval, and AI-driven analysis to transform raw information into verified, actionable technical guidance.
Use Cases
- Technical Best Practices: Researching and verifying the latest implementation standards for modern stacks like Laravel 12, React 19, or FastAPI.
- Package & Tool Evaluation: Comparing multiple libraries or software packages based on maintenance status, security vulnerabilities, and performance benchmarks.
- Documentation Synthesis: Cross-referencing official API documentation with community-driven solutions to resolve complex architectural or debugging challenges.
- Market & Trend Analysis: Discovering and summarizing the latest industry trends and security considerations for specific programming ecosystems in 2025 and beyond.
| name | research-and-synthesis |
|---|---|
| description | Fetch and summarize authoritative external sources into actionable guidance using MCP helpers. EXCLUSIVE to researcher agent. |
| allowed-tools | Read, Grep, Glob, Bash, WebFetch, mcp_gemini-bridge, mcp_context7, mcp_web-search-prime, mcp_web-reader, mcp_zread |
Research and Synthesis
Exclusive to: researcher agent
MCP Helpers (Brain + Memory + Web)
🧠 Gemini-Bridge (Brain) — Deep Analysis
mcp_gemini-bridge_consult_gemini(
query="Research [topic] with pros/cons, security considerations, and code examples",
directory="."
)
📚 Context7 (Memory) — Up-to-Date Docs
# Resolve library first
mcp_context7_resolve-library-id(libraryName="fastapi", query="dependency injection")
# Then query
mcp_context7_query-docs(libraryId="/tiangolo/fastapi", query="Depends pattern")
🌐 Web Search Tools — Live Research
# Discover relevant content
mcp_web-search-prime_search(query="[topic] best practices 2025")
# Read full articles
mcp_web-reader_read(url="https://discovered-url.com/article")
# Smart content extraction
mcp_zread_read(url="https://docs-page.com")
Research Flow:
- Search with web-search-prime to find sources
- Read promising articles with web-reader or zread
- Verify with Context7 official docs
- Synthesize with Gemini-Bridge
## Instructions
1. Understand project stack from `docs/project-overview-pdr.md`
2. Define the research question clearly
3. Use **Gemini-Bridge** for deep analysis and reasoning
4. Use **Context7** for up-to-date library documentation
5. Verify with multiple sources
6. Summarize actionable findings
## Supported Stacks
**PHP/Laravel:**
- Laravel 12, Inertia.js, Pest
**JavaScript/React:**
- React 19, TypeScript, Tailwind, shadcn/ui
**Python:**
- FastAPI, LangChain, LangGraph, pytest, Pydantic
## Source Evaluation
| Criteria | ✅ Good | ❌ Bad |
|----------|---------|--------|
| Recency | < 1 year | > 2 years |
| Authority | Official docs | Random blogs |
| Relevance | Same stack | Different framework |
## Research Process
1. Define the question clearly
2. Fetch 1-3 authoritative sources
3. Verify with multiple sources
4. Summarize actionable findings
## Package Evaluation
| Factor | Check |
|--------|-------|
| Maintenance | Last commit < 6 months |
| Compatibility | Works with Laravel 12 / React 19 |
| Documentation | Clear docs, examples |
| Security | No known vulnerabilities |
## Comparison Matrix
```markdown
| Criteria | Option A | Option B |
|----------|----------|----------|
| Implementation | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Performance | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Security | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
Output Template
## Summary
[2-3 sentences]
## Key Findings
- Finding 1
- Finding 2
## Recommendation
[Which option and why]
## References
- [Source](url)
Examples
- "Confirm best practice for Laravel validation"
- "Compare package A vs package B"