claude-research-skill

/research — Multi-Agent Research Orchestrator for Claude Code

A Claude Code skill that decomposes any research question into parallel agent workstreams, launches them simultaneously, monitors progress, and synthesizes results into a single coherent document.

One command. Multiple agents. Deeply sourced research in minutes.

What It Does

Type /research [any question] and the skill will:

1. Decompose your question into 2-4 non-overlapping research workstreams
2. Present a plan for your approval before doing anything
3. Launch parallel agents — each writes to its own markdown file in real-time
4. Monitor progress — checks in at escalating intervals, kills stuck agents, relaunches automatically
5. Synthesize — a final agent reads all research outputs and produces a unified document with cross-cutting insights, contradictions, and confidence assessments

Example

> /research Help me understand the psychology of dating to find a life partner in your mid-30s

## Research Plan: Dating Psychology (Mid-30s)

### Agent 1: Decision Science & Optimal Stopping
Sections: Secretary problem, satisficing vs maximizing, paradox of choice...

### Agent 2: Relationship Science & Compatibility
Sections: Gottman's research, attachment theory, compatibility factors...

### Agent 3: Dating Channels & Strategy
Sections: Apps vs community, meeting method vs quality, cognitive biases...

### Synthesis Agent
Runs after all agents complete → unified playbook with actionable framework

Output: 4 markdown files, ~1,700+ lines of deeply sourced research with inline citations — produced in ~10 minutes.

Install

Copy the skill file to your Claude Code commands directory:

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/altmbr/claude-research-skill.git

# Copy to Claude Code
cp claude-research-skill/SKILL.md ~/.claude/commands/research.md

Or manually: download SKILL.md and save it as ~/.claude/commands/research.md.

That's it. Type /research in Claude Code and it works.

How It Works

The skill uses Claude Code's built-in Task tool to launch multiple general-purpose subagents in parallel. Each agent:

• Gets a strict write protocol — must write findings to its file after every single search (no two searches in a row without writing)
• Works through sections in order, citing every claim with inline source URLs
• Marks its file Status: COMPLETE when done

The orchestrator monitors all agents at escalating intervals (30s, 2min, 5min, then every 5min). If an agent gets stuck (line count unchanged between check-ins), it's automatically killed and relaunched with any data it already found pre-loaded.

After all research agents complete, a synthesis agent reads every output file and produces:

• Executive summary (3-5 bullets)
• Key findings by theme (cross-cutting, not per-agent)
• Contradictions & tensions
• Confidence assessment (well-supported vs. speculative)
• Recommended next steps

Key Design Decisions

• Write-after-every-search protocol — Agents that research without writing get stuck in loops. The strict alternating pattern (search → write → search → write) prevents this entirely.
• Stuck agent recovery — Rather than waiting for agents to self-correct (they won't), the orchestrator kills and relaunches with pre-loaded data. No wasted time.
• Skeleton files first — Creating output files with section headers before launching agents gives them structure and makes progress monitoring trivial (just check line counts).
• User approval before launch — The plan is always shown first. No wasted compute on the wrong decomposition.

Output Structure

research/
└── [topic]/
    ├── agent-1.md          # First research workstream
    ├── agent-2.md          # Second research workstream
    ├── agent-3.md          # Third research workstream (if needed)
    └── synthesis.md        # Cross-cutting synthesis

Each file is a standalone, deeply sourced markdown document with inline citations.

Requirements

• Claude Code (CLI)
• No API keys or external dependencies — uses Claude Code's built-in tools

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Author

Bryan Altman — GitHub