# Deep Research

Deep research and discovery before building something new.

- Repository: https://github.com/jezweb/claude-skills (1094 stars)
- Category: Writing
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-10-09
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add jezweb/claude-skills --skill deep-research -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add jezweb/claude-skills --skill deep-research -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add jezweb/claude-skills --skill deep-research -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add jezweb/claude-skills --skill deep-research -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add jezweb/claude-skills`

## Description

Deep research and discovery before building something new. Explores local projects for reusable code, researches competitors, reads forums and reviews, analyses plugin ecosystems, investigates technical options, and produces a comprehensive research brief. Three depths: focused (30 min), wide (1-2 hours), deep (3-6 hours). Triggers: 'research this', 'discovery', 'explore the space', 'what should I build', 'competitive analysis', 'before I start building', 'research before coding'. Not for cited fact-checking research reports (a separate harness does those); this is pre-build product discovery.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Deep Research

Comprehensive research and discovery before building something new. Instead of jumping straight into code from training data, this skill goes wide and deep, local exploration, web research, competitor analysis, ecosystem signals, future-casting, and produces a research brief that makes the actual build 10x more productive.

## Depth Levels

The difference is **scope of ambition**, not just time.

| Depth | Purpose | Scope |
|-------|---------|-------|
| **focused** | Answer a specific question | One decision: "CodeMirror vs ProseMirror?", targeted search, local scan, 1-2 comparisons. Produces a 1-page recommendation. |
| **wide** | Understand the space | Landscape for a new product or feature. Competitors, ecosystem, user needs, architecture options. Enough to write a spec. |
| **deep** | Plan a major build | Leave no stone unturned. Everything in wide PLUS library/component research, plugin ecosystems, GitHub issues mining, community sentiment, future-casting, technical deep-dives on every decision. Enough to drive weeks of coding. |

Default: **wide**

## Workflow

### 1. Understand the Intent

Ask the user:
- **What** are you building? (one sentence)
- **Why?** What problem does it solve? Who's it for?
- **Constraints?** Stack preferences, budget, timeline, must-haves?
- **Existing work?** Any projects to build on? Repos to look at?

If the user gives a brief prompt ("obsidian replacement on cloudflare"), that's enough, fill in the gaps through research.

### 2. Local Exploration

Scan the user's machine for relevant prior work:

```bash
# Find related projects by name/keyword
ls ~/Documents/ | grep -i "KEYWORD"

# Read CLAUDE.md of related projects for architecture context
find ~/Documents -maxdepth 2 -name "CLAUDE.md" -exec grep -l "KEYWORD" {} \;

# Check for reusable patterns, schemas, components
find ~/Documents -maxdepth 3 -name "schema.ts" -o -name "ARCHITECTURE.md" | head -20
```

The rest: https://github.com/jezweb/claude-skills/blob/HEAD/plugins/dev-tools/skills/deep-research/SKILL.md