Research

---

name: research description: Conduct open-ended research on a topic, building a living markdown document. Supports interactive and deep research modes.

---

Research Skill

Description

Conduct open-ended research on a topic, building a living markdown document. The conversation is ephemeral; the document is what matters.

Trigger

Activate when the user wants to:

Research a topic, idea, or question

Explore something before committing to building it

Investigate options, patterns, or approaches

Create a "research doc" or "investigation"

Run deep async research on a complex topic

Research Directory

Each research topic gets its own folder:

~/.openclaw/workspace/research//
├── prompt.md          # Original research question/prompt
├── research.md        # Main findings (Parallel output or interactive notes)
├── research.pdf       # PDF export (when generated)
└── ...                # Any other related files (data, images, etc.)

---

Two Research Modes

1. Interactive Research (default)

For topics you explore together in conversation. You search, synthesize, and update the doc in real-time.

2. Deep Research (async)

For complex topics that need comprehensive investigation. Uses the Parallel AI API via parallel-research CLI. Takes minutes to hours, returns detailed markdown reports.

When to use deep research:

Market analysis, competitive landscape

Technical deep-dives requiring extensive source gathering

Multi-faceted questions that benefit from parallel exploration

When user says "deep research" or wants comprehensive coverage

---

Interactive Research Workflow

1. Initialize Research

1. Create the research folder at ~/.openclaw/workspace/research//

2. Create prompt.md with the original question:

   # 
   > 
   Started: 
   

3. Create research.md with the working structure:

   # 
   Status: Active Research
   Started: 
   Last Updated: 
   ---
   ## Open Questions
   - 
   ## Findings
   
   ## Options / Approaches
   
   ## Resources
   
   ## Next Steps
   
   

4. Confirm with user - Show the folder was created and ask what to explore first.

2. Research Loop

For each exchange:

1. Do the research - Web search, fetch docs, explore code 2. Update the document - Add findings, move answered questions, add sources 3. Show progress - Note what was added (don't repeat everything) 4. Prompt next direction - End with a question or suggestion

Key behaviors:

Update existing sections over creating new ones

Use bullet points for findings; prose for summaries

Note uncertainty ("seems like", "according to X", "unverified")

Link to sources whenever possible

3. Synthesis Checkpoints

Every 5-10 exchanges, offer to:

Write a "Current Understanding" summary

Prune redundant findings

Reorganize if unwieldy

Check blind spots

4. Completion

When research is complete, update the status in research.md:

"Status: Complete" — Done, stays in place as reference

"Status: Ongoing" — Living doc, will be updated over time

If the research is specifically for building a project:

Graduate to ~/specs/.md as a project spec

Or create a project directly based on findings

Update status to "Status: Graduated → ~/specs/..."

Most research is just research — it doesn't need to become a spec. Only graduate if you're actually building something from it.

---

Deep Research Workflow

1. Start Deep Research

parallel-research create "Your research question" --processor ultra --wait

Processor options:

lite, base, core, pro, ultra (default), ultra2x, ultra4x, ultra8x

Add -fast suffix for speed over depth: ultra-fast, pro-fast, etc.

Options:

-w, --wait — Wait for completion and show result

-p, --processor — Choose processor tier

-j, --json — Raw JSON output

2. Schedule Auto-Check (optional)

Deep research tasks take minutes to hours. You'll want to poll for results automatically rather than checking manually.

Options:

OpenClaw users: See OPENCLAW.md for cron-based auto-check scheduling

Other setups: Use any scheduler (cron, systemd timer, CI job) to periodically run parallel-research status and parallel-research result until complete

Simple approach: Just use parallel-research create "..." --wait to block until done (works for shorter tasks)

3. Manual Check (if needed)

parallel-research status 
parallel-research result 

4. Save to Research Folder

Create the research folder and save results:

~/.openclaw/workspace/research//
├── prompt.md          # Original question + run metadata
├── research.md        # Full Parallel output

prompt.md should include:

# 
> 
Run ID: 
Processor: 
Started: 
Completed: 

research.md contains the full Parallel output, plus any follow-up notes.

---

PDF Export

All PDFs go in the research folder — never save to tmp/. Whether using export-pdf, the browser pdf action, or any other method, the output path must be research//.

Use the export-pdf script to convert research docs to PDF:

export-pdf ~/.openclaw/workspace/research//research.md
Creates: ~/.openclaw/workspace/research//research.pdf

For browser-generated PDFs (e.g. saving a webpage as PDF):

browser pdf → save to research//.pdf

Note: Tables render as stacked rows (PyMuPDF limitation). Acceptable for research docs.

---

Commands

"new research: " - Start interactive research doc

"deep research: " - Start async deep research

"show doc" / "show research" - Display current research file

"summarize" - Synthesis checkpoint

"graduate" - Move research to next phase

"archive" - Mark as complete reference

"export pdf" - Export to PDF

"check research" - Check status of pending deep research tasks

---

Document Principles

Atomic findings - One insight per bullet

Link everything - Sources, docs, repos

Capture context - Why did we look at this?

Note confidence - Use qualifiers when uncertain

Date important findings - Especially for fast-moving topics

---

Setup

See SETUP.md for first-time installation of:

parallel-research CLI

PDF export tools (pandoc, PyMuPDF)

See SETUP.md for first-time installation of:

parallel-research CLI

PDF export tools (pandoc, PyMuPDF)