/research

Research

If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see CONNECTORS.md.

Multi-source research on a customer question, product topic, or account-related inquiry. Synthesizes findings from all available sources with clear attribution.

Usage

/research <question or topic>

Workflow

1. Parse the Research Request

Identify what type of research is needed:

• Customer question: Something a customer has asked that needs an answer (e.g., "Does our product support SSO with Okta?")
• Issue investigation: Background on a reported problem (e.g., "Has this bug been reported before? What's the known workaround?")
• Account context: History with a specific customer (e.g., "What did we tell Acme Corp last time they asked about this?")
• Topic research: General topic relevant to support work (e.g., "Best practices for webhook retry logic")

2. Search Available Sources

Search in priority order, adapting to what is connected:

Tier 1 — Internal Documentation (highest confidence):

• ~~knowledge base (if connected): product docs, runbooks, FAQs
• ~~cloud storage: internal documents, specs, guides, past research
• ~~CRM notes: previous answers to similar questions, account context

Tier 2 — Team Communications:

• ~~chat: search for the topic in relevant channels; check if teammates have discussed or answered this before
• ~~email: search for previous correspondence on this topic
• ~~support platform (if connected): check if this has been asked/resolved before

Tier 3 — External Sources:

• Web search: official documentation, blog posts, community forums
• Public knowledge bases, help centers, release notes

3. Synthesize Findings

Compile results into a structured research brief:

## Research: [Question/Topic]

### Answer
[Clear, direct answer to the question — lead with the bottom line]

**Confidence:** [High / Medium / Low]
[Explain what drives the confidence level]

### Key Findings

**From [Source 1]:**
- [Finding with specific detail]
- [Finding with specific detail]

**From [Source 2]:**
- [Finding with specific detail]

### Context & Nuance
[Any caveats, edge cases, or additional context that matters]

### Sources
1. [Source name/link] — [what it contributed]
2. [Source name/link] — [what it contributed]
3. [Source name/link] — [what it contributed]

### Gaps & Unknowns
- [What couldn't be confirmed]
- [What might need verification from a subject matter expert]

### Recommended Next Steps
- [Action if the answer needs to go to a customer]
- [Action if further research is needed]
- [Who to consult for verification if needed]

4. Handle Insufficient Sources

If no connected sources yield results:

• Perform web research on the topic
• Ask the user for internal context:
  • "I couldn't find this in connected sources. Do you have internal docs or knowledge base articles about this?"
  • "Has your team discussed this topic before? Any ~~chat channels I should check?"
  • "Is there a subject matter expert who would know the answer?"
• Be transparent about limitations:
  • "This answer is based on web research only — please verify against your internal documentation before sharing with the customer."
  • "I found a possible answer but couldn't confirm it from an authoritative internal source."

5. Customer-Facing Considerations

If the research is to answer a customer question:

• Flag if the answer involves product roadmap, pricing, legal, or security topics that may need review
• Note if the answer differs from what may have been communicated previously
• Suggest appropriate caveats for the customer-facing response
• Offer to draft the customer response: "Want me to draft a response to the customer based on these findings?"

6. Knowledge Capture

After research is complete, suggest capturing the knowledge:

• "Should I save these findings to your knowledge base for future reference?"
• "Want me to create a FAQ entry based on this research?"
• "This might be worth documenting — should I draft a runbook entry?"

This helps build institutional knowledge and reduces duplicate research effort across the team.